SoP - Specificity of Interest(s)

[Eddie Kant]

I feel like I've done enough research on this site and other external resources regarding the SoP to ask a question that I have yet to satisfactorily answer for myself. So please tell me, ideally, how specific should you be regarding your research interest(s)? Should there even be an 'S' in parentheses there? On one end of the spectrum seems to be the 'geographical location' + 'time period' + 'author' equation. You could even add the 'theoretical framework' factor onto the end. The other end seems to be that some people have success articulating multiple interests in fairly general terms. Like, "I want to examine the way in which 'the body' is treated within Victorian literature. The questions I hope to answer are X, Y, and Z." I'm applying to terminal MA programs in English if this makes a difference.

On a side note, I hear that the SoP is the time where your personality comes through your writing and the adcom members get to know you better. More people seem to think that the tone should be strictly professional. Don't say, "I think Faulker is super great." Say, "I want to narrow the scope of my studies to Faulker and the numerous papers I've written on American Modernism give me the ability to contextualize his importance within the movement."

Input is much appreciated.

[ThePoorHangedFool]

The general consensus, among the several professors I've now consulted about this matter, is that for M.A. programs, an applicant's SoP shouldn't delve too deeply into the specific area of research he or she hopes to pursue if admitted. I mean, it makes sense, I suppose, to think about it in terms of what kinds of applicants adcoms are really hoping to find. If an applicant with a B.A. is applying to M.A. programs, the basic motivation is often to define exactly what will subsequently become the concentration of his or her research once in a Ph.D. program. If an applicant describes in too thorough detail what he or she wants to study during the one or two years most M.A. programs take to complete, there's a chance that adcoms might sense over-confidence or, and probably more likely, that they'll understand such a specific research focus as an implication of that applicant's hyper-narrow interest in English Literature generally.

The advice I've received is essentially that if you've already been through an M.A. program and are now applying for Ph.D. tracks, it is definitely smart to be pretty specific and explanatory in what it is you hope to research if admitted. If, alternatively, you're an applicant with just a B.A.--applying either to M.A. or Ph.D. programs--it is typically a better idea to include *the* most fundamental descriptors to highlight what you're currently hoping to pursue. M.A. adcoms don't expect, and moreover don't want, a concentration so defined that the faculty of the programs themselves don't see a way for them to become the place for you to embark on that research (for a number of reasons). If you're applying straight to Ph.D. programs, the adcoms there certainly expect a more direct understanding of what exactly it is that you want to study; however, do leave room for the adcoms and faculty members to see ways for them actually to be able to work with you in reshaping and/or expanding, consolidating, etc., your idea.

[Eddie Kant]

Thank you ThePoorHangedFool. That makes a lot of sense and gives me a much clearer picture of what adcoms would expect to see from a candidate like myself. Essentially, I was getting ready to write a thesis proposal. Then it occurred to me, "Could I GET 50-75 pages out of this topic to write a thesis?" It felt like I was going off the deep end so to speak.

Any other thoughts until this thread goes to bed?

[Eddie Kant]

Well I think I've answered a lost of my own questions just by googling "graduate statement of purpose." Uggghhhh.... Anyway, a lot of departments (English specifically) and career centers have advice on this topic. I'd been compiling a list of tips just by cutting and pasting. When I went back through, I developed a clear picture of what a good SoP looks like.

I'd love to upload the file to make some contribution to the community. But, I was not able to figure out how to do that from the help section on posting. I guess there's a "choose" button somewhere, but I don't see it. I think I've turned off all relevant blocking software.

[dntw8up]

So, what do your tips say about the tone of the SoP? Should your personality show through, or should it be strictly professional? Let me guess -- both?

[Eddie Kant]

Lol. The writing should be professional. Don't try to be cute or funny. One, you might not be as witty as you think you are. Oops! That cutsie hook you loved so much didn't go over and now your app is in the less desirable of two piles. And two, it's kinda like interrupting in the middle of a job interview with, "So, have ya heard the one about the priest and the rabbi..." It's out of place. You want to be considered a serious candidate, and that becomes evident when you are serious about your interest in graduate studies.

