Kharisma

Thanks for the revision, Polisci1234. I have until January 15 to get everything turned in so I've got some time (a small amount lol). I'll tweak it a little more

Hell emphatically no. I did private undergrad with a combination of scholarships, grants, and student loans and if I have to add another loan, I'm not going to do it. Jobs aren't just falling from the sky, so taking on 50-100k worth of debt over a 5-7 year span is not worth it. Nope, too many out there willing to pay for people to go. http://www.memecenter.com/fun/2214947/godzilla-nope-nope-nope ^^^ That's how I feel about doing a PhD program without funding.

I hope that this doesn't happen to me. While I have a promising CV and relevant work experience in my field to be able to apply to quite a few schools, my current finances only allow me to apply to ONE. I can't afford to move to another city, especially because I'm taking care of my family (no I don't have kids, but my niece and Mom depend on me) and being the sole breadwinner. Honestly, if I don't get in, I guess I might apply to take some undergrad courses and get to know some of the professors there, but honestly, I dunno afterwards. :/

At 823 words and a limit of 500, I still feel lost. I need to call and ask if the 500 is a hard limit or not. Sorry it has taken me so long to reply back, but here's my re-write. Thanks so much for the advice guys. By being out of school for a few years, it's been a little difficult to get someone to critique my writings so I really and truly appreciate it. I hope this flows a little better and I took a lot of what polisci12345 said and tried to run with it. Once more, I submit this for critique “We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks.” This is the victory tweet of the first President-Elect to ever tweet. While American Politics has always captivated me, it was through social media that I felt that for the first time, my voice could be heard in a sea millions. Through this venue, I was able to surround myself with people who shared similar and opposing views and even interact with members of the American Government. After much introspection, I’ve decided that I want to pursue an academic career as a professor who researches the opinions of the American public, particularly those of minority and marginalized voters. My research interests include the impact of negative marketing through social media, general apathy towards politics from the Millennial generation, and enacting ethical policies which help govern healthcare. I have performed self-directed research in minority electoral voting patterns and studying the results has been a pastime of mine after my niece has been put to bed at night or during my lunch-break at work. In my research, I questioned whether minorities had a fear or general dislike of politics and voting, especially because the minority voting has generally been lower in not just mid-term elections, but Presidential elections as well. My research found that among my age-group of minority voters (via Facebook groups), they did have a very basic knowledge of politics, but their apathy and disgust came from a deep-rooted anger from feeling that their representatives, senators, and even Presidential candidates had no interest in their thoughts whatsoever; they believed that they were only given lip-service for their votes and then virtually ignored once that candidate gained a political office, so why would they waste valuable working time doing so? As I studied the different theories for these attitudes, my interests were further piqued because my rudimentary findings were the complete opposite of what many of these theories proposed. So, when the opportunity to become involved with the election of then-Presidential nominee Barack Obama, albeit on a very minor scale by passing out information, and also registering students and local voters in Tuskegee, Alabama through my local NAACP Chapter, I readily accepted. My experiences during those times gave me greater insight into minority opinions, the most prevailing being that the candidate Obama had shared a life experience most of them wanted to have, or had experienced, and they felt like he was a true champion of their views. That opinion drove them to vote in droves and that same passion for his politics was prevalent during his 2012 re-election bid. After the 2008 election cycle, I took Psychological Statistics for a quantitative analysis of the social sciences. While this class was a challenge, it strengthened my understanding of quantitative methods and allowed me to add a quantitative analysis to my research. After reading about the research that Professor T had performed with respect to Latino voter participation and the publication of Professor Q on Symbolic Racism, I felt that it would be an honor to work with them or among their fellows, especially since the experience would give my research more depth and differing, yet experienced perspectives. Working with Dr. P would also be very beneficial due to her research in the role of government and healthcare, especially because my honor’s thesis was on bioethical research within the scope of the law. While going to grad school was my immediate plan, family circumstances forced me to delay my entrance, so I began working for a couple of state departments and saw American Politics from a true grassroots perspective. I was actively working with Florida’s Unemployment program and I received first-hand experience of the hardships and anguish that came every time the federal government deliberated over extending unemployment benefits or the despair of helping people find jobs in a stagnant economy. While I would have loved to travel to a foreign country or work for Congress, I honestly believe my experiences at these agencies uniquely shaped my perspectives and allowed me a glimpse of the impact of American Politics that few truly see and even fewer experience. After receiving my doctorate in your program, I would like to return to working with the HuffPost Live segments, as well as frequently publishing new and interesting insight on the inner-workings of the American political system. I also would like teach, not because it’s expected, but because of this one quote by Howard Thurman that resonated within me: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” I truly and honestly believe that this field has brought me to life and I would consider it a great honor and lasting legacy to make that passion for political science come alive in others. I didn't want to lose the last paragraph because I feel that it gives my narrative a little passion. If anyone thinks that they could re-write it or phrase it differently, I'm all ears, but just at a loss for words lol.

