How much to tailor each SOP

[Francophile1]

Hello,

I read on here that it is advisable to tailor your SOP for each school, but I was wondering how much?

When I applied to MA programs I pretty much kept it the same except for the professors I wanted to work with and some other small aspects about the university and my fit.

Is it really advisable to change the whole SOP or is adjusting it slightly ok as well?

Please advise

[bsharpe269]

Your SOP should explain why a specific school is a great fit for you. I am sure that there will be some overlap between you SOPs for each school since you may copy some sentances or paragraphs where you summarize some details of your own research but then you need to connect your research to what is being done at those schools and this part will vary for each school.

 

For example, have you used some methods that a professor developed or uses in your own research? Is some of the work similar to what you have done? Can you apply some of your previous skills to what is being done in the labs?

 

You dont jsut want to insert professors names in in your SOP. For each school, you want to talk about which aspects of the research being done interest you. Even if you have a narrow research interest, this will vary from school to school because the projects the professors work on will vary. You want to talk about how the specific research being done there relates to your past reserach experience, your interests, and your future goals.

[bakalamba]

Is it really advisable to change the whole SOP or is adjusting it slightly ok as well?

 

I chose the middle path - I had a general SOP written, and left a few paragraphs out to insert program-related content. Sometimes I would repeat phrases or language, but I generally wrote a unique part for each school. For one program, I had to change my interest slightly to fit better with the faculty.

 

Admissions committees go through many SOPs, but I have a feeling they can detect cookie cutter statements - "I'd like to work with X because Y", or "X program is great because of Y". But generally I kept the first part, about my background and motivation for graduate research, essentially the same, since that was the aspect of the SOP that I took the most time to craft.