SOP How far back do you go?

[Silent_Bobina]

So I'm preparing my sop for applications to doctorate programs. I've completed my B.A. and and in the process of getting my M.A. Should I include experiences from both my undergraduate and graduate experience to show how I've developed? Or should I only include graduate experience?

[Silent_Bobina]

From what I've read on the advice forum, it seems as though the best idea is to only mention things that have a direct line to your current interests. A lot of my undergraduate work has connections to my current work, as well as my graduate teaching... are these good things to mention?

[fuzzylogician]

You could mention your undergraduate education but it'd probably make more sense to focus more on your MA education, assuming that it is directly tied to your proposed PhD studies and that your research skills and interests developed mostly during that time.

[Silent_Bobina]

That's the problem... my MA program was not the best fit and didn't give me as many opportunities to develop my interests. I am writing my M.A, thesis on a similar topic to that of my Undergraduate honors thesis and my undergraduate honors project was also tied to the same topic. Most of my presentation credits are related to my undergraduate work, even those that occurred during my time as a masters student. I have been lucky to adapt many of my class research projects to my interests, even creating an independent study, but ultimately besides my own adaptations and my teaching experience I've had little opportunity to expand on my research interest.

[fuzzylogician]

In that case you can talk about that research interest as it developed through undergrad and the MA program - if it's a long lasting topic for you, that's fair game. You could mention both your work during undergrad and the MA program. Is this also the topic you're planning to study in grad school? You want to be careful not to appear to only have one very narrow interest - that is, you should explain how it could be expanded and adopted into a PhD topic, if that's something you're interested in. On the other hand, if you're interested in another topic then you don't want to seem like you've never given it much thought because you've always been involved with this one other project. But, those concerns aside, you can definitely mention relevant work you did as an undergraduate.