Marketing Oneself in a Fit Paragraph

[hopefulwoolfian]

Hi everyone,

So I'm working on the dreaded "fit paragraphs" for my SoPs and I'm trying to figure out when pointing out complementary interests starts to ring false. For example, at one university I'm interested in, Professor X talks about subjectivity and time in Woolf. I talk a little bit about subjectivity in Woolf in my thesis, but mainly focus on other elements. I could emphasize that I talk about subjectivity, but I don't feel like that part of my work represents my best abilities. I'm wary of bullshitting too much, but I also want to market myself well. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Edited October 4, 2010 by hopefulwoolfian

[newms]

Well, BSing and marketing yourself well are not usually compatible things, so the fact that you want to avoid BS will not hurt your ability to market yourself, in fact, it will probably enhance it. 'Fitting' with a program does not necessarily mean 'I want to do the exact same thing you are already doing, the exact same way'. You can show how your approach would complement what they are already doing and how approaching the topic from a different angle could add value to their work (without coming off as arrogant). I'm not in your field, but those are my $0.02.

[foppery]

<br style="text-shadow: none;">Hi everyone,<br style="text-shadow: none;"><br style="text-shadow: none;">So I'm working on the dreaded "fit paragraphs" for my SoPs and I'm trying to figure out when pointing out complementary interests starts to ring false. For example, at one university I'm interested in, Professor X talks about subjectivity and time in Woolf. I talk a little bit about subjectivity in Woolf in my thesis, but mainly focus on other elements. I could emphasize that I talk about subjectivity, but I don't feel like that part of my work represents my best abilities. I'm wary of bullshitting too much, but I also want to market myself well. Any ideas?<br style="text-shadow: none;"><br style="text-shadow: none;">Thanks!<br style="text-shadow: none;">

<br style="text-shadow: none;"><br style="text-shadow: none;">As I've noted before on this forum, my adviser told me not to mention specific professors in my SOP. I know other people here disagree with this advice, but I think it's sound: the professors decide whether *your* interests correspond with *theirs*, not vice versa. A statement like "Professor X works on subjectivity, which I discuss at length in my thesis" sounds a little presumptuous. No matter what work you've done on subjectivity, your potential professors have probably done more thinking and research (no offense intended, but they do have more scholarly experience than you).

That said: If you know that Professor X studies subjectivity, you might find a way to mention it in your SOP *without* mentioning Professor X. Under no circumstances, though, should you misrepresent or grossly exaggerate your actual interests. That will do you no favors when you arrive at the program next fall and Professor X expects you to devote your entire grad-school career to subjectivity in Woolf.

I'd be interested to hear what others have to say, because this is certainly a delicate issue.<br style="text-shadow: none;">

[augustquail]

On some applications, I know I will be mentioning some professors because I use them in my writing sample. I don't feel confused about that at all. But your advisor's thoughts have definately made me uneasy, since it is not my advisor's advice and is different than anything i've heard about 'fit' paragraphs before. I completely understand how it would seem presumptuous to assume a professor's interests fit yours, but don't adcom committees read SOPs too? My worry is that if Idon't mention the names, they will think that my 'fit' paragraph is a generic one, not tailored to their program, and that I didn't do my research. Almost all of the prompts I've read ask you to descibe why School X's dept and faculty interests specifically fits with your interests; how would you do that without mentioning members of their faculty?

Has anyone else been told *not* to mention professor's names in fit paragraphs?

[newms]

On some applications, I know I will be mentioning some professors because I use them in my writing sample. I don't feel confused about that at all. But your advisor's thoughts have definately made me uneasy, since it is not my advisor's advice and is different than anything i've heard about 'fit' paragraphs before. I completely understand how it would seem presumptuous to assume a professor's interests fit yours, but don't adcom committees read SOPs too? My worry is that if Idon't mention the names, they will think that my 'fit' paragraph is a generic one, not tailored to their program, and that I didn't do my research. Almost all of the prompts I've read ask you to descibe why School X's dept and faculty interests specifically fits with your interests; how would you do that without mentioning members of their faculty?

Has anyone else been told *not* to mention professor's names in fit paragraphs?

I disagree with the advice about not mentioning profs in the SoP since pretty much every source I've seen says you should. This may be different for the Humanities, but as I'm a science guy I'm not sure. I don't think mentioning that your interests are similar to a prof's necessarily is presumptuous - particularly if you have contacted that prof before and talked about your interests. I also think that it takes two to tango, meaning that yes, the prof has to believe that your interests are similar, but so do you.

[augustquail]

Duke is one of my top choices and it definately has the best admissions FAQ that i've seen so far. It directs prospective students to not only look into faculty research areas but to read some of their work, and also says that if there are specific faculty members you want to work with, to absolutely mention them and to mention why. This is just one school, but I've seen similar things on a lot of websites.

[foppery]

I'm certainly willing to take back my advice; I didn't mention specific professors, and I was successful in my applications, but I realize that many other people have applied to programs in a totally different way. What this *should* prove, above all, is that no one detail is going to make or break your application!<br style="text-shadow: none;">

[newms]

What this *should* prove, above all, is that no one detail is going to make or break your application!

