Cutting down SOP

[drfuzz]

I am applying for East Asian Studies programs. I have submitted half of my applications with a SOP that was around 1000 words, I am getting ready to send off my next application, but the max length is 750. I am having serious trouble getting it to that length. Would anyone be willing to take  a look at it and suggest what could be cut?

Thanks!

[biotechie]

I am applying for East Asian Studies programs. I have submitted half of my applications with a SOP that was around 1000 words, I am getting ready to send off my next application, but the max length is 750. I am having serious trouble getting it to that length. Would anyone be willing to take  a look at it and suggest what could be cut?

Thanks!

 

Cut out all unnecessary words, like "the." Just read it through without the word, and if the sentence maintains its structure, it is usually fine to remove. If you have large sentences that are connected with words like, "and," you may also be able to cut that out and generate two sentences. Look through your sentences to see how much filler or flourish words you added. You might be able to take a lot of those out.

 

Good luck!

[TakeruK]

biotechie gives good advice! Also related, I think that when writing technically, many adjectives are "flourish" words, especially if they are words like "interesting" or "excellent" or "very". Cutting them out not only saves space but also helps you look like you are not just patting yourself on the back by calling your own work "excellent" etc. But sometimes to go as far as cutting a few hundred words, you might have to actually pick and choose the content! And sometimes it's better to just remove an entire section rather than trim a little bit off every other part.

[artlesspredilection]

Sure, PM it over.

[drfuzz]

Thanks everyone, this is all great advice. It is crazy, I feel like I am spending as more time removing things from the POS than I did when I was writing the original draft. I will take all you have to say into consideration, and shoot for that blasted number of 750!

[fuzzylogician]

For cutting down 25% of the SOP, the tricks biotechie and TakeruK propose are good but will probably not be enough. Personally I prefer cutting out a complete point than muddling down everything in order to keep all my points. Choose something that you can do without - something that is likely to be in letters or that is in your CV, or that repeats at least somewhat another point you're already making, and just remove it. E.g. If you normally talk about two past research projects, choose just one. If you discuss relevant past courses, don't. If you discuss how you got into the field, cut that. The balance should favor your interests, future plans, and fit, so I suggest choosing something from the background discussion to cut. Lose any fluff in the intro/conclusion as well.