In all fairness, the applicants seeking out Grad Cafe and posting their stats are more likely to have better stats than those who don't seek out the forum or post their stats:)
Oh, I think rereading is a horrible habit. I reread my SOP and found a missing comma in an in-text citation AND a missing quotation mark. On one hand, how could I have not noticed? On the other, how could my THREE readers not notice? This process is the WORST.
You did the right thing by adding that note! Your students' unprofessional emails could really undermine them in the long run.
I don't have too much advice on the matter since I'm just finishing my first term as a RA now, but, in solidarity, I can share a story about an email with an inappropriate sign-off I received recently. There are several undergraduate students who I oversee in as part of my research assistantship, and one day one of the students had forgotten to record observations about the material that she worked with in the lab. Since this record is a very important part of the project, I sent an email asking for the observations while they were still fresh in her mind and I signed off "Thank you, [my name]." She writes back with the information she'd forgotten to record and signs of "You're Welcome, [her name]." I know she doesn't realize it, but what she wrote sounds very arrogant, especially when she was certainly not doing me a favor. Now that I've read your post, I wish I had mentioned this to her (in a diplomatic way, of course) because she probably will continue to use that sign-off, which is border-line snarky...
First, my credentials. Well. I can spell my own name, though I don't usually know exactly how old I am. I'm within a year or two, but I'm usually wrong until I've done some subtraction. I teach composition and like to write calculus equations on the board when I take classes in poetry writing. But, here's my real credentials: consider what is written herein in conjunction with what the various instructions on SOPs that you've read have said, with the requirements the program you are applying to has put forth, and with your own experience as a writer. Do you think I know what I'm talking about? Should you pay any attention to it? Is any of it useful?
Second, I'm not going to give you a formula for what the standard SOP is like, or a list of things the various thousands of admissions committees will be looking for. There are plenty of prescriptions on the internet, many of them written by professors who have presumably gotten sick of badly written SOPs.
Third, I'm not promising that SOP writing be easier after this. It'll be harder, actually. I'm not promising that you'll get in to any place you desire, or that there is any one best thing to put in the SOP to get noticed. That would be totally impossible. Each discipline has its own needs and values, as does each university, each department, and each faculty member on the admissions committee (adcomm). There is no one size and it doesn't fit most, let alone all. There are conventions (use Standard English, for one), but other than include your research interests, I won't advocate that any one thing is strictly necessary. I leave that up to the more knowledgeable.
The advice:
First thing is to deeply understand that you should write an SOP for each program. Most people take this to mean write one master SOP and then tweak as necessary to make the one SOP applicable to each university (U of A becomes U of B, Professor X becomes Professor Y). You can do that. You can be very successful doing that. You most likely, really shouldn't do it.
The next thing to understand is the SOP's purpose. Why do the adcomms want to see SOPs? Shouldn't transcripts, letters of recommendation, and a writing sample do it? After all, transcripts and samples show the actual scholarship and the letters verify it. The SOP isn't for showing scholarship off, or to act like a resume, or anything. So why do the adcomms want an SOP? Why are the SOPs one of those make-it-or-fail things? What is the SOP's purpose? In job hunting terms, the SOP is like a cover letter. The cover letter is to make clear connections between the resume and the job ad. For you, its primary purpose is to make the adcomm offer you admission with full funding. For the adcomm, its primary purpose is to help them see how you would fit into their program (make connections between their program and you). By fit, I mean do they have faculty (or enough faculty) in your area of research interest that can advise, mentor, supervise, and/or committee you through the program to get your degree? Do you have the kind of understanding of the discipline, your research interests, and their program that would make you successful? Do they have something to teach you? Offer you? What can you offer them? They want to brag on you as much as you want to brag about them. If they offer you admission, will you be a good scholar? A good student? Here is the most basic question the SOP should answer: What is it about you that makes you a better prospect than everyone else who's applying?
Understanding the SOP's purpose, in practical terms, means that you will know what to put into it and what to leave out of it. And how to phrase it.
So, with the purpose in mind, there comes the question: what should you put into it and leave out of it? What format should you use? (MLA? APA? Is footnoting okay?! What about citation?!) Should I stick in a personal story that everyone seems to recommend, except for the half that don't? My research interests? The story about why I got on F in that one, very important class? I'm not going to answer those questions because I can't. Every discipline and department is different. I will give you an answer you won't like: research. Find out the requirements each program you're interested in has for the SOP, think of the SOP's purpose: and now research.