My quantitative is extremely low (140) and I sadly have to address it. Honestly, I just couldn't re-learn the Math (not that I had a very solid foundation to begin with.). Strangely enough, my GRE quantitative is on the same range at my Math SAT scores (old and new), so at least I'm consistent (if a little shaky.) To be honest, I've been really stressed this entire year over that stupid quant to the point where I got sick, so I want them to see my flaws and struggles with quantitative analyses, but know that I won't shy away from them. But I like your point about the statistics courses. I struggled with it, but it was meaningful when I finally got it and that could be a good selling point... Maziana, that's totally the opposite of what I want to portray so definitely will need to tweak it. What I want to show is that it can be used for more than just the mundane. As a matter of fact, I was picked for HufffPo live through venting my spleen on their comments sections. I want them to think "Hey, wow, she's on to something! Maybe we should take PoliSci out of the dusty tomes of PoliSci Journals and breath a little life into it through these newer venues like FB or Twitter or even Tumblr". SM has so much potential. It's rough with just 500 words because there's a lot that I want to tell them but I have that limit. You guys have been extremely helpful, especially because it felt like I was just rambling and not making any sense.

Excuse my mistakes because I'm on a cellphone but if anyone wouldn't mind giving me some advice or a little bit of a critique on my SOP, I would appreciate it. The school has a 500 word limit and I'm already over it so I need help making it a little more concise and to the point while still keeping my main focus. I've edited out some info but if any one MPs me, I'll send the more personal one with school and teacher-specific info. Thanks so much in advance! While most view social media as an outlet to tell the entire known world every thought that crosses through their minds, I’ve found a more creative outlet for it: I use it to gain insight into the grassroots of politics and the general thinking of the average American voter. While most are posting their break-ups or lamenting about a pimple, I’m normally debating someone of an opposing view on topics ranging from the mixed economy of the United States to whether the United States’ actions overseas can be seen as largely imperialistic. American politics has always interested me and whenever there’s a chance to interact with people who may (or may not, it is social media after all) have more information on the subject than I do, I readily seize it. After much introspection, I’ve decided that I want to pursue an academic career as a professor who researches the opinions of the American public and elections, particularly those of minority and marginalized voters. My research interests include the impact of negative marketing (smear campaigns) through social media, how misinformation affects voter turnouts, and the decline of ethical standards in American politics. While my research for my honors thesis was on Bioethics and the Law under Dr. Rs, I have had self-directed research in minority electoral voting patterns and studying the results has been a pastime of mine after my niece has been put to bed at night or during my lunch-break at work. As I studied the different theories that were proposed by the journals that I could get my hands onto, their theories further piqued my interest in the American political system, which lead to me becoming involved in the election of then-Presidential nominee Barack Obama, albeit on a very minor scale by passing out information, and also registering students and local voters in Tuskegee, Alabama through my local NAACP Chapter. After the 2008 election cycle, I delved more deeply into Political Science and began to take classes such as constitutional law and American government and politics so that I would have a solid foundation of the basics. I also took psychological statistics for a quantitative analysis of the social sciences, although I will admit that this was a true test of my determination because quantitative studies are a weakness of mine, as evidenced my GRE score. However, this hasn’t deterred me from taking an interest in the quantitative side of Political Science, and if given the chance, I’d like to perform some quantitative research within the scope of minority voting patterns. My attention was drawn to SCHOOL'S Political Science Department from a little word of mouth via a friend, which prompted me to look into the professors and their published works, mainly because I love to read but because I wanted to see if anyone performed any research similar to what interests me. After reading about the research that Professor QWERTY had performed with respect to Latino voter participation and the publication of Professor Prgz on Symbolic Racism, I felt that it would be an honor to work with them or among their fellows, especially since the experience would give my research more depth and differing, yet experienced perspectives. While going to grad school was my immediate plan, family circumstances forced me to delay my entrance, so I began working for a couple of state departments and saw American Politics from a true grassroots perspective. While I would have loved to travel to a foreign country or work for Congress, I honestly believe my experiences at these agencies uniquely shaped my perspectives and allowed me a glimpse of the impact of American Politics that few truly see and even fewer experience. If I am allowed to join your outstanding program and work with such gifted teachers, after I receive my doctorate, I would like to return to working with the Huffington Post on the live segments, as well as frequently publishing new and interesting insight on the inner-workings of the American political system. I also would like teach, not because it’s expected, but because of this one quote by Howard Thurman that resonated within me: “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive.” I truly and honestly believe that this field has brought me to life and I would consider it a great honor and lasting legacy to make that passion for political science come alive in others. (*cringed* Please be gentle, I'm still getting use to peer-review)