Statement of Purpose (Help!)

[wandajune]

What information are you including or did you include in your statement of purpose? I'm working on mine currently. I'm applying directly out of my undergrad, so I don't have much in the way of professional experience to talk about. I feel like I've said all I really have to say, yet it's still quite short. Any advice?

 

(Successful applicants who are currently enrolled, I would especially appreciate your feedback!)

[bar_scene_gambler]

I just included my philosophical interests and why I wanted to study at that particular university. If the university asked any specific questions, I adapted my SOP, but besides that, I kept them all the same except for the last paragraph (which is where I spoke about my university-specific interests). I tried to keep it as simple and straight-forward as possible, though I've only applied to two programs at the moment.

Edited November 12, 2013 by bar_scene_gambler

[MattDest]

What i included in my SOPs that I sent out is similar to barscenegamblers, and I also did a university-specific paragraph where I explained how my interests matched up to faculty at that institution. You can see a few successful examples of SOP here: http://schwitzsplintersunderblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/sample-statement-of-purpose.html. 

 

 

[bar_scene_gambler]

Yeah, I'd look at the Splintered Mind stuff. That's how I figured out what to write, and his advice seems pretty solid. 

[wandajune]

Thanks for the responses! I had read the Splintered Mind article and found it to be helpful, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to seek out some alternate perspectives.