Research is one of the basic keys to writing an SOP. It's no different than the writing sample you'll be including in your application packet. For each program you apply to, do some research. How much research you need to do depends on a lot of things, the least of which is your personality. More research does not automatically mean a better SOP. Less research doesn't automatically mean a better one, either. What makes the right amount of research? The ability to craft an SOP that is specific for the program that you're getting into. Here's some ideas (not an exhaustive, inclusive list of what to do) on what to research:
The program itself. Look at the recent graduates and, if possible, read their theses and/or dissertations, at least in part. The acknowledgements can give you an idea about the program's culture. The introduction can give you an idea about what kind of scholarship the program produces and expects. It will also, and this is very important, give you an idea as to how the program uses language. If you speak to them in their own language, that helps your case. You've likely done this, if not, seriously, you should have done this. Look at the program's website and read it all. What kind of classes are offered for both undergrad and grad. Who are the faculty, the tenured, the assistant, the visiting, the emeritus, and the graduate students. What kind of ties to the community (both academic and their local town) do they like to talk about? Do they talk about how their graduate students are working with community partners? Do they host conferences? What happened at the last one? This gives you a taste of the program's culture.
The faculty. All of them that might be on the adcomm and the ones that are relevant or somewhat relevant to your interests. Crack open JSTOR etc. and search for recent faculty publications. If you're basing your interest on a faculty member on the interests they've got listed on the site and a reference to them in an article from a decade ago, or worse, only their reputation, you don't have a strong basis to establish clear reasons why they have anything to offer you. Read their recent publications, see who they name drop in terms of theory, other faculty, and so on. Make a list of what each faculty member can offer you in terms of research, not just the ones that are directly related to it. If you're into studying apples, but Dr. V works with oranges, think about how Dr. V's work might help you out. Take notes when you research. Each program has a bunch of people, and you're likely applying to multiple programs. It's easier to refer to notes than to go back and look it up all over again.
What's happening in the field with your current research interests, if necessary. This is so you can situate your research interests in the discipline, and then situation your research interests in the program. You can just tell them what you're research interests are and leave the situating to them, but you can lose that chance to sell yourself as the best amongst the rest.
Research you. Yup. You. Scribble out some lists or paragraphs or whatever that inventories you. Who are your influences? Who are the theorists you keep coming back to? Who are the theorists you loathe, mock, and/or ridicule? What are your research interests in general and specifically and anywhere in between? Some SOPs will need to be more general, some will need to be more specific. Length restrictions, what you found out about the program, the faculty, the state of the discipline, and so on, can alter this for you. What kind of scholar are you? Student? What's the difference? How do you manage your time? Stress? Health? Do you expect to bring your dog? Do you have health issues? Do you have any academic things that are a negative? If you do, how negative are they? It's easy to see that as an either it's entirely bad, or it's somewhere in the huge good category, but some things are negatives that need to be addressed for certain programs, while other negatives can be ignored, or you should discuss with the one relevant letter writer so they can address it. While Sam ultimately received a C in the Research Methods course, the grade doesn't reflect the actual scholarship as Sam fell ill during the mid-term and consequently failed it; my course policies do not permit re-taking the test. What are the good things about you? Not just the grades, awards, publications, and presentations, but also the character traits. What are you weaknesses? Don't do the job interview baloney, my greatest weakness is my perfectionism. Of course, the important, probably ought to be on the SOP questions: why grad school? What will you do with the degree you want? Why are into the research you're into? Why that particular school? Why are you worth admission and funding?
Research the assistanceships. Some SOPs will want you to write a bit about teaching or research with assistanceships in mind. So, do a bit of research on what these entail in the programs you're looking at. What do they do and how do they get it? Have you done assistanceships in the past? If so, what were they like? Do you have a teaching philosophy? If not, make one. Have you done anything that can be discussed in terms of the assistanceship? I taught kung-fu to white belt children, so I have teaching experience. I was part of the state herpetological society and went out to help them with their field counts twice a year. I learned that licking petrie dishes is always a bad idea, no matter how much they resemble pistachio ice cream.
Research SOPs. You're doing that, right? Go on to forums (like this one) and read the SOPs people have posted and then read the responses. Look particularly at SOPs in your discipline or related disciplines. Psychology might look at other social sciences. Physics might tell the joke about the Higgs Boson and Sunday mass. Bear in mind that the people responding to and/or criticizing the posted SOPs are likely not on an adcomm. Some have been or will be, but it's not likely they'll be on the adcomm you're hoping will like you best. However, you can start to get a sense of what SOPs are like. What format is it in? Does yours look like everyone else's? Do you have the exact same opening sentence as half of the people hoping to get into a program in your discipline? I've always wanted to be a librarian since those wonderful, summer days I spent in my (relative of choice)'s home library.
