apex45

Has anyone seen a good example of a statement from any field in this general category? I am applying to public health programs, but at this point in my exhaustive Googling, I would appreciate reading a successful PhD SOP from someone in sociology, psychology, anthropology, education, etc. My draft is, pretty much garbage at this point. I am struggling with some major components: length, voice, and scope. The example SOPs I have found are either from humanities, hard sciences, or med school, and while they're semi-instructive, I think reading a discipline-specific one would be more useful.
I'd be happy to exchange with anyone in a related field in a couple weeks. Hopefully my statement will be in a better place then.

Gave me a little smile on a rough day too  
For a good time, try giving your dog a small can of green beans (or a handful of frozen ones). Mine loves nothing more on this earth than canned green beans but then is scared of her own green bean farts after

Just found a note on my computer with this information all in one place and thought future applicants might find it useful: 
Brown BSHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 11 Interview: January 25, all day in person, met with 2 POIs and another prof individually  Decision: accepted February 11, portal changed before email came Funding: full Pitt BCHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: February 4 Interview: February 8, hour long phone interview with 2 POIs Decision: accepted February 20 via email Funding: none, said they would find full funding if I accepted offer Yale SBS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 11, all day in person, met with every professor in the department individually  Decision: waitlisted February 28, portal changed before email came  Harvard PHS SBS:
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Decision: rejected February 7, email to login and receive rejection, no other contact with school Michigan HBHE:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 4, 30 min video chat interview with 3 professors on adcom (not POIs) Decision: accepted February 8 via email Funding: full Minnesota Epi:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes No interview  Decision: first round acceptance January 15; formal acceptance March 27 Funding: partial

Just found a note on my computer with this information all in one place and thought future applicants might find it useful: 
Brown BSHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 11 Interview: January 25, all day in person, met with 2 POIs and another prof individually  Decision: accepted February 11, portal changed before email came Funding: full Pitt BCHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: February 4 Interview: February 8, hour long phone interview with 2 POIs Decision: accepted February 20 via email Funding: none, said they would find full funding if I accepted offer Yale SBS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 11, all day in person, met with every professor in the department individually  Decision: waitlisted February 28, portal changed before email came  Harvard PHS SBS:
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Decision: rejected February 7, email to login and receive rejection, no other contact with school Michigan HBHE:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 4, 30 min video chat interview with 3 professors on adcom (not POIs) Decision: accepted February 8 via email Funding: full Minnesota Epi:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes No interview  Decision: first round acceptance January 15; formal acceptance March 27 Funding: partial

Just found a note on my computer with this information all in one place and thought future applicants might find it useful: 
Brown BSHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 11 Interview: January 25, all day in person, met with 2 POIs and another prof individually  Decision: accepted February 11, portal changed before email came Funding: full Pitt BCHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: February 4 Interview: February 8, hour long phone interview with 2 POIs Decision: accepted February 20 via email Funding: none, said they would find full funding if I accepted offer Yale SBS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 11, all day in person, met with every professor in the department individually  Decision: waitlisted February 28, portal changed before email came  Harvard PHS SBS:
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Decision: rejected February 7, email to login and receive rejection, no other contact with school Michigan HBHE:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 4, 30 min video chat interview with 3 professors on adcom (not POIs) Decision: accepted February 8 via email Funding: full Minnesota Epi:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes No interview  Decision: first round acceptance January 15; formal acceptance March 27 Funding: partial

Just found a note on my computer with this information all in one place and thought future applicants might find it useful: 
Brown BSHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 11 Interview: January 25, all day in person, met with 2 POIs and another prof individually  Decision: accepted February 11, portal changed before email came Funding: full Pitt BCHS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: February 4 Interview: February 8, hour long phone interview with 2 POIs Decision: accepted February 20 via email Funding: none, said they would find full funding if I accepted offer Yale SBS
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 11, all day in person, met with every professor in the department individually  Decision: waitlisted February 28, portal changed before email came  Harvard PHS SBS:
Contacted POIs prior to application: no Decision: rejected February 7, email to login and receive rejection, no other contact with school Michigan HBHE:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes Interview invite: January 22 Interview: February 4, 30 min video chat interview with 3 professors on adcom (not POIs) Decision: accepted February 8 via email Funding: full Minnesota Epi:
Contacted POIs prior to application: yes No interview  Decision: first round acceptance January 15; formal acceptance March 27 Funding: partial

Accepted Yale's SBS PhD offer -- anyone else heading to New Haven?