Absolutely. And as I said, I'm a science guy so I can't say for certain how it is in Humanities, I can just speak to my own experiences.

[poco_puffs]

Like it was said above, you don't have to play directly into their interests as if you are a tiny academic clone that worships their research and brilliance. I'm not trying to provide a format here, but just to seed your mind with some ways to vary your language and ideas in the fit paragraph:

Their topics, methods, positions, research, contributions etc might: interest you, clarify some points you discuss in your work, challenge your own ideas, push you to grow and consider new topics or methods yourself, balance your previous education, provide you with new and better tools to X Y and Z, ground your research in a particular framework of theory or method etc.

You don't have to sell yourself as a slave to their research or the next must-have accessory for their work. You are applying to the school to learn how to be a scholar, because you're still formulating your interests and skills, and because you hope to rise to a professional level of some sort someday. You are selling what you have accomplished in the past, but you are also selling your potential to mature and contribute not only to their department, but to the discipline as well. They aren't expecting you to change the world of English immediately, so don't worry about bombastic language and painting yourself as a wunderkind.

I'd say the adcomms can smell BS from a mile away anyway. Don't say anything to them in your SoP that you wouldn't be able to explain later at a department function.

[strokeofmidnight]

I'd definitely recommend erring on the side of avoiding bs, self-advertising, "stretches," etc. You are, after all, telling professors how well your proposed interests will fit THEIR interests. No one will know their interests better than the professors in questions (or their colleagues), so this can really come to bite you if you are wrong--or even a wee bit off. This is where taking a looser stance, using very careful language, and generally being cautious might be useful.

I actually think that the "don't mention profs in the SoP" advice might be useful in some cases--precisely for this reason. It isn't that your app will be tossed out if you picked the wrong profs. But your SoP might seem naive (or at worst, slightly offensive) if your description of their work (and its relevance for your education) is off. If you do mention profs, you probably do need to explain that (imagined) relationship carefully, but doing so is always courting a risk. Ideally, if you have a mentor/prof/whatnot who knows these professors well, you can ask your mention to look over the description of their work. Or you can simply read enough of their current/recent publications to venture a guess. Or, as others have suggested, leave off trying to tailor to specific faculty. Any of those approaches could work, depending on your level of knowledge, your fluency with the field and the program, your relationship (or lack thereof) to the professor....etc, etc.

For what it's worth, I did the most "tailoring" doing my worst round. And I had an advantage that most applicants don't: I knew graduate students at most of the programs in question and solicited their feedback on the SoP fit paragraphs for their respective schools. Even with grad students giving me tips on their own professors and advisers, I still over-reached, I think. I don't think this in itself was what lead to a (relatively) poor round, but it probably contributed to the results. The following year, I made sure to not reach: if I couldn't find a compelling reason to apply to a program (ie, an SoP fit paragraph that virtually wrote itself), I simply didn't apply. My fit paragraphs were much shorter, but the connections that I gestured towards much more solid--and this (among other things) did pay off.

[wreckofthehope]

Just my recent experience: at some of my schools, where I have been in contact with a number of people, I've made sure it is O.K. for me to mention names in my SOP - profs have answered unanimously: yes. In fact, many have said not only are they absolutely happy for me to do it - but it is expected. So, that's from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Edited October 5, 2010 by vallensvelvet

[BelleOfKilronen]

Just wanted to second (third?) the opinion that the best thing to do here is avoid anything that feels disingenuous. If naming professors at a program and thoughtfully linking their work to your interests feels forced, then it's probably going to sound forced to the admissions committee, too. And sounding like you're full of malarkey is much more likely to be a kiss of death than not naming professors in your SoP.

Anecdotally, I applied to six PhD programs and received offers from two. One of those offers was from a school that had professors I was genuinely interested in working in--I knew their work and it was essential to the theoretical foundations of the writing sample I included in my application. I included these professors in my "fit" paragraph and meant everything I said about the possibility of working with them. The other offer came from the one school for which I didn't cite any professors in my SoP. Instead, I talked about how the department's overarching methodology was important to my development as a scholar. This was to one of the most competitive schools to which I applied, and, after the fact, I was worried that the application was dead in the water; in retrospect, I think writing something honest and unforced helped me. As for the ones I didn't get into ... well, I think I "shoehorned" professors into my fit paragraphs a bit, and, while I'm sure that wasn't the only factor that worked against my applications at those institutions, I'm quite sure it didn't help.

(As an aside, I ended up going to the latter program, partly because there wasn't anyone here working on exactly what I am interested in, and I'm really glad that I did.)

[hopefulwoolfian]

I wanted to thank everyone who commented here- this has been very helpful. Definitely avoiding being disingenuous. I'm doing a lot more reading of the prof's current publications this time around (I'm a second-time applicant) which helps, but it's good to know that if it feels forced I shouldn't include it!