dilemma: unique vs generic

[pzp11]

Hi,

 

I have a strong interest in the works of a certain well-known professor (call him A) which is kind of unique in the field, such that when I mention anything close to it, people who are familiar in this field will probably recognize that I'm talking about A's work.

 

I am wondering if I should go ahead with mentioning this interest in my SOP because it may sound too narrow (considering it is still somewhat uncommon in the US) and not many will identify that as 'fitting' with their interests. Of course, this will not be a problem for the school where A's teaching at, but I'm applying to several other schools, and considering that A is teaching in a very competitive program, I think it's not a good idea to risk all my other apps just for this hard-to-get-in program.

 

I can always cater to each program by writing different versions of the SOP. Then again, I am wondering if it'll be worth in the end to sacrifice my primary interest for something secondary. And if the schools think that I'm not a fit, then that's probably true.

 

So I guess the real question boils down to this: how much should I 'cater' to the program when I am writing the SOP? Or, how are you dealing/have you dealt with this? I am probably going to write different versions of the SOP (but still clearly mentioning that narrow focus) and hope it'll work out somehow. But I am also just curious what others have to say about this.

 

Any advice?

[Monochrome Spring]

You should have a few pre-prepared generic paragraphs about your previous research, personal history, etc. that you can use for most of your application essays. But you should write a few custom paragraphs for each program, explaining why that program is a good fit for you and vice-versa. That means that you will discuss your more specific research interest at A's program, but you will not talk about that research interest for a program that doesn't even offer it. Do not, do not, do not use the same statement for every program without customizing it to explain why that program is specifically going to benefit you, how you will benefit the program, your research interests relative to professors at the program, etc.

[Cesare]

I have the same problem you do. I stayed with my unique/new field, but I did a lot of work relating my research questions or actually changing the questions within this research area to related to each school/professors interests. Of course, this was not possible for every school, but I am hoping for the best. 

My previous research papers were more mainstream, so I am hoping that I don't come off as crazy. However, at the same time, as hard as I tried, I could not come up with an interesting question that was not in this new area, which is why I stuck with it. I would rather have an interesting/strong statement of purpose, then a weak one. Also, my writing sample is related to this topic...

Monochrome Springs' advice is very good especially if you are in the hard sciences. 

[pzp11]

You should have a few pre-prepared generic paragraphs about your previous research, personal history, etc. that you can use for most of your application essays. But you should write a few custom paragraphs for each program, explaining why that program is a good fit for you and vice-versa. That means that you will discuss your more specific research interest at A's program, but you will not talk about that research interest for a program that doesn't even offer it. Do not, do not, do not use the same statement for every program without customizing it to explain why that program is specifically going to benefit you, how you will benefit the program, your research interests relative to professors at the program, etc.

 

Hi, thanks for the quick response.

 

I will most likely do that (i.e. make generic paragraphs and custom tailor them to each school) but 1) I don't want to be just a mirror reflecting the department's interest, because even if I do get in, I imagine I won't be enjoying what I'm doing; 2) A's research interest is narrow and most programs don't offer it, or at least, is not obviously stated on their websites (but it could be a secondary interest for some faculty members, just that they didn't feel like stating it). But then again, I'm only applying to schools that have some substantive connection to that specific interest (a common ground / context, if you may) -- in other words, if I deem that a certain department is not doing anything close to this interest, I will most likely not apply to that department from the start.

 

But again, I get your point that I should make some compromises on my end, and I think that's probably the answer to all these, but still ... I feel restricted. Idk if I should just forgo all these and pursue it later as post-doc or some time during my PhD program as a personal interest (assuming I become a PhD student).

 

 

to Cesare: I'm a humanities student, and for myself, this interest came to me quite recently (this year) and I haven't managed to produce anything on it, although my previous works arguably contain some 'groundwork' that could possibly have led to this new field ... or not. Anyway, like you, I can't possibly see myself doing anything else after having come across it. I guess I should try doing what you did ... but it's going to be hard.

Edited November 12, 2013 by pzp11

[fuzzylogician]

If you want to study A's work and you're applying to schools X, Y, and Z, then you must think they have facilities or resources that could support your work. It's your job to explain how in your SOP. You need to show how the faculty's work there is relevant for what you want to study, or how other aspects of their work fits with your interests. It could be any number of things - methodology, time period, similar types of questions, work with the same archives, etc. It may be different things for different schools. Whatever it is, you need to spell out for your readers how you will fit into their program and how they will support your work. I would allow room for flexibility and possibly changes of direction, but if right now you want to study A, I would advise against writing in your statement that you want to study B, just because that's what the school you are applying to is known for.  

 

Also, just to make sure I follow -- when you say you want to study A's work what you really mean is that you want to work on similar questions, right? If so, you need to figure out what aspects of that work would be supported by the different schools and put emphasis on that. I hope it's clear that you should not mention A by name in any application that's not to the school where A teaches. Even there I wouldn't over-emphasize A's importance to your work. You should become independent from your advisor through the course of your education and develop your own point of view. You want to study certain questions, not someone's work. I think it's an important distinction. 

