Statement of Purpose

[lth]

For those of you who have applied to several programs, did you write a general statement of purpose applicable to all programs, or did you use a template and tailor each submission? 

[zsaha22]

2 hours ago, lth said:

For those of you who have applied to several programs, did you write a general statement of purpose applicable to all programs, or did you use a template and tailor each submission? 

I wrote a general statement and then tailored a couple paragraphs within it. I always mentioned the school name, but depending on the institution, and how much research I was willing to invest into the school, I either just mentioned profs names or their names and the specific work of theirs with which I was familiar/had read. 

[Muddypuddy]

My statement of purpose was specific to the program(s) I've applied for.

[lth]

Thanks for the input guys

[Marcus_Aurelius]

I wrote a general statement and changed the last paragraph for each program, mentioning a couple professors who seem interesting and other special opportunities at the school.

[Moose#@1%$]

How long are all yours SOPs (like word count). I can't decide if mine is to long ?

[Kantattheairport]

5 hours ago, Moose#@1%$ said:

How long are all yours SOPs (like word count). I can't decide if mine is to long ?

~1000 words, except in cases where there is a specific limit. The usual recommended length seems to be 1-2 pages - certainly no longer than 2 pages.

[Moose#@1%$]

1 hour ago, Kantattheairport said:

~1000 words, except in cases where there is a specific limit. The usual recommended length seems to be 1-2 pages - certainly no longer than 2 pages.

Hmm.. dang. Mine is around 1100. And do you mean 2 pages double spaced or single?

[ASDadvocate]

On 12/25/2018 at 8:15 PM, Marcus_Aurelius said:

I wrote a general statement and changed the last paragraph for each program, mentioning a couple professors who seem interesting and other special opportunities at the school.

I did the same thing. Also, I wrote 2 1/2 pages for SOPs with no limit and tailored the rest to specific requirements. At first, I tried to keep it to 2 pages but my current supervisor (an assistant professor in the field I’m applying to) said 3 pages would be fine. (Ps. This is for school and clinical psych)

[Scoots]

12 hours ago, Kantattheairport said:

~1000 words, except in cases where there is a specific limit. The usual recommended length seems to be 1-2 pages - certainly no longer than 2 pages.

How did you make it so long?? I’ve been merrily sending out 300 word statements... what are you including?

 

[gradhopeful96]

1 hour ago, Scoots said:

How did you make it so long?? I’ve been merrily sending out 300 word statements... what are you including?

 

I'm interested in this too! Mine are about 500-600 words and not more than a single-spaced page (what I was advised). 

[Kantattheairport]

21 hours ago, Moose#@1%$ said:

Hmm.. dang. Mine is around 1100. And do you mean 2 pages double spaced or single?

I've been doing mine single-spaced, except when explicitly instructed otherwise.

10 hours ago, Scoots said:

How did you make it so long?? I’ve been merrily sending out 300 word statements... what are you including?

 

 

9 hours ago, gradhopeful96 said:

I'm interested in this too! Mine are about 500-600 words and not more than a single-spaced page (what I was advised). 

Just the usual -  briefly describing what I'm interested in and what I've done as an undergraduate! Mine may also be longer because I took my statement from last year and tacked some more things on it - and tbh, it's slightly longer than I'd ideally want it to be, but I'm not thinking too much about it now. From the successful statements I've seen online - on Professor Schwitzgebel's site, for example - they seem to be of pretty varying lengths and styles!

[Rose-Colored Beetle]

I did what Aurelius said above, mentioning professors that seem interesting. Plenty of rejections ensued... part of me wonders if they may have sniffed out that I didn't really care a ton and was just hoping to use them as a springboard.

But yeah, tailor-make the SOPs, no question. Especially if you can find things at the school that correlate objectively with your writing sample or AOIs.

[Moose#@1%$]

On 12/27/2018 at 12:15 PM, Scoots said:

How did you make it so long?? I’ve been merrily sending out 300 word statements... what are you including?

 

Oh man... ? Well, Idk if this makes a difference but I'm coming from an MA program and I'm an adjunct, so I've been doing a bit research with fellow faculty (trying to get published). So, I've kinda talk about all these things briefly.. and my last paragraph is pretty customized for the university. Which I guess it's what is making it long. But, now I'm worried. lol

[The_Last_Thylacine]

All I'm trying to do with my statement of purpose is describe my research interests (that I currently have) and try to indicate my familiarity with the work going on in the department. There's a risk here: namely, that you might state something inaccurate. So, a lot of careful research is required. For faculty that have published papers that correspond to my areas of interest, I do my best to skim those papers and talk about the overlap in interests. The Statement of Purpose, from what I am told, is typically something that can only hurt you, so it's best to "play your cards close to the chest" by: (1) not saying anything weird, and (2) not saying anything inaccurate about the faculty at the school. My statements range from 500 to 1000 words. For example, at Ohio State, they limit SOP's to just one page. Good luck mentioning faculty and your research interests in a single page. 

[Marcus_Aurelius]

My SOPs were a little under 800 words when not given a limit (2.25-2.5 double-spaced pages). I described my two biggest research interests in detail, along with two of my other foci in undergrad (highlighting my accomplishments when appropriate but not focusing too much on them), included something about languages (very relevant for Ancient), and then had the paragraph tailored to the individual institution. When I had to make it shorter, I made discussion of my research interests somewhat less detailed, didn't talk about languages, and sometimes cut the bits about other foci.