After 3 applications cycles, 14 applications, and 12 rejections, I am FINALLY going to my dream program! I got a call from JHU GDEC Friday afternoon and I received my acceptance letter/saw portal changes a few hours later. DREAMS COME TRUE LADIES AND GENTS YOU CAN MAKE IT OFF THE WAITLIST!
Seriously though, thank you to this forum for all of the support and well wishes. Congrats to all!!!

Just accepted Brown's BSHS Ph.D. offer! 

Committed to Michigan. Cheers for the support on this forum, all, I'm out!

Committed to Michigan. Cheers for the support on this forum, all, I'm out!

Committed to Michigan. Cheers for the support on this forum, all, I'm out!

Committed to Michigan. Cheers for the support on this forum, all, I'm out!

Committed to Michigan. Cheers for the support on this forum, all, I'm out!

Minnesota isn't exactly a waitlist, but even if they admit me with full funding at this point, I'd choose UM or Brown. Getting into Yale would be great, and I do plan to stay on the waitlist until I decide on UM vs. Brown. But I'm not optimistic since I was directly competing with 1-2 others for a T32 and am pretty sure that whoever their first pick was would accept it. The funding/benefits at Yale are amazing but my research interests align better at UM and Brown. 

Declined my offer to Pitt. Deciding between Michigan and Brown now. I'm hoping I make up my mind by April 15, but it's a really hard decision.

Wait what, I’m just curious about JHU. I was thinking of applying for PhD in International Health but never did. 
They seriously don’t offer full funding? Do they cover tuition but not living costs? Or how is it exactly?
I find it insane that a #1 public health school doesn’t offer full funding for PhD students, wow!

What was your MPH concentration and what department is the MS from Columbia coming from, Epi? If the MPH and MS are smiliar then it wouldn't be helpful to spend the money on another degree. The main pro about Columbia is that attending a school in NYC would mean more opportunities to work on research. That said, you could do this without actually attending classes. It seems like you need more research experience, not more classroom learning. Full-time research experience can substantially strengthen your application if you decide to apply again - esp if you get the opportunity to work on multiple projects. 
Small midwest program: Radio silent doesn't necessarily mean a bad sign but you should contact the Director of the program or the Head of the department - they would be able to tell you more definitively how funding works after the first year. 

Nope! I know my research doesn't align very well with what they do, so their silence isn't surprising to me. I don't expect to be fully admitted.

I've got a whole spreadsheet of factors with weighted averages based on how important they are to me. I made it for MPH programs two years ago but updated the categories. I wish it were helping more... 3 schools are within a tenth of a point of each other. 
Anyway, here's the categories in it:
Research alignment with content interests alignment with methods interests PI's mentorship secondary sources of support (other faculty with interest overlap, basically) student/alumni opinions productivity (# of papers students graduate with) Program/School curriculum aligned with my interests ranking/prestige  time/completion rate student/alumni opinions cohort size likelihood I'll make real friends  Financial funding amount funding model cost of living perks (spousal insurance, moving stipend, etc.) Location ability to escape interesting stuff to do diversity/integration  political climate partner's opinion 

Princeton University Computer Science, PhD (F19) Rejected via E-mail on 1 Feb 2019 I 25 Feb 2019 Was my safe school To anyone that gets a rejection from an Ivy League and says it was his/her safety school: we could never, in a million years, be friends.

HAHAHA omg, I shouldn’t be laughing but this is the best reaction ever! 

All the conversations I've had like this have been pretty casual and flow naturally. I wouldn't stress about coming in with lots prepared since you're already accepted. But here's some stuff you might consider asking: 
- Where does she see her research going over the next few years? 
- What data does she have access to/have banked for future student projects? 
- What does she expect of you in your first year? 
- Does she advise current students that you could talk to? (You definitely want to talk to them to get their honest opinion on her mentoring abilities)
- Will you get 1:1 attention or does she prefer a team meeting structure? 
- Where does your funding come from? Are you required to TA or RA, or are you on a fellowship that allows you to work on your own projects? 
Good luck! You're already in, the hard part is over.