SOP for MFA vs SOP for phd

[PoetryPupil]

So, I'm in a strange position this year. After getting rejected for a lot of MFA programs, I have decided to pursue a phd in English instead, for a lot of unrelated reasons. I am finding the application process surprisingly different considering the related fields of study. My main issue at this point of the application is the SOP... Last year I wrote very narrative-based SOPs, witty and anecdoatal with carefully plugged in parts containing my background/education/employment etc. You have to understand that I was told over and over that the competition amongst other writers is tough in this field and they were all bringing their a-game to the table. So I did as well.

This year, I have started some applications and for the most part they stress the academical background and state that

"The SOP should avoid excessive personal or autobiographical anecdotes and offer a clear sense of your training in literary studies, your strengths as a scholar, and the reasons you are applying for the master's or doctoral degree."

What do you make of this? I am struggling to find a "voice" to write my phd SOPs in, because I still fear they will be too generic and boring if I write them neutrally. Clearly though, they cannot be a piece of creative writing either.

Please help :-/

[Sigaba]

So, I'm in a strange position this year. After getting rejected for a lot of MFA programs, I have decided to pursue a phd in English instead, for a lot of unrelated reasons. I am finding the application process surprisingly different considering the related fields of study. My main issue at this point of the application is the SOP... Last year I wrote very narrative-based SOPs, witty and anecdoatal with carefully plugged in parts containing my background/education/employment etc. You have to understand that I was told over and over that the competition amongst other writers is tough in this field and they were all bringing their a-game to the table. So I did as well.

This year, I have started some applications and for the most part they stress the academical background and state that

"The SOP should avoid excessive personal or autobiographical anecdotes and offer a clear sense of your training in literary studies, your strengths as a scholar, and the reasons you are applying for the master's or doctoral degree."

What do you make of this? I am struggling to find a "voice" to write my phd SOPs in, because I still fear they will be too generic and boring if I write them neutrally. Clearly though, they cannot be a piece of creative writing either.

Please help :-/

PP--

Consider the value of turning your MFA SoPs upside down. That is, go from a narrative based approach that plugs in parts on your background/education/employment to a thematic approach that centers around your strengths as a scholar and your reasons for applying and plugs in selectively narrative anecdotes.

HTH.

[PoetryPupil]

Sigaba, excellent advice.

I just have to see how to spin it now.

Any other thoughts?

[imisscoffee]

Please see the post I just made in this forum on the order of SOPs - I would like to leave out anecdote altogether, assuming that good writing is good whether narrative or not, and that the most important thing should be the research I wish to conduct. Save the wittiness for the writing sample, perhaps? Leaving out the narrative might signify that you are confident in this area already, and don't need to prove it to the adcom through the SOP, that you already have too much to say on the direct topic to fit stories into your SOP. I know that it's important in PhD programs to use academic-talk, but the fact that your a writer gives you the chance to show that you can blend aca-talk with clear sentence structure.

I am just applying, and scared to death of not getting in, so don't take this too seriously! Just some of my own thoughts and assumptions. I'd really appreciate feedback on these ideas, too.

-I Miss Coffee (so much, just one cup with some half and half, but alas, I cannot...)

[PoetryPupil]

Let me just add that I've written my first SOP of the year - and this one was for NYU. I have to say they made it easier for me in the end, as they were very clear in their instructions. They asked very directly to "avoid excessive personal or autobiographical anecdotes and offer a clear sense of your training in literary studies, your strengths as a scholar, and the reasons you are applying for the master's or doctoral degree". So I did just that and wrote eloquently and clearly of what I've done so far, where I'm at now and what I wish to pursue during the doctorate.

Well, I hope I did this .

Now that I've written one SOP in this manner, I doubt very much I should return to any anecdote or witty mode ever again. It just doesn't sound professional to me any more. Just last year I was in a much different state of mind with the MFA apps but phds seem to be a whole different ball park...

ps - coffee is the best !

Edited November 7, 2011 by PoetryPupil

[imisscoffee]

Glad you are getting somewhere! I have all this great information I need to integrate into my sop right now, but I just can't get my brain to turn on and do it! Hence, gradcafe posts.

I made a deal with myself - I can have coffee to celebrate each time I submit one of these suckers!

[PoetryPupil]

Wow it has been a while since I visited this thread... I am pretty much all done with apps now... the waiting game begins :-/

Good luck everyone!