Starting SOP with a quote?

[careerchange]

Is this a horrible idea? The SOP is for master's programs so it's a bit more of a personal approach. As a career changer, I was told by admissions people to make very clear what my "story" is and why I am pursuing this field. The quote is from a poem and reflects the theme of my essay - after exploring different fields, I came back to a field i was passionate about at the beginning of my education:

Thoughts? Thank you!

[TheDude]

All the SOPs I have read have started 1 of 3 ways:

With a quote

With a vignette or quick story outlining how they decided to enter the field.

Right down to business in essence: "I'm interested in this field because...

I think it depends on how you work it into your prose and make it you.

[newms]

If you are going to use a quote, make sure that it is relevant to your field and that it is not a common quote. If it's an unusual, but germane (GRE word ) quote the the admissions committee will likely be intrigued by it. If it's a commonly used quote, chances are they would have seen it before and I can almost visualize them rolling their eyes.

[augustquail]

If you are going to use a quote, make sure that it is relevant to your field and that it is not a common quote. If it's an unusual, but germane (GRE word ) quote the the admissions committee will likely be intrigued by it. If it's a commonly used quote, chances are they would have seen it before and I can almost visualize them rolling their eyes.

I agree with this! Do not look through books of famous quotes for an opening!

I've been struggling with my sop opening for a while now. At first, I just began with "I'm interested in working in ___________field with _________questions about ____, ____, and ____-." then it changed to "in my doctoral studies, I would like to explore..." My advisor thinks that if I can have a more catchy opening that *is* germane (hehe) that'd be great, but getting to the point is ultimately the goal.

As of now, I use a quote to begin (it's worked into the first paragraph--it's not hovering above the rest of the statement) from the text I wrote about in my writing sample. It's not a quote I used in my writing sample, because it address broader issues. I think it works. (here's hoping!)

I like quotes, so I knew that I was eventually going to have one. Some people have said they're 'cheesy,' and I'm sure some quotes are. I mean, no one should ever quote something that's like "follow your dreams! sparkle:rainbow:unicorns!" or "my life like a long road, and it has led me to study ___"

[careerchange]

Thanks everyone - this is very helpful!