SOP formatting and CV questions

[speed]

I have two questions:

1) Is there any specific convention we should follow while formatting the SOP? What is the ideal font size? Space between paragraphs etc?

2) I have a two page CV that I use to apply to jobs. While submitting my CV for graduate schools should I make a new CV which highlights my undergraduate projects more rather than my professional experience?

Thanks!

[Strangefox]

1) Is there any specific convention we should follow while formatting the SOP? What is the ideal font size? Space between paragraphs etc?

My writing sample, SOP, diversity statement are all double spaced and in 12 size font. I have read several times that it is the best combination for application materials. Probably some graduate coordinator has also told me that... I am not sure now. Anyway, I am sure that double space will be a perfect choice. As for the font size, there might be different opinions.

[ScreamingHairyArmadillo]

My SOP was single spaced with a space in between paragraphs. I thought it looked cleaner than way. 12 point font, Times New Roman.

Definitely formulate your CV with research/education as the focus; a CV is not really a job resume. I suggest googling some samples for a format.

[adaptations]

I've seen successful SOPs in single and double spaced formatting. I think Times New Roman 12pt font is standard. As for your CV, you should probably reformat it so that it follows the goals/priorities of academia. It definitely should not just highlight work experience as would be the case for a job application.

[schoolpsych_hopeful]

I would absolutely format it double spaced. Think of how many of these AdComs have to read. Single spaced writing is hard on the eyes, use 1.5 if you must.

[speed]

I have aligned my CV for graduate school using these headings in the following order:

1. Education

2. Honours(mentioning my undergraduate and school achievements)

3. Work Experience

4. Teaching Experience

5. Internship

6. Professional Projects

7. Undergraduate Projects

8. Seminars

9. Related Courses

10. Technical Skills

11. Extra Curricular Activities

Is it ok or should I change anything?

[adaptations]

It seems to me that you are including more categories than necessary, or are perhaps being redundant with some. For example, "internships" and "professional projects" could probably be part of "professional experience." I assume that if you are including a professional position you will include a couple key descriptors of your position, which would presumably incorporate some of the professional projects. I also don't think you need to have sections for "seminars," "related courses," and "undergraduate projects." The admissions committees will have your transcripts, so they will know what courses/seminars you took, which means all of these could go under education. If all of your honors are academic, they could probably be included under education, and listed with the corresponding institution/degree.

Remember, when faculty CVs are many pages long, it is typically because they have 3+ degrees, have taught at numerous schools, and have published many articles. Since you're early in your career, they won't expect to see all of those things, but that doesn't mean you should try to make your CV longer by including every small detail. Assuming you have less that 5 years professional experience and don't have a string of peer reviewed publications, you should probably be able to keep your resume/CV to 2 pages.

[schoolpsych_hopeful]

I have aligned my CV for graduate school using these headings in the following order:

...

Is it ok or should I change anything?

I agree with adaptations, these categories could be combined. My CV is basically Education, Research Experience, Work Experience, Conference Presentations, Skills, Awards. It comes to about 2 pages, which is long enough considering my experiences.

[BrandNewName]

Can I ask a few questions about my CV? I have it broken down into the following categories in this order:

Professional Experience

Education

Honors and Awards

Conferences

Courses Designed and Taught

Additional Work Experience

Relevant Course Work.

Opinions on putting the professional experience first? I did it because I finished my MA last year and have held a 'professorship' in a European university for the past 1.5 years. As it is my most recent activity and, I hope, looks impressive, I decided to begin with Professional Experience. Thoughts?

Also, a few other random questions:

- Do you explain all your awards? (i.e. The Dorothy D. Dummy Award - Awarded to one senior in recognition of being totally senseless as decided by a faculty committee.)

- Opinions on formatting publications? MLA format? Or more informal (Title. Publication, Year.)?

- And what about publications that you are currently working on that may not be published for another year? (I'm co-editing a volume with a few other professors and am worried about putting it on my CV because we have not yet finalized the title or the date for publication. Would a simple 'in progress' in parentheses be acceptable?)

- Lastly, what is everyone's opinion on the list of relevant coursework being included on the CV? Applying to English PhDs with a queer theory/cultural studies emphasis, should I be generous in what I define as relevant? Core philosophy or sociology requirements as an undergraduate? Audited courses while a visiting researcher with a post-undergraduate fellowship? Courses that indicate knowledge of a foreign language?

[schoolpsych_hopeful]

Opinions on putting the professional experience first? I did it because I finished my MA last year and have held a 'professorship' in a European university for the past 1.5 years. As it is my most recent activity and, I hope, looks impressive, I decided to begin with Professional Experience. Thoughts?

I think the rule for Education/Experience being first is based on how much professional experience you have and how many years you've been out of school. Since I graduated college in 2009, and have very little professional experience, I have education first. I think it's up to you.

- Do you explain all your awards? (i.e. The Dorothy D. Dummy Award - Awarded to one senior in recognition of being totally senseless as decided by a faculty committee.)

Yes I would explain your awards, it will make them sound more impressive if the AdCom doesn't know what they are.

- Opinions on formatting publications? MLA format? Or more informal (Title. Publication, Year.)?

Publication formating probably varies across fields. Mine are APA, but since I'm in psych that's a no-brainer. Just use whatever is standard in your field.

- And what about publications that you are currently working on that may not be published for another year? (I'm co-editing a volume with a few other professors and am worried about putting it on my CV because we have not yet finalized the title or the date for publication. Would a simple 'in progress' in parentheses be acceptable?)