So, to take stock. First, understand the purpose. Second, research. A lot. Let the purpose of the SOP guide your research efforts.
Next, get the specific requirements for the SOP from each program. Make a list of similarities. If they all ask for a statement of your research interest, score! One sentence fits most! Most of them will be of different lengths and will have different ideas of what specific information they want. Most won't tell you enough, aside from length and one or two "should have" things. They mostly won't tell you if you should use APA or if you should footnote, or how to format it. Single space? Double space? They will tell you whether it should be on paper or what kind of file format to use. I have only one suggestion: consistency. Okay, two suggestions: unless otherwise specified, don't include anything other than the SOP. No bibliography or footnotes. If you quote or paraphrase someone, cite them in the text the way they do it in the average newspaper article. As Scooby says, "Ruh-roh!"
Now, start writing. Create something of a master SOP, or a set of master sentences for the SOPs. Some things should be in every one of them, like what your research interests are. Because length requirements are different for each program, you should work out more than one sentence or set of sentences for each thing you plan to put into more than one SOP. Have a more detailed explanation of your research interests and a more concise one. Even though this might be central and, perhaps, most important to the SOP, you don't want most of a short SOP taken up by one thing. Make these sentences do extra duties. If they can explain not only why you're into what you're into, but also why it's significant to the discipline/program, and how the program factors into it, bonus! The more functions one sentence can serve, with clear, readable logic, the more room you have in the length requirements to bring in other things. Think of this master SOP as more of a set of sentences you can hang on the individual SOP's unique structure. A flesh and skeleton metaphor can work here. You can order all SOPs at this point, you'll probably want to put research interests in the middle or toward the end, rather than in the first sentence, but the key here is that the skeleton of the individual SOP and most of its flesh will come from the needs of the program you're writing it for, not from some predetermined formula. No generically applicable, master SOP that has a few tweaks here and there.
Here's the thing. The SOP is one of the most important documents you'll write in your life. It's not something that should be done in a few hours, after looking at the program website and spending some time on the net searching for a how-to-write-an-SOP-guide. It takes work backed by research. The readers can tell quite easily how much research you've done on them by the way you structure and write your SOP. They can tell if you're sending out a generic SOP to several programs because it will be too general. You can't change faculty names in and out, along with a detail or two that makes it seem tailored to the program. The individual SOP should be tailored from the beginning. Some sentences won't change much, so you can pre-write them. But how they fit into each SOP, the reasoning you'll use to try to convince the adcomm that you're the best applicant, and the perspective you'll take all the way to the words you use should be done with the program in mind. It shouldn't be generic. Even if it doesn't seem noticeably generic to you, that doesn't mean that the adcomm won't notice it. They read many, many SOPs every year. People who read SOPs develop a sense about the generic, the cut and paste work.
How to name drop gracefully, or bring up the theory and histories and whatnot you're working with when there's only a teeny amount of space for everything? That's a bit easier than it might seem. It's not in the explanation; it's in the usage. If you can use the relevant theories and people and methodologies correctly in a sentence, you don't have to show the adcomm that you know how to use them, or how they're related, by explaining it. Trust them to have enough education to make a few connections for themselves when it comes to the discipline. Example: Novels such as Twilight exemplify how Marxist alienation can be applied to childbirth. My research interest lies in the alienation of women from the product of delivery in Modernist American fiction, such as Faulkner's Sound and the Fury. (Huh, I wonder if that would really work?) Two sentences and I've referenced theory, period, history, relevance for today, and some methodology (it's literature, not science). Use it, don't explain it.
If possible, have a professor you know read the SOP to your preferred school and give you some advice. They know more than most other groups of people. If not possible, your current university's writing center can help, or other people who are familiar with the field, or with writing. Your high school English teacher or your English major buddy can probably say something about your grammar, but might not be as helpful as expected. Example, in English, the convention is to speak of historical people in present tense. Shakespeare writes, "To be or not to be," because he thinks it is the question. History has kittens. Shakespeare has been dead for centuries, he can't write! Past tense! Shakespeare wrote, "To be or not to be," because thought it was the question. Someone in the field is preferable!
