Eddie Kant

You've diagnosed my paranoia over the internet! But how... You have a good point. In trying to make things easier, I'd just be giving them more material to read. My thinking was part of a strategy I've used over the years as an employee, i.e. do what you can to make the boss's job as easy as possible. In so doing, I think I would be violating another important rule - stay the bleep out of the way! Thanks for the input!

Well, I have limited experience in this area like yourself. I will provide what I have learned scanning threads on these forums and elsewhere. It's rough right out of the gate. Just throwing it out there that your uncle is some kind of business big shot is not a good idea IMHO. I wreaks of self-importance and arrogance. This is the silver-bullet of death for any SoP. Plus, it's an anecdotal start, which most people advise against. And, it's not even one that demonstrates how you are a strong candidate for the program. What did you learn through these experiences? Same thing for your achievement as a sales rep. You drop in there like it speaks for itself - that you have cred. Tell them what you learned. Don't get me wrong, I think that your experience at Frito-Lay is a really strong selling point for you as a candidate. Don't tell them what you did. Tell them what's in your repertoire, what's in your bag, what skills you have and how you acquired them. More importantly, tell them how they make you equipped to do what you want to do in grad school.

I took the advice someone on here offered up and ordered a copy of my official transcript so I could give it a look over before I sent it out; to see what the adcom will see. Glad I did. First of all, it's a not well organized at all and difficult to read. If I were a Prof and had to sift through the jumbled crap on there, I can see myself loosing patience and interest in that candidate's app. Hey, thanks school I paid a butt-load of money to for undergrad. The second frustrating part has more to do with my own personal academic record. I bumbled my way through my first three years and was finally forced to take a year away from that school. I went home, worked, and went to school part-time for three semesters at two separate institutions. Well, my mothership institution just decided to sprinkle these semesters throughout my transcript. So, they are completely out of chronological order. That poses the question, should I include a more coherent, "unofficial" version of my academic history in my application?

I feel like I've done enough research on this site and other external resources regarding the SoP to ask a question that I have yet to satisfactorily answer for myself. So please tell me, ideally, how specific should you be regarding your research interest(s)? Should there even be an 'S' in parentheses there? On one end of the spectrum seems to be the 'geographical location' + 'time period' + 'author' equation. You could even add the 'theoretical framework' factor onto the end. The other end seems to be that some people have success articulating multiple interests in fairly general terms. Like, "I want to examine the way in which 'the body' is treated within Victorian literature. The questions I hope to answer are X, Y, and Z." I'm applying to terminal MA programs in English if this makes a difference. On a side note, I hear that the SoP is the time where your personality comes through your writing and the adcom members get to know you better. More people seem to think that the tone should be strictly professional. Don't say, "I think Faulker is super great." Say, "I want to narrow the scope of my studies to Faulker and the numerous papers I've written on American Modernism give me the ability to contextualize his importance within the movement." Input is much appreciated.