sample SOPS?

[athenianstranger]

I know many of you may be wary of doing this, but I'm looking to read a statement of purpose or two from humanities applicants. I'm applying for Fall 2011 for political theory. I've read a few SoPs from poli sci applicants, but all the paragraphs about quantitative methods and research approaches don't really offer me much guidance. What kind of things do humanities applicants highlight in SoPs? How much should I discuss potential research projects?

Does anyone have a SoP he/she would be willing to share? I've got no interest in plagiarizing a statement of purpose (is that even possible?). I'm just looking for a bit of guidance from applicants with similar interests.

Thanks.

[strokeofmidnight]

I know many of you may be wary of doing this, but I'm looking to read a statement of purpose or two from humanities applicants. I'm applying for Fall 2011 for political theory. I've read a few SoPs from poli sci applicants, but all the paragraphs about quantitative methods and research approaches don't really offer me much guidance. What kind of things do humanities applicants highlight in SoPs? How much should I discuss potential research projects?

Does anyone have a SoP he/she would be willing to share? I've got no interest in plagiarizing a statement of purpose (is that even possible?). I'm just looking for a bit of guidance from applicants with similar interests.

Thanks.

I've frequently wondered if it's actually helpful to put out a sample SoP. When I was applying (especially for the first time), I know that I desperately wanted one, and was rather put out that I didn't come across samples until my own SoP was practically drafted. In hindsight, I think it's actually really valuable to NOT look at sample SoP's until you have a pretty solid draft. The SoP (for humanities) is so much about finding that sweet spot between displaying your voice and being able to speak professionally to your field that I think it's harder to do so when you rely on samples (and it's almost impossible to *not* over-rely when you have a sample in front of you). I've given out my SoP (which is by no means ideal) to applicants in my field who are far enough along the drafting process that they might benefit from it, but I won't put it up in fear that might actually hinder rather than help.

I can, however, help with your questions.

Think about the SoP as a space to frame your research interests. What field are you interested in? What questions intrigue you from that field? What methodologies do you want to employ, and why are those well suited for the questions that you ask? What current conversations in this field can you enter? How do they shape your research? How did your previous work lead to your current interests? I typically recommend (for my field, at least) that applications focus on their current and future work as much as possible. In my case (and I had a very well-developed project in mind), this meant that 1100 out of my 1300 word SoP sketched out various aspects of my research proposal. Only a small section (4-5 sentences) discussed my previous work and training--focusing on how it lead to my current project. I spent half a sentence on my undergraduate thesis and 1.5 sentences on my previous graduate coursework/projects. Most applicants in my field are not quite as far long when they apply, which is perfectly fine (and far more common). Even then, I'd recommend focusing on describing, justifying, and situating your research project as much as you can, and discussing only the aspects of your background and training that are directly relevant to that project. For PhD's, especially...you're aiming for depth rather than breadth...or at least that's the case for my field. I'm not sure that it would be the same for yours.

[athenianstranger]

Thanks, strokeofmidnight. This advice was very helpful. I applied to PhD programs a few years ago before entering my MA program, but my SoP wasn't very forward-looking. I pretty much reiterated everything that was on my CV, and I know now that that's the wrong approach. I'll focus more on present and future projects this time around.