With that said, you're SoP should also be revealing. Don't tell the adcom you collect marbles. But, in answering why it is that you want to pursue graduate studies, and the research area(s) that you are interested in, you're going to have to talk about yourself a little. Not too much. You want the focus to be on the interests themselves, what you hope to accomplish through your research, and what skills you possess to make that possible. Look at it this way, outside of the SoP, all the adcom has to go on is numbers, awards, and some academic writing (unless you're applying for a MAF).

Also, it should NOT be written in academese, so to speak. You are not expected to have mastered these issues yet. Don't showboat yur fancy lingo sonny.

Don't try to impress them with all the big words you learned from the GRE flash cards you bought on Amazon. They won't be. These folks are pretty smart, you know.

Seriously, this is pathetic. How do I upload a doc? I have a 12 pg doc on SoP suggestions that I compiled that hopefully could be at least marginally useful.

[Eddie Kant]

So, ya both.

[ThePoorHangedFool]

If you upload your document on http://www.mediafire.com/, where you don't need an account or anything like that, everyone should be able to download it on an individual basis if the file type isn't something bizarre. It's not as easily accessible as just posting it somewhere on TGC, although it seems doing that isn't all that simple anyway (I've never tried to upload files here, otherwise I'd try to help).

MediaFire's home page has a "drag and drop" feature, as you'll notice if you decide this method is sufficient, and my own experiences with sharing files through the site have all been relatively painless. : )

I'm eager to read your collection of tips, at any rate, so I hope you manage to find some way of uploading them!

[bdon19]

Yes, I'd love to see your list! I was considering posting a very similar thread earlier today, so I'm happy you did! I, too, am having problems knowing just how specific to be in my SoP. I have specific-ish interests, but I don't have anything close to a research proposal or anything. I'm hoping a few more months of thinking this over will help me, but I'd like to have at least a (very) rough draft done before I start classes, and I barely even know where to start!

P.S. I know there are sample SoPs out there, but if anyone's found a particularly good one (that's pertinent to our discipline), would you mind posting a link here? The only one that really springs to mind is the one from the Berkeley student about Nabokov, and I didn't like that one much.

[Safferz]

One of my mentors (now retired, but has spent many years on adcomms for my current school's history department) gave me this bit of advice for Ph.D applications in an email the other day:

"The statement of purpose is crucial. I would suggest avoiding two pitfalls. One is to be

too precise, i.e., to present a thesis proposal. The other is the opposite, to wax

eloquent about your philosophy of history. The key thing is to indicate problems,

questions and areas of research that interest you, to use the statement to convince the

committee that you are an imaginative, thoughtful and potentially creative scholar, and

to make no grammatical errors. Not likely in your case, but candidates do blow it by

sloppily written statements, written as an afterthought, not proof-read, and probably

written after several beers. The latter would not be your problem."

[Eddie Kant]

Good to know I'm not the only one who has had problems uploading files to this site. Took your advice ThePoorHangedFool. Let's see if this works. Here go http://www.mediafire...0the%20SoP.doc.

bdon19 - I've found similar advice to that offered by ThePoorHangedFool above. If you give the adcom something too specific they may find themselves thinking, "Well, if you know all the texts you want to use, and the thesis you want to prove, then why do you need us?"

Safferz - That's reaallly good advice. That definitely helped me refine my approach. Thank you!

Edited August 31, 2011 by Eddie Kant

[TypeA]

That's spectacularly helpful. Thanks!

[Eddie Kant]

Another question that I have regards citing sources in your SoP. Although there have not been many, I have run into some SoP's that had bibliographies. I have not studied my research interests in depth, and think some background research would be useful. That would prevent me from talking out of my arse and making clear to the adcoms that I do not have a solid grasp of the field. Maybe if it is clear that I don't have a lot of research experience in these areas, adcoms will not expect the questions that I want to answer to be super-specific or in-depth. Not sure. I can imagine that even if I was fairly well versed in a topic area that I would want to brush up on that interest. Wouldn't you need to cite these sources? Maybe I'm not approaching the discussion of my interests correctnly. However, the alternative to this approach that I see is talking about how much you love the idea of research interest 'X' without contextualizing it within the field. Thoughts?

