Biostatistics / Statistics Statement of Purpose

[aridneptune]

With due respect to the irony of this post being directly above the sticky, I'm having a nontrivial amount of writer's block on my biostatistics / statistics SoP. It's just very difficult to put down in 2 pages what your life's goals are for external consumption. I also come from somewhat of a nontraditional background (majored in math with a high GPA, focused on economics research, decided I didn't want to pursue economics, worked in finance for several years). Hence my research experience is, if not orthogonal, at least not entirely within statistics / biostat. Does anyone have any advice how to go about this?

 

More to the point, could anyone point to some decent samples (just to see how it's done)? I've searched extensively and repeatedly but could only find some rather second-class sample SoPs. I hope that this post isn't out of the spirit of these boards.

 

Thanks very much.

[cyberwulf]

Ah, yes, the irony indeed. Many SOPs that I see touch on the following points (often in this approximate order):

 

- Why/how you got interested in statistics/biostatistics.

- Unusual or particularly challenging circumstances which require explanation (in your case, perhaps a few sentences on why you're leaving finance; for others, this could be significant obstacles faced during undergrad work, etc.)

- Relevant experience or background which makes you well prepared for graduate study.

- Sub-fields of stat/biostat which you find particularly interesting.

- Pointless name-dropping of 2-3 faculty who work in those areas.

 

Seriously, don't try to get fancy or clever, or overthink this.

[wine in coffee cups]

My SoP more or less followed the structure cyberwulf listed. It might be easiest to start out with that as an outline of topics and try to address each of those pieces discretely, perhaps as if these were questions you were answering in a job interview. Once you have these pieces written, then try to stitch them together into a document with either coherent transitions or clear section headings (e.g. "Academic preparation", "Research experience", "Professional experience", and "Goals"). I remember getting stuck on how exactly I wanted to put things, so what I ended up doing was just using the first words that come to mind and fixing things later.

 

Give concrete details about things that piqued your interest in courses you took and projects you worked on. Justify how those have prepared you for graduate study in statistics or why they made you more interested in it. In your case, your economics research and trader job might have given you opportunities to collect and process raw data, use programming languages, communicate and visualize technical results, account for uncertainty in forecasting, think critically about biases and unobserved data, etc. (I'm just winging it here). If you can connect things you've learned/thought about from courses or work with areas of research you might be interested in, all the better.

 

Hopefully after you've done this you have something a bit under 1000 words. If it's too long, see you if you are repeating yourself anywhere and ask a couple of trusted friends who write well to look over it and identify the weakest spots to omit or rewrite. This kind of feedback is really helpful--you learn that points you glossed over might actually be interesting enough to an outside reader to deserve more space, and other parts you felt were important might come off as overdone and get trimmed. When you are satisfied with the content, then you can wordsmith a bit more and then send it off for more feedback from the people who are writing your references.

[aridneptune]

 

- Pointless name-dropping of 2-3 faculty who work in those areas.

 

Seriously, don't try to get fancy or clever, or overthink this.

 

It might be easiest to start out with that as an outline of topics and try to address each of those pieces discretely, perhaps as if these were questions you were answering in a job interview.

 

Thanks very much for the (candid) advice. It's a bit more difficult to write than it seems at first glance.

Edited September 9, 2013 by aridneptune

[Igotnothin]

Hi aridneptune,

 

I can appreciate the difficulty in getting this part of the application completed. The personal statement might not be a crucial part of your application, but it's a good idea to spend some time on it rather than throw something together under the assumption that it doesn't matter. Putting some thought and effort into it can literally only help you.

 

I'd agree with the other poster that you should start with an outline. I would also make a bullet point list of particular accomplishments and experiences that are important to include. Best to write these down so you don't omit anything important. Then I would find a good writing environment, like your favorite coffee shop or a quiet spot in a library. Go there on a Saturday morning or something like that (or whenever you tend to do your best work). And write. I think if you have a decent outline and you just start writing, you'll get into a rhythm and make some good progress, if not complete an entire draft. 

 

For what it's worth, it seems like you have some great experiences to draw on for your personal statement. It sounds like you have some uncertainty about whether these experiences are the kind of things adcoms are looking for. I know for a fact that the professors and chair in my department (biostats) are especially interested in applicants with some real-world experience, say in finance or economics. Personally I think it gives you some credibility that 21-year olds straight out of college don't have. So I wouldn't shy away from drawing on those experiences in your SoP. Good luck!

[aridneptune]

Thanks - two quick further questions:

 

(1) Are section headings a bad idea? They break the flow of the SoP but make it easier for adcoms (who I'm sure have to read stacks of these things) to get through. I always find reading header-ed pieces easier.

 

(2) Cyberwulf, you say 'don't get fancy.' Does this mean that one should begin with "I am writing to express interest in the doctoral program in biostatistics at University X"? Writing something like that is just painful for me - but if that's what's required, they shall have it.