Demystifying the Michigan SOP Prompt?

[Habermas]

Hi everyone. I am sitting down to finalize my SOP for Michigan when I realized there is a note included on their site about speaking to departmental fit.

"We encourage applicants to write about their specific area of research and discuss how this research fits into the larger department as a whole. Although you are welcome to reference faculty members with whom you share research interests, we strongly discourage you from giving superficial reviews of their work. “Fit” is an important criterion when reviewing applications so we encourage you to focus on your own personal academic “fit” and strengths."

Summarizing a professor's work, particularly their recent work--and drawing connections to one's stated interests--seems to be by definition how one proves fit with a program. Department strengths seem really hard for someone outside the program to describe without talking about faculty work. Anyone wanna take a crack at what to make of these instructions?

[guest789]

What are Michigan's comparative strengths relative to other departments?

Survey methods, American politics (at least historically)... Public opinion research. I think this is what they mean.

[Habermas]

2 hours ago, timeseries said:

What are Michigan's comparative strengths relative to other departments?

Survey methods, American politics (at least historically)... Public opinion research. I think this is what they mean.

Ahhh, I see. Are there any other strengths that I should be aware of when applying for comparative? I have a really strong sense of 4-5 faculty I would want to work with but again, these "departmental traits" are eluding me somewhat.

[guest789]

2 minutes ago, Habermas said:

Ahhh, I see. Are there any other strengths that I should be aware of when applying for comparative? I have a really strong sense of 4-5 faculty I would want to work with but again, these "departmental traits" are eluding me somewhat.

TBH I think that's it for Michigan. That has been their general reputation going back to the Michigan and Columbia schools of thought. Converse was a professor there as well. If you're talking about other departments... Hm.. That would be a good thread, I think. Rochester is obviously known for their formal theory focus, but historically that wasn't the case - they were more empirically-minded with faculty like Niemi and Powell. Anyway, the historical focus only matters if the department is still that way today. Michigan certainly is, so I'd mention something about that if it fits with your interests. Having said that.. They (and all departments) accept students from all subfields so I don't think it's a necessary condition for admission,  it's probably just a nice-to-have thing to mention if you do survey research. 

Edited December 11, 2020 by timeseries

[munch22]

They just want you to focus mainly on yourself. Talk about your own work and what you are interested and how that fits within the broader department strengths. There is no need to talk about historical components.