SOP Examples

[antecedent]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm starting to pull together my SOP, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to fit all the relevant info in there, particularly for schools that don't request a CV. Does anyone who has been successful in the past have a SOP they'd be willing to share? I'm struggling to figure out what is the important information to share in this particular document, specifically from a linguistics perspective. 

 

On a similar note, if a school didn't ask for a CV but you have one, did you send it along anyway as a supplementary item?

 

Thanks!

[ladyling]

Hi antecedent,

 

I sent you a PM with my email so that I can send you my SOP for UC Santa Cruz. To answer your other question, yes, I sent my CV even when it wasn't requested because there was nowhere else where I could possibly have listed the conferences I had presented at in a natural way, and I felt my conference presentations were an important part of my application. Additionally, the job I had in industry before I began my PhD program was relevant to my studies--another thing that would've been hard to include without sacrificing naturalness in an SOP.

 

I hope that helps!

[fuzzylogician]

I also always submitted a CV, even when it was not required. Additionally, I made sure to update my website with all relevant papers I wanted professors to read and put my CV there and gave a link to the website somewhere in my application. I know that at least some professors either googled me or used the link because they knew about things that were only on the website and not elsewhere.

[Snuffleupagus]

Because I am going into SLA, ESL and language teaching was a big part of my candidature, so I included my CV.  I tried to bring in the major points of my research and teaching experience into my SOP and used my CV to highlight other aspects.  I know that some people also looked me up on Academia.edu  

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

What about submitting a CV if you're coming straight from undergrad? I know a lot of people don't have things such as publications, presentations, research, etc while in the process of completing their BA. I have things such as a high GPA, honors societies such as Golden Key and Phi Theta Kappa that are not linguistics-specific, a publication in a community college student journal about Supreme Court justices, and some other things that are impressive for an undergrad but not really relevant to linguistics grad school. I personally get annoyed by people who stretch out their accomplishments (such as on a job re'sume' when they've only had one or two menial jobs) so I'd prefer to keep it short and simple and only mention what may be relevant. What do you think? 

[fuzzylogician]

What about submitting a CV if you're coming straight from undergrad? I know a lot of people don't have things such as publications, presentations, research, etc while in the process of completing their BA. I have things such as a high GPA, honors societies such as Golden Key and Phi Theta Kappa that are not linguistics-specific, a publication in a community college student journal about Supreme Court justices, and some other things that are impressive for an undergrad but not really relevant to linguistics grad school. I personally get annoyed by people who stretch out their accomplishments (such as on a job re'sume' when they've only had one or two menial jobs) so I'd prefer to keep it short and simple and only mention what may be relevant. What do you think? 

 

If you don't have anything to put on a CV, don't submit one. You should make every document count, especially extra ones that were not solicited by the application. Nothing you wrote above sounds impressive enough that I would submit a CV just for that reason.

[antecedent]

Thanks for your advice ladyling and fuzzylogician!

 

I have a few academic service positions that I'd like to bring to the adcom's attention, as well as a conference presentation and a summer school attendance, but I feel like it would be too cumbersome to try and fit them into an SOP, so I guess I'll just upload a CV to any 'additional documents' option and hope it helps. My academic CV finally has relevant stuff on it now, and I think it might give some support to anything else I submit. 

[Ordijahandam]

Hi friends. Can anybody send me some examples of Linguistics SOP and possibly CV? If so, plz send a message to me. thanks alot. I do need it and it can help me so much. waiting for your message

[fuzzylogician]

For CVs, look at websites of current graduate students at the schools you're applying to, preferably students in early years. Most will have a CV and it could serve as a good example of what an early career student's CV should look like.

[KWIKKI]

Hey guys! I need your advice. My question is how specific about my research interests should I be in my SOP? I'm interested in discourse analysis and have done some research pertaining to national identity construction in presidential speeches of American Presidents. Should I just mention that I am interested in discourse analysis or be as specific as possible?

[CawingKro]

Oh right, the ever-elusive statement of purpose...I should probably start writing one of those. I've looked at a few online related to linguistics ( http://www.studential.com/personalstatements/getpscourse.asp?type=31 ), but all of the examples listed there seemed a bit blasé to me. Anyway, I trust you people more. Anyone care to send me a copy of their gorgeous SOP?

[funchaku]

I took a quick look at SOPs on the site you posted, CawingKro, and my advice would be to steer clear of that general style of SOP writing. Think of it less as a personal statement and more along the lines of a cover letter for a Research Assistant position. I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but mine was about 2 pages and structured as follows: 

 

I started with a very brief paragraph outlining my specific goals in pursuing a Linguistics PhD and the big questions I'm interested in. I then spent several paragraphs describing my research experience in different labs, etc., and how they informed my current interests. A significant section afterwards was dedicated to describing what I would want to do over the course of my graduate studies, i.e., future research plans. I think this might be one of the most important sections- although no one really expects you to stick to the research plans you outlined in your SOP, it gives the adcom a sense of whether you can cogently articulate a course of study, whether you have a feel for asking the right sort of questions, etc. Finally, I spent a couple of paragraphs outlining why this specific school was a good fit and which professors at the institution I'd want to work with. 

 

The SOP was one of the hardest parts of the application for me, and it ended up going through several major revisions. Good luck!

Edited August 26, 2013 by funchaku

[antecedent]

I'm feeling so uninspired by my SOP. Have we agreed that if an application doesn't set a limit, an SOP should be between 1 and 2 pages long?

 

I need a kick in the SOP-pants, clearly.

[antecedent]

Does anyone here who has had a successful application season feel like offering some feedback on my SOP? I have a draft more or less ready that I want to send to my profs, but I'd appreciate an extra set of eyes too. Reply if you have the time/inclination and I can DM you my draft.

 

Thanks in advance! I appreciate the help.