Fit

[Mumasatus]

On 1/4/2019 at 9:31 AM, merry night wanderer said:

Were there SoPs any of you used as a model? I'm pondering this out, and I think what i'm lacking are some examples of what to go for.

I wanted to mention one helpful book that I read. It is called Graduate Admissions Essays. I felt like it gave a good balance between giving guidelines, but also mentioned the exceptions to the rules. 

I think following the advice in this book would at the very least keep you from making many common mistakes. 

 

Good luck! 

[Musmatatus]

@kendalldinniene I didn't see that Berkeley had a sample statement! Could you link to it? I'd like to see how mine compares to theirs, and it may be useful for the next cycle

[havemybloodchild]

@sugilite Happy to!

https://ls.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/statement_of_purpose.pdf

Let me know if you have issues with the link.

[Musmatatus]

@kendalldinniene Worked perfectly! Thanks!

[Bopie5]

7 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

@sugilite Happy to!

https://ls.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/statement_of_purpose.pdf

Let me know if you have issues with the link.

Omg! I used this exact one too!

[havemybloodchild]

@Bopie5 I wish more schools would include this sort of thing!  It was so helpful.  Glad you found it also!

[sad_diamond]

Glad you all found that Berkeley sample SoP helpful...I also read it back in September and found it to somehow be the opposite of helpful. Like, I could see why it was an effective SoP but then all I could think was "ok here's a good SoP" but not how I could translate anything to my own...

[punctilious]

My husband is always happy to share his SOP for anyone who wants a sample in the future! Just shoot me a PM.

[havemybloodchild]

@sad_diamond  Haha, I definitely had moments looking at that SoP when I was thinking how the hell do I use this?  I found it more helpful to look at after my SoP was mostly done, as sort of an editing tool. 

It was also nice to see that a successful SoP at Berkeley was a piece of writing the quality of which I was totally capable of.  At least that's what I kept telling myself...

[Musmatatus]

1 hour ago, sad_diamond said:

Glad you all found that Berkeley sample SoP helpful...I also read it back in September and found it to somehow be the opposite of helpful. Like, I could see why it was an effective SoP but then all I could think was "ok here's a good SoP" but not how I could translate anything to my own...

It is intimidatingly good!