Michigan's SoP and Personal Statement--Anyone else having trouble?

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I did TERRIBLY with personal statements when I applied, so I'm not going to give any advice on the nitty-gritty. I had not the faintest idea what I was doing and was pretty tempted to send this: "MY BIO =    ->    ->    ->  ." (Pro tip: don't do that.)

 

But after some time in my program (fairly typical of me to only be able to figure out what to do after it is required, which bodes well, I'm sure, for the future), and coming from a feminist theory perspective myself, I think you actually have solid ground on which to talk about your parents in a personal statement (not a statement of purpose, obviously), provided that you do it in an interesting and academically-relevant way. Destruction of the so-called division between the personal and the professional is well traversed ground in feminist theory, including very canonical feminist theory (the personal is the political and all that, and all the theorists who have quoted and built upon that slogan). So while I have no advice for the practicalities, I think it may help you to think of feminist theorists who have drawn on their personal lives (including their parents, whether by affirmation or by negation) as precedent for your document.

 

Thanks for the advice! Would you mind looking at my statement? 

 

Also, thanks for the hilarious emoticon idea. If all else fails, I will have to go that route...even though you said not to ; )

Edited December 11, 2013 by BunnyWantsaPhD

[pinkrobot]

sure, just send me a PM. it's that time of the year, so I'm not sure I'll be able to be terribly detailed in my response, but I'm happy to read.

[doingthings]

I'm having the same issues here with this prompt. I'm so glad I'm not alone (just found this thread). Honestly, I'm unsure about whether or not I should be more strongly addressing why I want to go to UMich or my entire struggle into going into my desired field, because that story is pretty anti-climatic and timeworn.