How many SoP's and Personal Statements to write?

[Brown_Bear]

Hey all,

I am about to start drafting some of these, and have a sense of what to include in them. Namely, my academic background, research interests, department fit, classes and experience, and so forth.

When it comes to writing the Statement of Purpose, and also the Personal Statement, is it best to write unique ones for each program to which a person applies? Is it possible to reuse some paragraphs and then just adjust the portion of the SoP that deals with program fit?

What did you do if you are a former applicant with these documents? Did they come from scratch to each school? Or was one just adapted per program? And ideas, thoughts, advice or opinions?

Thank you

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Hasspurple

[Bopie5]

24 minutes ago, Hasspurple said:

When it comes to writing the Statement of Purpose, and also the Personal Statement, is it best to write unique ones for each program to which a person applies? Is it possible to reuse some paragraphs and then just adjust the portion of the SoP that deals with program fit?

I think the answer to this is sort of a combination of both!

I would suggest writing one specifically tailored to a certain school to start. Find a program, determine what you specifically find appealing about it, and several possible professors you want to work with. Then, I would write an SoP for that program, including your proposal of your research, your background/experiences in that field, how working with those specific POIs will assist you, and what you might offer/bring to the program and/or what your ultimate professional goals and interests are. Once you have a draft on paper, it's easier to determine how much of your material is school specific and how much of it can be reused.

I would say, however, that you shouldn't only have one paragraph or portion that deals with program fit. Program fit should inform how you write your entire SoP, as it should affect how you frame your project/interests and which previous research is most relevant, besides just naming of POIs. It would be more likely for there to be a few sentences you could reuse than for there to be a full paragraph or section that you could just copy/paste over. Does that make sense?

[snorkles]

2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:

I think the answer to this is sort of a combination of both!

I would suggest writing one specifically tailored to a certain school to start. Find a program, determine what you specifically find appealing about it, and several possible professors you want to work with. Then, I would write an SoP for that program, including your proposal of your research, your background/experiences in that field, how working with those specific POIs will assist you, and what you might offer/bring to the program and/or what your ultimate professional goals and interests are. Once you have a draft on paper, it's easier to determine how much of your material is school specific and how much of it can be reused.

I would say, however, that you shouldn't only have one paragraph or portion that deals with program fit. Program fit should inform how you write your entire SoP, as it should affect how you frame your project/interests and which previous research is most relevant, besides just naming of POIs. It would be more likely for there to be a few sentences you could reuse than for there to be a full paragraph or section that you could just copy/paste over. Does that make sense?

I have a different take. I approached the statement with most of my paragraphs focusing on my interests and project proposal (which as far as I can tell is really just a test to see if you can articulate a project since no one expects you will focus on it). I dedicated half a paragraph to fit for each program. Admission committees will know if you match what they're looking for, and I don't think it's wrong to spend most of your statement focusing on yourself instead of arguing about fit. That's not to say that a greater emphasis on fit is a bad thing; I just don't think it's necessary. 

[Bopie5]

9 hours ago, snorkles said:

I have a different take. I approached the statement with most of my paragraphs focusing on my interests and project proposal (which as far as I can tell is really just a test to see if you can articulate a project since no one expects you will focus on it). I dedicated half a paragraph to fit for each program. Admission committees will know if you match what they're looking for, and I don't think it's wrong to spend most of your statement focusing on yourself instead of arguing about fit. That's not to say that a greater emphasis on fit is a bad thing; I just don't think it's necessary. 

Sorry, I think that I maybe didn't articulate my argument exactly the way that I wanted to! I agree with you--I definitely don't think one should devote the bulk of their SoP to whole paragraphs explicitly arguing about fit at the expense of focusing on your project/research. What I was more trying to get at is that I think rather than copy/pasting most of the statement and only adjusting the portion about POIs/fit, one should be open to reframing project, experience, interests, etc in slightly different ways depending on the program. Different programs obviously have different strengths and each scholar has their own unique research concerns, so I was just trying to highlight that there are ways to subtextually/implicitly argue for fit even in sections beyond the portion of the statement explicitly engaging with fit. 

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Bopie5