Statement of Purpose Question for Current PhD Students

[MBIGrad]

This question is being asked of current PhD students, those who have been admitted into a program and therefore have written a "successful" letter of intent/statement of purpose. For those of us about to apply (said in the gladiatorial mode of "we who are about to die, salute you!"), it would be very helpful to know how to parse the influx of input we receive about what one wants to concentrate upon in his or her statement. Among the items heralded as holding "first importance" in this document (which apparently really is of first importance), the following arise often:

 

-Intellectual evolution

-Areas of interest

-Fit with program

-Coursework/prep/language faculty (I guess a recounting of "stats")

-Personality/characteristics (ambitious/assiduous/collegial/intellectual/sycophantic)

-Persons of Interest

-Attraction to program

-Past scholarships/potential to attract funding

-Networking (I suppose these could be "hints" or explicit name-dropping)

-Achievements

 

Some of these categories are redundant or overlap significantly, and refining the categories would likely not contribute to the discussion. My question would be, rather, which among these would you rank and "very important" and why? What has your experience been? I have been told that establishing through research areas and project interests a good "fit" with the faculty is the most important piece of this document. Any extrapolation of this or any other insight would be most appreciated.

[marXian]

I agree that the primary purpose of the SOP is to determine fit. Here is how I would think about "fit":

 

I think most departments are looking at whether or not they think you can be successful in their program in general--that is the most important thing for them. This includes the general trajectory of your interests as they relate to current students/faculty as well as other students the department is leaning toward admitting. These are factors that are largely out of your control--but what that means for you is that it needs to be clear that you have a general direction in mind. Yes, identifying particular faculty is important, but I think adcoms are not as interested in whether you perfectly fit under the work of one professor and more interested in your fit overall with the department.

 

What this means is that your proposed work does not have to be exactly in line with any one professor's interests in any given department. For example, there may be a prof who does a lot of work on Native American religion, but whose area is American religion in general--that person might be willing to supervise a project on Mormonism or American Catholicism as long as the student is interested in the profs methodology, etc.. This obviously varies from person to person, dept. to dept. but I think as long as a proposed project seems to fit well within one of the department's tracks, is interesting and innovative, you should be okay on the SOP side of things.

 

This is really important: Adcoms are not looking for a dissertation prospectus. Those applications get thrown in the trash. Going along with the "general" theme laid out above, adcoms want to know that you're going to learn something in their department--that they're going to shape your thought in a significant way (in American schools.) The discussion of your proposed project in the SOP needs to be a balance of something that is more focused than what you did in your undergrad or MA degree, but not so focused that the adcom feels as though you think you can go and start your dissertation tomorrow.

 

With regard to your list, my feeling is that the SOP is mostly for making the case as to why you would be an excellent addition to the department, and less about emphasizing your personal stats. The adcom has your transcripts, so recounting data like that in your SOP will be redundant unless you're using it to speak to part of your intellectual journey (which I do think is a relatively important piece.) I would put much of what you have on the list under the broad category of "fit" (i.e. area, POI, attraction to program.) I would focus most of my time on those elements and less on things like networking/achievements/past funding. I hope that helps!

[MBIGrad]

Yes, that helps. In regard to the first sentence of your paragraph two, my concern is that top programs get a dozen or two applications about which they are generally quite enthusiastic (from a senior prof at a top program). It was my understanding that the best fit will usually be the applicant whose interests and proposed project(s) (are we talking project or projects in the SOP?) the department is best able to facilitate. Thus, with your example, would you want to suggest a project on Mormonism, or would you want to suggest something in their area which crosses into yours, placing as heavy an emphasis as possible on their methodological and/or topical interests?

 

Thanks.

 

Doctoral students, keep the advice coming.

[marXian]

Yes, I think it's a combination of both what you've said (the adcom will choose applicants whom they feel the department will best be able to facilitate) and projects that have the potential to be really exciting. This is why I think a prof may advocate for an applicant whose area of interest may only fall within the general scope of his/hers, but sees exciting potential in the project and thinks that his/her own methodology could help the applicant eventually produce a first rate application. It doesn't always have to be this way of course. Plenty of folks only apply to work with profs who are doing the exact work they want to do and they get in somewhere.

 

My point was only that often applicants think they should or can only apply to departments with faculty who match their interests exactly. I think that you may have a better shot of being admitted if you can think creatively about faculty you might work well under.

 

So in crafting the SOP, I don't think it's a problem at all to mention your specific interests because, as in my example you're still looking at departments with faculty who are in your field and your general area within your field. I'll send you a PM with my own experience.