Finally, a word about my real credentials. The adcomm is going to do to your application what you've just done with this post. They are going to judge your credentials (your ethos, trustworthiness, veracity, credibility, knowledge, and so on) based on the impressions they get of you from what you've written. So, be knowledgeable about you, your field, and the program, and use that knowledge well.
Previous Schools (Name, type, or tier): Large public state school in the South (think football = religion)
Previous Degrees and GPAs: Journalism and French (3.32 collectively - too lazy to remember the specifics, sorry)
GRE Scores (Verbal/Quantitative/Analytical Writing): 159 V, 151 Q, 5 AW
Previous Work Experience (Years, Type): 1 year teaching English in France, 2 years in online marketing, currently about 6 months into a communications-related position at a local university.
Math/Econ Background: 1 intro macroecon course in undergrad. This was by far the weakest feature of my application.
Foreign Language Background (if applicable to your program): BA in French with one summer study abroad and one year post-college teaching in France. I intend to apply this toward my regional concentration in European affairs.
Intended Field of Study in Grad School: Global communications, technology, media strategy
Long Term Professional Goals: Media consultant and/or public affairs officer for an embassy or large IGO/NGO
Schools Applied to & Results: GWU Elliott for Global Comm. (accepted, $10k/year), American SIS for International Affairs (accepted, no funding), Denver Korbel for International Studies (accepted, no funding)
Ultimate Decision & Why: GWU Elliott for Global Communications. As anyone reading this may have gathered, I was not the perfect student nor an aspiring academic; I much prefer working in a professional setting, and from my research, GW offers the most well-balanced program with professional skills courses and academic rigor. Though I won't lie - since it was the only school that provided some funding, it made the decision easier.
Advice for Future Applicants: Stop doubting yourself. As prestigious and "glamorous" as Hopkins, Georgetown, and all of these schools sound, they are by no means impossible to get in; there are plenty of testimonies scattered around this forum of those who didn't fit the "mold" of IR professionals or academics, and they still got in. Quit comparing your stats with whatever you see on these forums and others and just apply! I almost didn't apply at all because I believed for the longest time that I didn't have as strong of a background in econ; I'd been out of college for too long; my resume goes all over the place; thinking, "if these people with 3.9 GPA and Peace Corps experience are worried about getting in, I should just quit"; it's all crap - if you are passionate about this field and get excited over the courses you read about, for goodness sake, just fill out that application! I honestly regret somewhat not applying to SAIS or Georgetown. And as obvious as this last piece of advice may sound, highlight your SOP, especially if you're insecure about your stats; you can't do anything about those, but you can write and explain why you're still a viable candidate. Just do it!
I urge everyone to save the 4 real ETS practice tests (2 in book, 2 in Powerprep) until your last month or few weeks of studying.
Those tests are simply invaluable. They exactly simulate the difficulty of the real test and give you a perfect picture of the types of questions asked, the level of inferring you have to make in verbal, etc etc.
You should only take them when you are confident in your vocab + know all the math concepts. You should not use one of those tests for an initial diagnostic score, but rather as an accurate assessment of how you might actually perform on the real test.
This strategy of saving real practice tests has allowed me to score near perfect SAT and GRE scores.
Another super strategy is to somehow mark your wrong answers on your test without actually knowing what the correct answer is. On Powerprep it's really easy because you have the option of revealing of the correct answer.
It's really important that you discover the correct answer to a question YOURSELF. You learn a LOT more when you figure out why something is wrong vs. when a book simply tells you that your answer is wrong and gives you the right answer.
This is my last post on the forum. Please do not waste those ETS tests!
But it would list all the scores and GPA's and everything that everyone keeps asking "Is this good enough?" wouldn't it? We see admits, but rejections are obscured and not well represented. As a data point it seems like something worth persuing.
And wouldnt the community make the forum more about "Plan B" scenarios, keeping spirits up, and helping people get past being depressed?
Since more people get rejected than accepted.. wouldn't that be for the greater good?
- "What are my chances (rate from 0-100%) of getting in at XXX University? I want a specific value. Thankss."
- After submitting all the application materials: "OMG, I need a plan B"
Your first tip is HUGE - feel free to make up anecdotal evidence that supports your position.
I'll also add that it's important to go into the test with two pre-designed essay templates in mind. This will save you a ton of time.
