Art History SOP- Tips/Suggestions

[kpwi]

Does anyone have any general tips for writing an art history statement of purpose? Specifically pertaining to MA applications.

[snooze]

I could use some tips too. I'm having a hard time getting started. I want to give them a sense of everything I know and what I have done, but I don't want it to be boring... but I also don't want it to be cheesy with stories like "I cried when I saw my first Rothko!" or something.

[Ramblr]

I also don't want it to be cheesy with stories like "I cried when I saw my first Rothko!" or something.

Count me in!!! I first sat down to write the SOP back in early October while studying for the GRE. Obviously, that didn't work, so after wasting a few hours on it, I gave up and focused on the GRE. Now that it is (thankfully) over, I have no choice but to do the SOP. (I have even spent the greater part of today editing my writing sample, which is basically ready anyway, just so I can further avoid the SOP).

I will say that I've begun to approach the SOP in pieces, thinking about what points I would include (i.e. language skills, past internships, concentration, secondary concentration) and then just writing without editing a few paragraphs for each. While that's got my brain in motion, it hasn't led to anything substantial. I wish there were better guidelines!!!

[ameshu205]

Hello! As someone who went through this scary, scary process last year (for the second time), I wanted to share the most useful piece of advice that I received when I was starting to write statements of purpose, in case it could be of any help. The advice was to, above all else, focus the statement with great specificity on each individual program. This recommendation came from a professor who had sat on many admissions committees; he said that the professors who are reading applications already know a) how great their program is and what it has to offer its students; b ) the content and importance (real or imagined) of their own work; and c) the rough biographies of the types of students who apply to work with them. As he explained, what they don't know -- and are very interested in discovering -- is how the applicant demonstrates their "fit" with the program.

I began to try to achieve this totally elusive goal by reading everything that my various potential advisors had published and thinking hard about how their methodologies and larger theoretical or cultural interests resonated with what I wanted to study. From there, I read as much as I could by other professors in each program to try to get a sense of if there was a "house style" (or even somewhat shared interests) and to try to imagine how the methodologies of professors outside my direct field of study might contribute to my intellectual development. On a more practical note, I took this advice to mean the difference between writing "Some of the faculty, such as XXXX and XXXX, have interests similar to mine, and I would feel privileged to work with their advice and direction" versus something like, "I am especially interested in Professor XXXX's combination of close visual analysis and rigorous historical specificity with interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks to explore the mechanics of looking and the logic of representational systems. Professor XXXX's investigations into portraiture and its political implications resonate strongly with my interests in..." (edit at will!) In other words, after defining an element of why I was a good fit for the program (or vice versa), it felt a bit less stilted to back up that assertion with examples from my past work and experiences.

This approach, of course, means essentially writing a new statement for each program one applies to (not just a new "fit" paragraph), but once I actually made myself start reading, I felt like I gained a lot from the work. What I discovered was that some statements were not that difficult to write, while in others, I had to really struggle to demonstrate how my work could be of interest to anyone in the department (guess which programs I got in to). One last thought: I realize that KP-WI mentioned M.A. applications, rather than ones for Ph.D. programs. I feel that everything above still stands, but you certainly have more flexibility in terms of defining your research interests and approaches (as you undoubtedly realize). While allowing yourself to embrace that flexibility, the more specific you can be in explaining why you and the program would mutually benefit one another, the better. If I may ask, where are you thinking of applying? I hope these thoughts aren't too vague or contradictory. Best of luck to all with this tough, but rewarding, work!

Edited November 8, 2010 by ameshu205

[snooze]

Thanks ameshu205! That was definitely helpful and something I was thinking about. Are you at the University of Delaware by any chance? That's one of the places I'm applying!

[manetdejeuner]

Yes, very good advice. I am also applying to UDelaware and I am visiting this week! Do you like it there?

Edited November 8, 2010 by manetdejeuner