citing in SOP?

[012345]

Hey all -

What is your practice of citing in your SOP? I'm using quite a bit of quotes and thinkers... is a works cited page totally pretentious? Any help appreciated! 

Thank you

[Indecisive Poet]

I asked an old professor of mine about this and she said not to include any citations.

[Glasperlenspieler]

I don't think it's necessary to cite in your SOP. I had one quote in mine, didn't cite it, and still got accepted to places. Just make sure you make it clear who the quote comes from and, if relevant, what work. That being said, you say you're using "quite a bit of quotes." If you're using more than one or two, I think you should reconsider. The SOP is the place to show your own voice, not the quotes of others. It's also not the place where you should be doing close readings relevant to your project. The goal should be to sketch out who you are, what you're interested in, and what sort of project you foresee yourself doing. While a quote might be useful in that, more than that will probably take away from it.

[Pnwonder]

From my experience, I'd agree for the most part with others that have chimed in here in that you don't need a works cited page with your SOP. I aimed for incorporating maybe one especially useful quote in talking about how my work fits into the field at large as well as a quote or two from a POI to show how my work aligns with their ongoing research, and this worked out well for me. So I wouldn't necessarily say that more than one quote will detract from your ability to write an effective SOP, but certainly erring on the side of less is more would probably be advisable.