If anyone is interested, we have a free set of videos that cover this everything else you need to know to ace the Analytical Writing section: http://www.greenlighttestprep.com/module/gre-analytical-writing
Eh, for what it is worth, your GRE scores reflect your GPA; middle-of-the-road. That doesn't mean you are SOL, mind you, just that no one on the admissions committees will be surprised. If you can afford it, apply to all schools ASAP; you never know. I am bit older than the typical user in this forum, it seems, and I have known a good number of people who either have already went through grad school, or are currently in. Three of them were ex's, and they all scored low on the GRE (although two had high GPAs--one a 4.0--and a good amount of research/internship experience that was directly relevant to the course of study in their respective grad programs. One, however, was almost denied into the #1 program for....public health policy...because her quant score was too low. She managed to convince them to give her a chance through a phone interview and ended up going there). You might be surprised at just how many people with middle-of-the-road scores/numbers get into grad school, even top programs.
Keep in mind that grad school and grad school admissions are not like undergrad; numbers and fluffy ECs no body really cares about.
LBJ was my first choice and I'm planning to attend in the fall. The Public Affairs program seems really solid overall - I get the feeling that I'll come away actually being able to apply learned skills to a career and that's what I want.
I like that they have quantitative prerequisites - makes me feel like the program's got a little more weight behind it (although I'm not sure why I feel that way - I think I might be a superficial person).
They have a bunch of specialization classes which is really nice. I've looked at the courses and a lot of them seem both interesting and useful. I want (actually need) a degree I can use in a job, but I don't want to be bored for two years either.
UT has a great national reputation, but an especially good rep in Texas. In my high school in Houston people didn't get why I went to the University of Chicago instead of UT (to be fair, neither do I at this point).
I don't know, it seems like a great program to be a part of. I'm looking forward to it.
As someone who was having a lot of trouble with the personal statement as well and just got into NYU Wagner, I have to say the best advice I got was this: "What do you want to talk about? What does your gut say you should talk about? As soon as you know, start writing. Don't edit. Don't polish. Don't think too hard. Write stream-of-consciousness if you like, but write because in that moment when you do, the real you and the real truth about what you believe and who you are and how you will contribute to the program will come out."
You can polish it up later.
I followed this advice and my personal statement, I have to say, was pretty damn awesome. Especially compared to the piece of crap I had before that. I strongly recommend the "just write" strategy. And I'm guessing NYU Wagner thought it was ok too. Good luck!
Yes - it probably says something about me that I thought that sample was horrible. Overly flowery writing, basically zero informational content, mostly BS. Even the footnotes were BS. Admittedly I'm applying to stats programs, but still...I don't think I can bring myself to write something as bad as that example.
This is one of ETS' quintessential absurd prompts. In other words, some time from now, however long that is, you'll be able to make connections between the past and "today." But the prompt did not establish the boundaries circumscribing "today," so it is already absurd. In some unspecified time period called "today," we still cannot reflect upon the present or assess it in comparison to the past. So, an example issue might be whether FDR's interventions in the economy could help teach us about the likely success of Obama's attempted interventions in the economy. The prompt might say that we need more time to assess the weight of Obama's policies. One arguing against would say that we can already assess the weight of Obama's policies. If I received this prompt, I might argue against the prompt but give one paragraph to when it sort of holds up.
Yes education policy is a big interest. There are a good number of folks that are into education policy and have backgrounds working as teachers or in some capacity in the education system. I don't have the exact numbers but know it feels substantial.
Your second question regarding skills over specialization is definitely the vibe I get from the school and the reason I came here. There is a project in the first year and second year where you perform policy analysis for an actual company/organization of your choosing. These projects stress the quantitative and analytical skills you'll learn in class, or at least that's the idea (I'm still a first year so I haven't done the project yet). That being said, you can take all your electives in a particular policy interest if you want and sort of build an unofficial focus that way. You can take electives in basically any school of your choosing so there's flexibility.
I'm not too knowledgeable about rankings but from my research each program is completely different. Some of them offer specializations, study abroad-ish type programs, and internships/real world projects. A good way to gauge if the program is reputable and up your alley is to check on the career services website at the college. Find out where alumni are working (names of places and geographical locations), as well as what percent immediately find a job. If they are being hired by reputable organizations that interest you, it may be a good fit. Just my two cents
I'm guessing you're applying for Fall 2015? I am applying for Fall 2014. That's a good idea to take it so early, in hindsight I probably should have done that this year. Thanks for your input!
I'm guessing you're applying for Fall 2015? I am applying for Fall 2014. That's a good idea to take it so early, in hindsight I probably should have done that this year. Thanks for your input!
gwualum4mpp got a reaction from perfectionist in Studying for GRE while working full time