SOP for MA

[alem]

Hello All,

I was hoping I would be able to gain your thoughts on SOP's for masters degrees. I wanted to know how detailed my statement of intent/purpose should be, in regards to my future research. Should I be listing exactly what I want to do in my future research, or a broad overview and also should I specifically name professors I want to work with?

[sacklunch]

You might try searching around a bit on this section, but also on the SOP section.

[johndiligent]

It doesn't have to be very precise (and let's face it - it'll change a lot between now and when you begin your program, and again between the start of your program and virtually every day afterward). You will, however, want to indicate that you have a basic idea what you'd like to hone in on and indicate through that discussion that you've read enough research from that area to have informed questions about it.

It's wise to name the professors you'd be interested in working with (or professors whose work is relevant to yours in some way) because this will speak to the all-important issue of 'fit' for the program.