Rethinking already submitted statement of purpose

[emerald91]

My apologies for the length and many questions! So I just submitted my statement of purpose this week. I had been working on it for a few months (from early fall to a few days ago). I was VERY hesitant to let anyone read it, for fear of being judged and having too many opinions cloud my head. I had 3 people read and all 3 liked it very much, said it flowed well(2 were friends of over a decade, one of those friends just applied to a grad program at an ivy league, the 3rd person is a co-worker who has just started grad school, I say this just to point out that 2 of 3 have experience with SOPs and 2 know me well, so I trust all of their opinions). I had asked a 4th friend but he was taking a while to get back to me, the deadline was days away and I was over analyzing everything so I decided to just let go and breathe and submit. The next day after submitting, the 4th person tells me that there was room for improvement with my quality of writing, and that they took a year to write their SOP, and had several people edit it (fyi this person recently finished a masters). I'm personally not a big fan of having people edit it (i just prefer feedback/suggestion), as I believe it really needs to be your voice. His comment about my writing quality was especially shocking as I consider myself a very strong writer (I could improve on punctuation/grammar but my content and ability to analyze are strong). I've had teacher's my entire life describe me as an excellent writer, I was in an intensive writing program all years of high school and my undergrad major very centered around writing. Not to mention I specifically mentioned my writing skills in the SOP essay (that would be so awkward if my writing was actually not excellent in this paper). Now I've reread my paper, and kinda think it looks like shit and doesn't flow well. I'm the queen of over-thinking and I know it was just one person's opinion, but it still makes me nervous. Also my ego was just a little burned (lol). So, I have a few questions...First, should I have started writing much earlier (I just think its insane to spend more than a few months on a 2-3 page paper)? Should someone or a few people have edited it (should I have gotten more than 4 opinions)? Has anyone thought they submitted a crappy SOP or personal statement, but still ended up getting accepted to your program? Also, did you have differing/opposite opinions from the people who read your paper? Has anyone ever submitted without having anyone read?! Do you think it was a bad idea to not have someone working in academia read it? Am I just completely over-thinking? Thanks! 

Edited February 2, 2018 by emerald91

[TakeruK]

Lots of questions here.

1. There is no one right way to write a SOP. So yes, it's common for applicants to get differing opinions and not necessarily agree with everything you hear.

2. Yeah, probably would have been a good idea to have more people read it? The goal is to get a ton of opinions and then decide for yourself which ones are important. I would weigh opinions from people with relevant experience more highly. For example, instead of getting friends to read it, I would recommend getting professors to read it.

3. I do think one year is way too long to spend on a SOP. For my main master SOP, I probably spent 15-20 hours on it. Then I spent 0.5-1.0 hours editing each one to make it specific to each school. So, I think one solid week of work is good for SOPs.

4. Yeah I think my SOP was pretty crappy on hindsight but I got into plenty of programs.

[Mise]

You might not be in the mood to accept this comment, but congratulations on submitting your application! It's great that you submitted it. 

I think a few focused months of writing is enough. But if you're going to keep working in academia, I think you should get used to showing your manuscript to more people. I know that's difficult and I'm hypocritical to say so, because I had only my adviser look at my SOP and writing sample  

What's done is done, but I totally feel for your overthinking. It will be difficult, but save your fourth comment for another writing you'll have to do in the future! 

I wish you good luck! 

[Tyedyedturtle91]

So, there is no one correct approach to writing, editing, or revising your SOP, and at this point, you have submitted it. You have to let go, and stop the over-analyzing. What's done is done. Breath a sigh of relief. It is behind you, and you spent lots of time caring about this and getting the work done! That's great!

I see both sides to your dilemma. It is always great to get a range of constructive criticism on your writing. Fresh eyes can show you things you never realized you might be communicating. They can provide editing for mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling (MUGS). They can suggest improvements to your content or organization, and most of all they can tell you if you are telling a compelling enough story, if you've made your case, if you've been persuasive enough. Those are all great things, and it is good preparation for grad school and a life in academia. You have to stand for your work, and allow others to read it.

If you don't think MUGS is your strong point, I honestly think allowing someone, who is a skilled writer/editor, edit your statement on paper copy with you beside them is a great idea. It allows you to see the edits in real time and discuss the changes. It keeps the edits on paper and doesn't alter your digital copy. It provides you a record for revision. Then discussion can turn into more global areas, such as organization, themes, content, etc. For this, try a professor, advisor, or tutor from a writing center to ensure you are getting the best information. You might want to consider that in the future, should the need arise, and hey, I hope it won't! 

But I also think there can be "too many cooks in the kitchen." I think your fourth reviewer was one too many cooks, personally. I do not agree that it is reasonable to spend an entire year writing a personal statement. These SOPs tend to be no more than a couple pages. Talk about overthinking it! I spent a few weeks off and on, returning to mine. Finally, I got to a point where I was being ridiculously obtuse and nitpicky. I decided it was time to let go. It was as good as it was ever going to get. I had someone review it a few times and offer feedback. I listened carefully and revised several times. I tried out a few different versions until I settled on the one and then subsequently began tearing apart every paragraph and sentence. That's when I knew it was time to stop. So, no, you shouldn't spend a year. You shouldn't let hundreds of people read it.

You did all the right things. At the end of the day, this is a little subjective. People might differ on what they think your SOP needs. But it sounds like three people gave you largely positive feedback. That's good. Next time, I would just go to a tutor for a brief editing session, since you seem worried about your MUGS. My first round of apps, I let a couple professors and my then boyfriend read. I didn't get in hardly anywhere. This round, I only let my one person read, and I've got an acceptance already. Just trust yourself. You felt confident in it before. Don't let one person tear that down!