Personal Statement Insecurity

[Philhopeful]

Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about writing, "I would be interested in working with X..." I feel like these people are rock stars and have no reason to want to work with me ;_;

[Cottagecheeseman]

Most of your statement should be "I'm interested in researching x," and "I want to research y" and "I want to be a philosophy because Z" (and Z is not "I love philosophy, and yeah I had a really hard time with that myself) -  Very little of your statement needs to be why you want to go to Rutgers or wherever you are applying too, so don't worry if you don't even say who you want to work with, as long as you show in your interests that Rutgers has people in that area. Also, why wouldn't they want to work with you, you're a brilliant potential grad student, don't think any different even if rejections show up, you gotta stay positive! But also have a backup plan, that...

[NoSleepTilBreuckelen]

Haha, to the OP, I feel the exact same way! I know it's part of the SOP to mention who you want to work with, and some school specifically ask that you include this information, but I can't help but feel like I'm overstepping my place as a mere applicant to say who I am interested in working with. I always try and remember it's come thing they're expecting and reading from lots of applicants. I usually phrase it "I am interested in the prospect of work with Dr. …."

Edited January 1, 2014 by NoSleepTilBreuckelen

[Table]

Another option would be to instead say something like "I'm very interested in X's research in blahblahblah." 

[jamc8383]

Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about writing, "I would be interested in working with X..." I feel like these people are rock stars and have no reason to want to work with me ;_;

I think there's a big shift from undergrad to graduate school in the way that students relate to faculty and I think (possibly for reasons involving age) that making that transition is easier or more natural for some than for others. At the graduate level, these people are no longer Professor This or That, but rather, John, Mary, etc. They're no longer your instructors, but your collaborators. Oftentimes, graduate students bring new perspectives that can enrich and reinvigorate the work of more seasoned scholars. Consider that you may have as much to offer them as they have to offer you. Some deference is not out of order, but it's important to keep things in perspective. Even the major luminaries of the discipline are just people like you or I.

[purpleperson]

I had thirteen statements of purpose, and I only wrote something along the lines of "I'd be interested in working with...." in three of them.  And I didn't so much say I wanted to work with them as I did that some of their work could conceivably inform my own.  

 

There was ONE statement of purpose in which I did say explicitly that I want to work with _____.  I did this because I'd had email interaction with the woman and read up a bit on her, and I got the sense that she would like people explicitly saying they want to work with her (even if said people are not worthy, which I am most definitely not.)

[MattDest]

Another option would be to instead say something like "I'm very interested in X's research in blahblahblah." 

 

This is what I did. I thought "working with" sounded a bit odd too, for some of the same reasons you did philhopeful.