Statement of purpose, personal statement, letter of intent....?

[Kwest]

Would everyone consider an SOP the same as a "Brief autobiographical statement of your educational goals and objectives" as quoted per OSU? In the same vein, I've been considering all "statement of purpose," "personal statement," or "letter of intent" to be the same thing...Of course it should be taylored to the school, but I've taken them as meaning the same thing essentially, right?

Also, I've written yet another draft of this thing and was wondering if anyone would be willing to look it over?

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

[ci1717]

A statement of purpose and letter of intent are the same thing. You should cover what you hope to accomplish in and beyond the grad. program you are applying to, your research interests, professors you want to work with, future plans, etc.

A personal statement is usually more personal. It's an opportunity to tell the admissions committee something about yourself that can not be derived elsewhere in your application.

...Usually that is the distinction at least. Typically application instructions list, more specifically, what they are looking for. If not, and if you are at all confused...ask a coordinator in the department.

[fuzzylogician]

If the application only asks for one essay, in my experience it's always the research-oriented essay regardless of how it's called. To be sure, it's usually called a Statement of Purpose or Letter or Intent, but I've heard of apps that only ask for a Personal Statement. I think it's highly unlikely that any research program you're applying to will only want to know about your personal background but not about your professional skills and interests. If you think you may be in that situation and the prompts aren't clear, you should contact the program directly and ask.

For apps that ask for two essays, the personal statement is usually the place to expand on areas that don't go into the research statement. That is, if the SOP talks about your research interests, future goals and fit, the PS could go into more details about your background, how you got into the field, or even more general details about you as a person and your development from child to adult with a particular set of skills and interests - depending on the prompt.

[Kwest]

Thanks for reponses! I was wondering though for OSU (as in ohio state) it doesn't say sop or ps...it just says "brief autobiographical statement" They are also asking for a resume/CV so perhaps I should consider this as going the more personal route in the autobiographical statement? Seems I should consult with the program coordinator either way .