Toning down specificity in SOP for M.A. programs?

[Rupert Pupkin]

I am applying to 15 schools. 12 PhD programs and 3 funded MA programs. I have been using the same SOP (with customized fit paragraphs) for all of my PhD applications. As I outline a very specific research proposal in my statement, I am wondering if I should alter it for my M.A. applications. Since the MA only takes 2 years, and the programs I'm applying to aren't really geared toward my stated research interests, I am wondering if my MA SOPs should be less specific. I fear that the way my statement currently reads, the MA programs will think that I am applying to them as a fallback option (which I partly am).

Am I wrong here? Do MA programs like to see the same kind of specificity of interests as PhD programs?

[rawera]

I would use the Buffalo principle for specificity: propose a field/interest so you can prove that you are able to talk intellectually about something rather than actually proposing a dissertation.

That said, how did you choose the MAs if not for research interests. Funding/location? Faculty? I need to pick up a few back up plans too.

[rawera]

"The objective of the statement of purpose is to demonstrate to the committee that you can define intellectual parameters of inquiry and articulate a field of study (though not necessarily a specific project)."

[cquin]

With the exception of one program that explicitly states, "MA applicants need not specify an area of interest," all of my MA programs seem to have the same requirements as the PhD program. So, I don't think you need to generalize your SOP.

[runonsentence]

You should adjust your statements for your M.A. programs because "the [M.A.] programs [you're] applying to aren't really geared toward [your] stated research interests."

Programs factor in do-able-ness when making decisions about applicants; that is, they ask themselves if they can support this student's research interests. The specificity of your interests may not be so damaging as the fact that you recognize that they're tangential to these programs. So articulate something that does fit in with these M.A. programs.

Edited December 20, 2011 by runonsentence