[Eddie Kant]

Really? Hmmm... I'm doing research to inform myself about a topic that, although it is what I want to focus my research on in grad school, is not something that I studied in depth in undergrad. I want the questions that I am seeking to show an appreciation for the field in which I want to study. To do this, I have done more research to inform myself. Even if I'm not quoting or paraphrasing while looking at the text, my understanding of the topic is formatted in the language of those resources. So, don't I need to cite those? I'm confused.

[runonsentence]

Citing sources in a formal reference style (e.g., MLA for English, APA for social sciences, etc.) seems odd to me, in an SoP. I don't think you'd need more than an attributive tag and a quick summary of anything by a particular author. In fact, looking back at my SoP, I didn't cite any authors.

The focus of the document is your research.

[tendaysleft]

I think you could cite authors in your SOP, but only if it has a really long word limit and probably not for an MA SOP. Isn't your research not supposed to be excessively focused in MA-level applications? I think it would be difficult to cite sources but not seem like you're presenting a thesis proposal to them. (Which from my understanding is not the goal of an MA SOP.)

[Eddie Kant]

Thanks for the input folks. My inclination is "knock it out of the park" so to speak, and my vision of that is being as specific and detailed as possible - that's why the best Phd SoP's do. The MA SoP is a different animal. I just don't want to be too broad. I don't want to write a "Hemmingway was a pretty cool dude. I like his writing. He drank a lot and was badass. More Hemmingway please" SoP. Why am I not getting this... Back to the drawing board.

[runonsentence]

Even for a PhD SoP, the goal isn't to propose a dissertation, the goal is to give the committee an idea of what kind of work you'd be doing as a student at their program. That is, how would your interests fit in with the department's offerings, strengths, and faculty research? What kinds of questions do you see yourself addressing?

Remember, you're thinking more in terms of research interests, less in terms of "here's my project!!" Develop research interests and yes, give some specifics, but don't get lost in trying to develop a project proposal.

[Eddie Kant]

Yeah, I have definitely been at full-speed-ahead toward the "Here's my project" angle. I know that you should be even further away from that for an MA. Yet, those successful SoP's seem to have a similar structure, like:

Cite problem/interest

History leading up to interest

Status quo of the interest

Questions you have based on status quo

How others have attempted to answer those questions

How you differ/agree with various analysts, what your approach will be, and how that's a new direction or walking on new ground within the field.

Anyway, I won't belabor the point any further. Thanks for all the input.

[butterfingers2010]

So, what do your tips say about the tone of the SoP? Should your personality show through, or should it be strictly professional? Let me guess -- both?

I've done a lot of research on writing SOP's, and from what I can gather the consensus is both...like you said. Your tone should be informal, yet professional and intelligent, without being too verbose. Just imagine that you are talking to your favorite professor..that's what the tone of your SOP should be. I visited Northwestern before deciding to apply, and one of the tips the adcom gave us was "let your personality show through!" Adcoms have to read hundreds of SOP's, so do them a favor by not boring them and your SOP will stand out.

[InquilineKea]

Wow

One of my mentors (now retired, but has spent many years on adcomms for my current school's history department) gave me this bit of advice for Ph.D applications in an email the other day:

"The statement of purpose is crucial. I would suggest avoiding two pitfalls. One is to be

too precise, i.e., to present a thesis proposal. The other is the opposite, to wax

eloquent about your philosophy of history. The key thing is to indicate problems,

questions and areas of research that interest you, to use the statement to convince the

committee that you are an imaginative, thoughtful and potentially creative scholar, and

to make no grammatical errors. Not likely in your case, but candidates do blow it by

sloppily written statements, written as an afterthought, not proof-read, and probably

written after several beers. The latter would not be your problem."

Wow - that was such an amazing quote. How often do applicants manage to write SOPs like that? It seems pretty rare in the physics world (even Sean Carroll at Cosmic Variance said that he said that almost all the SOPs end up looking the same in the end).