[pzp11]

 

Also, just to make sure I follow -- when you say you want to study A's work what you really mean is that you want to work on similar questions, right? If so, you need to figure out what aspects of that work would be supported by the different schools and put emphasis on that. I hope it's clear that you should not mention A by name in any application that's not to the school where A teaches. Even there I wouldn't over-emphasize A's importance to your work. You should become independent from your advisor through the course of your education and develop your own point of view. You want to study certain questions, not someone's work. I think it's an important distinction. 

 

 

Thank you for your advice. I guess I was having difficulty trying to take A out of the picture because the whole field has got to do with A and his work. It's like I'm a physics student in the 1920s, I am interested in the theory of relativity, and A is Einstein. It's kind of hard to not talk about Einstein when I want to express my interest in relativity, like as if this is my original idea. Of course, I intend to pick up relativity because I can see potential in expanding it to other areas, but it's kind of strange to ignore mentioning Einstein when everyone knows that this is all about Einstein. But then again, your advice was helpful. Thank you.

[Cesare]

I cited the one and only Professor who is working on my topic just once. I think it helps situate my topic in the literature, but the questions I asked had nothing to do with this Professors' work. I also mentioned other Professors who are working at different schools who have done similar, but different work. 

 

Not sure how you are writing your SoP, but I situate my "original" questions in the literature. There is nothing wrong with mentioning literature, but you need to make sure you are not emphasizing a Professor to the point where you make it seem that no one else is capable of supervising you and/or you don't have your own questions. 

[Loric]

And fanboys weird people out.. keep that in mind.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I think this has basically been said already, but if you think you would be disappointed going somewhere because they don't offer what you want to study, then don't apply there in the first place. You have to think about why you chose those places to apply to--if it's because of rankings, or because of location, that's not going to be enough of a reason for them to accept you into their program. I like what someone else suggested earlier--think about what types of questions drive your research, why you're interested in them, and what you want to do--think outside of just this person's work, even if they are the big wig in that area. Even with your example of Einstein you could talk about why you're interested in that theory and how it connects to other theories without making it all about Einstein. 

[fuzzylogician]

Thank you for your advice. I guess I was having difficulty trying to take A out of the picture because the whole field has got to do with A and his work. It's like I'm a physics student in the 1920s, I am interested in the theory of relativity, and A is Einstein. It's kind of hard to not talk about Einstein when I want to express my interest in relativity, like as if this is my original idea. Of course, I intend to pick up relativity because I can see potential in expanding it to other areas, but it's kind of strange to ignore mentioning Einstein when everyone knows that this is all about Einstein. But then again, your advice was helpful. Thank you.

 

You can reference A in the course of developing your research questions, e.g. "A's (1899, 1902a, seminal work on X shows blah, I want to extend it to Y, where similar work has not been attempted before. This extension is important because blah. It's similar/distinct from X, raises the following questions," etc. If everybody knows A pioneered the field then there is probably a way to reference that, but that should not be the focus of your essay. Even if you do work with A, as I said, you should develop your own independent research agenda (at some point in your grad education). You want to show that you can ask your own questions, not just work on your advisor's project. This is all the more important if you end up at some other school - you want to show how the professors there can help you study the questions you are interested in, and how you can independently develop your questions into pursuable projects. 

[pzp11]

You can reference A in the course of developing your research questions, e.g. "A's (1899, 1902a, seminal work on X shows blah, I want to extend it to Y, where similar work has not been attempted before. This extension is important because blah. It's similar/distinct from X, raises the following questions," etc. If everybody knows A pioneered the field then there is probably a way to reference that, but that should not be the focus of your essay. Even if you do work with A, as I said, you should develop your own independent research agenda (at some point in your grad education). You want to show that you can ask your own questions, not just work on your advisor's project. This is all the more important if you end up at some other school - you want to show how the professors there can help you study the questions you are interested in, and how you can independently develop your questions into pursuable projects. 

 

 

And fanboys weird people out.. keep that in mind.

 

 

Just to be clear: originally, I thought I was doing independent work, until I learned that A is doing exactly what I was considering of doing (but of course, at a much more profound level). So this is not about me being obsessed with A, but rather the interest, which happened to be something already done by A and his 'predecessors' (either dead or non-US) in some regard. (In that sense A is not exactly the pioneer but is definitely someone who consolidated the thought and brought it into spotlight, especially to US.) Therefore, what I want to do, naturally, is to study what they've already done, and start from there to find my own path, instead of trying to do something from scratch without any reference to A whatsoever, because that's just a waste of time. *This* is why I want to study with A -- he's knowledged in this field, and I can see that studying with him would be useful, not that I want to admire him and simply replicate what he's doing. In other words, as long as I am going to follow this interest, I'll have to engage with A's work in some way or other, and what's better than to do it as a student, and not through a book or an article?

 

But this is not to disagree with what you've said. I think I now finally see that my job is to make it clear to the admission committee that I intend to do work along the lines of A, but as an independently thinking scholar. Also, I think I can see myself doing something a little different but nevertheless in strong connection with A's work, and then make my way from there. I'm not sure why this wasn't so clear at first. Probably stress and anxiety.

 

Anyway, thanks for hearing me out, and for the helpful comments. They are much appreciated.

Edited November 13, 2013 by pzp11