Can I use my SOP for a fellowship application as well?

[starofdawn]

Hey all - x-posted from "Applying for Graduate Schools"! Apologies if my question seems naive - I have never applied for a fellowship before. The fellowship is due March 4th, and I just learned about it a few days ago.

 

I am applying for a fellowship that asks for graduate students "who express an interest in energy-related fields of study." My entire SOP for graduate applications talked about how I wanted to use my graduate studies for advances in alternative energy! It sounds like the perfect fellowship for me.

 

Am I able to use my graduate application SOP for this fellowship application, too? I was planning on adding a paragraph about how the fellowship would be of great use to me, but does the fellowship committee already have a copy of my SOP? Would it look bad to (almost) use the same SOP for both my graduate school application and this fellowship application? 

 

[EccentricAcademic]

Will the fellowship committee be the same people who looked at your graduate application? Is this a separate thing altogether?

 

If it's part of the same school, then no, I would write something else. Base it off your SOP, but be creative and share some other aspect that shows you're the best fit possible.

 

If it's a completely different institution/group of people looking at your writing, then why not use something good that you already have?

[LittleDarlings]

For my fellowship I used parts of my SOP, specifically when they asked about my future goals. For the fellowship I applied to they had a prompt and questions to answer so I couldn't use my SOP. I did gather ideas from the SOP though

[starofdawn]

Thanks all - USC is in a partnership with a company to provide the fellowship, there may be a good chance that the same people will be reviewing the fellowship applications. I'll use parts of my graduate application SOP but it looks like I'll have to write a full new SOP for the fellowship application... oy

[PhDerp]

Thanks all - USC is in a partnership with a company to provide the fellowship, there may be a good chance that the same people will be reviewing the fellowship applications. I'll use parts of my graduate application SOP but it looks like I'll have to write a full new SOP for the fellowship application... oy

 

It should be easier the second time if you've already done it before. This is like an exercise from my (only) writing class in college: only keep a few powerful ideas, and rewrite an essay based on those key sentences. Iteration can be helpful for the writing process; it could work out nicely for you!