I think it would be okay to include this as "in progress."

- Lastly, what is everyone's opinion on the list of relevant coursework being included on the CV? Applying to English PhDs with a queer theory/cultural studies emphasis, should I be generous in what I define as relevant? Core philosophy or sociology requirements as an undergraduate? Audited courses while a visiting researcher with a post-undergraduate fellowship? Courses that indicate knowledge of a foreign language?

I removed relevant coursework from my CV. They will see your transcript, so what's the point? The only case I can see where this would make sense is if your transcript fails to properly name courses. For example, I took a seminar on psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. On my transcript it says "Current topics in Clinical Psychology," which is the general name of the seminar. If I were applying to Clinical programs, I would absolutely include something explaining my relevant coursework. But I don't think I'd actually include it in my CV (maybe as a separate page accompanying my transcript).

[BrandNewName]

Publication formating probably varies across fields. Mine are APA, but since I'm in psych that's a no-brainer. Just use whatever is standard in your field.

That makes sense, but I guess I've noticed that many professors shorten the bibliographic information. You get enough so that you can find it (i.e. title, publication, year) and still save space. I guess I'm just wondering if putting a three-line citation similar to what one would find at the end of a research paper is overkill and looks like I'm just trying to fill space. I mean do they really need to see my name again at the beginning of the citation? Or the publishing house and city? Well, it looks like I should opt for better safe than sorry. If nothing else at least they'll see that I'm a stickler for proper citations. And if you have that, why even worry about the writing sample...

I removed relevant coursework from my CV. They will see your transcript, so what's the point? The only case I can see where this would make sense is if your transcript fails to properly name courses. For example, I took a seminar on psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. On my transcript it says "Current topics in Clinical Psychology," which is the general name of the seminar. If I were applying to Clinical programs, I would absolutely include something explaining my relevant coursework. But I don't think I'd actually include it in my CV (maybe as a separate page accompanying my transcript).

I'm tempted to remove it as well, but there are a few courses whose names get chopped and the courses from my semester abroad...it's like they didn't even try to convey what was actually happening. The proper title of one course I took when translated into English would be "Modernity and the Course of the World." It was a theoretical class held in German and on my transcript it's listed as "Europe and World, 1945-2000." On top of that, it's my lowest grade (thank you oral and written examinations in German after having studied the language for about a year). So there the clarification is nice as it will (hopefully) make clear that my lowest grade is not some entry-level history survey. Also, during my research year I audited a boatload of courses in addition to my research and it would be nice if those were at least mentioned somewhere since no transcript was issued for my time in residency at the university.

If anyone has first-hand experience in either situation, I'd love to hear more opinions. I'm a bit OCD about formatting if you can't tell...

[milkshake22]

One question regarding the format for a graduate school resume. If your undergraduate major is basically the same degree you are applying for, is it really necessary to have one whole section of your resume devoted to relevant coursework? My undergraduate major was IR and I am applying to IR programs, so obviously 80% of my courses are going to be related. I guess if you had specific research interests: e.g. environmental policy, and you want to list related courses to that e.g. sustainable development 101, but even then, It seems really redundant to me and a waste of space. Can anyone shed light on this? Is it bad if I totally omit this section?

Edited November 26, 2010 by vneff

[apsuwa]

One question regarding the format for a graduate school resume. If your undergraduate major is basically the same degree you are applying for, is it really necessary to have one whole section of your resume devoted to relevant coursework? My undergraduate major was IR and I am applying to IR programs, so obviously 80% of my courses are going to be related. I guess if you had specific research interests: e.g. environmental policy, and you want to list related courses to that e.g. sustainable development 101, but even then, It seems really redundant to me and a waste of space. Can anyone shed light on this? Is it bad if I totally omit this section?

Listing relevant coursework in CV is unnecessary anyway. IMO.

[katerific]

Okay, I have a few silly questions about the SOP (that may have been answered already--oops?).

First, some sites seem to mention that you should list which department you're applying to at the top, but others don't say anything about it. So what sort of basic information might I include? Name, dept name....? Should I only list the dept names on the ones that ask for them, or do the others assume that I would put that there?

Secondly, do you guys just upload *.pdfs? or *.docs? or....? None seem to specify a preference, but... yeah. (PS: I am technologically retarded and don't know any better about what's most acceptable/professional.)

[Strangefox]

I would absolutely format it double spaced. Think of how many of these AdComs have to read. Single spaced writing is hard on the eyes, use 1.5 if you must.

Agreed. I used double space in my SOP and in my writing sample.

[Strangefox]

First, some sites seem to mention that you should list which department you're applying to at the top, but others don't say anything about it. So what sort of basic information might I include? Name, dept name....? Should I only list the dept names on the ones that ask for them, or do the others assume that I would put that there?

If websites say that you must name a dapartment you are applying to - absolutely do that. Otherwise it is not necessary. I put in my header the following info: "My name - Statement of purpose - PhD program in blablablology at the Great University". It is not necessary to include the last part, though.

Secondly, do you guys just upload *.pdfs? or *.docs? or....? None seem to specify a preference, but... yeah. (PS: I am technologically retarded and don't know any better about what's most acceptable/professional.)

It does not matter. Websites usually mention which formats you can upload and PDF and WORD were fine for all schools that I have seen so far. There is nothing unacceptable or unprofesional in any of these formats

[katerific]

Okay, cool. I had a feeling my simple questions had simple answers Thanks!