LaTeX SOP

[Secret Squirrel]

I've been on a LaTeX craze lately. Would the adcom think I'm trying too hard if I convert my SOP to LaTeX?

Edited October 30, 2011 by Secret Squirrel

[RWBG]

I don't submit anything important that isn't formatted in LaTeX. It would be pretty silly for them to think that demonstrates that you're "trying too hard."

Edit: Just don't include an abstract

Edited October 30, 2011 by RWBG

[antikantian]

And I thought I was the only weirdo who uses LaTeX for everything. After countless seminar papers, presentation outlines, handouts, etc, formatted in LaTeX, the only time someone ever commented was to say, "I like your formatting -- looks really professional."

[Secret Squirrel]

Thanks. I also spent a portion of the day converting my writing sample into LaTeX to go with it (well, XeLaTeX). The only problem was that I had to use a non-traditional font to accommodate my use of ancient Greek. I'm worried it looks too flowery. Would someone mind taking a look?

[gradcafe26]

I have never used it before, but if it affects my chance of admission I will definitely learn to convert my writing sample and SOP into LaTex.

Do you think the adcom would think PDF files are informal?

[catchermiscount]

I have never used it before, but if it affects my chance of admission I will definitely learn to convert my writing sample and SOP into LaTex.

Do you think the adcom would think PDF files are informal?

No. They may, on the other hand, think .doc files are informal (unlikely).

[gradcafe26]

Thanks man!

[laosheep]

But if you use latex, you need to figure out the format. Different paper/institution requires different latex form. Which is better? Who can tell?

[catchermiscount]

?? You just need to use the standard document class. I recommend the geometry package to get the margins right and the fancyhdr package with your name and what the document is (SoP, etc.) in the header.

[Secret Squirrel]

Over-hyphenation also looked weird, so I had to get rid of that.

[deleteduser0333]

I'm wondering if there are any latex apa templates out there? Got one for lyx but I think it's too hard to learn a new software.

[laosheep]

It's much easier than you thought. There must be some others' documents online that you can download, and you just need to put your own word into corresponding places, and you definitely know where they should be.

Since you do not need any kind of math formula or diagrams, it's quite simple to do that.

[mv0027]

Wait, I don't use LaTex much, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say, yes, adcoms would think that is weird. are you talking about sending your SOP in like a file that is written in LaTex over a word or PDF doc? From what I understand of LaTex, you use it to make the lives of document editors easier. I don't anyone on the university's end is gonna convert your file into a easy read file. So, the adcom would be looking at your raw text file? Wouldn't they rather just see it in PDF, which is much easier to read? Sending it over like that, in my opinion, shows you don't really understand who does what in the world of publications.

Again, I don't know the software well though, so feel free to enlighten me. I would recommend sending it PDF while mentioning in your CV your knowledge of LaTex.

[RWBG]

I think the OP's question is about whether they should send a LaTeX-formatted pdf instead of a word document. Obviously sending the TeX code would be an exceptionally poor idea, and would make absolutely no sense, as they would just be skipping the generate pdf step.

Re laosheep's most recent post: That's not a good idea. Editing the text in a pdf directly would only work if both your documents turned out to be the same length; as I understand it, you need to regenerate a pdf to have everything work out properly, which is why the previous poster asked about TeX templates.

[mv0027]

Oh. In that case, the more professional the better.

[laosheep]

I have both latex-pdf form and word-to-pdf form SOP. Obviously the former looks more professional, it's extremely trim. Yet I can't put all the words into two pages, Since the format is fixed. For the word, since I can adjust the paragraph configuration, I can do that.

I think the OP's question is about whether they should send a LaTeX-formatted pdf instead of a word document. Obviously sending the TeX code would be an exceptionally poor idea, and would make absolutely no sense, as they would just be skipping the generate pdf step.

Re laosheep's most recent post: That's not a good idea. Editing the text in a pdf directly would only work if both your documents turned out to be the same length; as I understand it, you need to regenerate a pdf to have everything work out properly, which is why the previous poster asked about TeX templates.

[hupr]

I would suggest spending time on your actual application instead of on stuff like this.