Is it okay to use the same PS/SoP for applying at multiple universities ?

[ahmadka]

Hi guys, I'm new here .. Been lurking around for a while, but have now finally registered

 

I have a straightforward question. Is it okay to use the same Personal Statement / Statement of Purpose for applications to multiple universities ?

 

I don't think there should be a problem, but still want to confirm if this is the normal practice or not. I mean the admission people can't possibly expect us to write different essays, right ?

 

Also, a related question. What is the difference between 'Personal Statement' and 'Statement of Purpose', if anything at all ?

[bsharpe269]

There is no difference between Personal Statement and Statement of Purpose.

 

I'm sure that your SOPs will overlap at each school but they probably wont be exactly the same. You like each school that you are applying to for different reasons, would do potentially different projects at each school, and like different professors so your SOP should differ for each program. I am sure that you will have a couple paragraphs describing your background and interests and for that, I think that it is perfectly fine to use the exact same paragraphs for every school.

[themmases]

There is no difference between the two, unless your school asks for both. If you need to write both, the distinction is that a "statement of purpose" is generally a short essay (1-2 pages is common) describing your interest and qualifications in the field, what program you're applying for and why (including your interest in that specific school or department), and what you plan to do with the degree if you are successful. It's basically a description of you as a (future-) professional. A "personal statement" is generally shorter and more, well, personal. It's a description of you, your background, and may be integrated with a question about how you would foster diversity or add an important perspective to your cohort. If a school only asks you for one essay, what you need to send them is the statement of purpose, whatever they're calling it, unless their specific instructions are very different from the above.

 

For this reason, it's not a good idea to send the exact same SOP to every school. Large parts of your SOPs may be the same or similar because they describe your academic background and strengths. However, a good SOP should also demonstrate "fit" with the school and indicate that you know about and are interested in that specific program. Some people submit essentially the same SOP but rewrite a "fit paragraph" for each school that they insert, however I don't recommend it. Even in your description of yourself, there may be elements of projects or your background that you want to emphasize for specific schools once you learn about them. This was true for me, so much so that it affected the structure of my essays and which accomplishments I chose to share. Different schools may also have different length and content guidlines.

 

Researching schools well enough to write a strong SOP can also help you select programs. I ruled some schools out when I was looking for specific programs or projects to express enthusiasm for, and couldn't really find any or didn't like the way they were structured on closer analysis.

[TakeruK]

For me, I used basically the same SOP for every school. 75% of it is discussing why I am interested in the field, my research/career goals and my qualifications so that part remained the same. So, while the first SOP was hard to write, it only took an extra 30 minutes to 1 hour for each additional application because I just basically rewrote the 25% that is specifically about why I wanted to go to University X and what resources X had for me and what people X had that interested me etc. But even this part is very similar--I felt I had a pretty narrow range for the types of programs I wanted to go to so most of my programs have the same type of resources and researchers. 

 

I also did minor edits throughout the SOP to change the school name as required (I tried to mention it only once at the beginning and then not again until the very end) and depending on the specific application, I might make minor edits to the main part of my SOP to frame my final argument better. But other than that, I basically tell the same story to everyone. 

 

I agree with themmasses that to get the most powerful SOP, you should pretty much rewrite it with each school in mind because there are ways you can frame everything to make an even better argument. My experience with both Canadian grad schools (in 2010) and US grad schools (in 2012) is that your SOP doesn't really matter that much, at least in my field. To be clear, if you have a poorly written SOP that is incoherent and demonstrates no aptitude or fit for the department, you will definitely get rejected. But, if you have a good SOP that does show fit, that is probably good enough (from my opinion and limited experience). I don't think the effort required to go from good SOP to excellent/stellar SOP is worth it, because I don't think fit as demonstrated by the SOP is going to be the tie-breaker that determines which one of two good candidates get accepted. I think schools care a lot more about research experience/ability and while it's important your SOP delivers this message in a clear and concise manner, your SOP does not have to be a great piece of prose! But this is my opinion based on my experience, and pretty much everyone else's experiences will vary.

[ahmadka]

Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah I agree, ideally speaking, one should try to write separate SOPs whenever possible to maximize admission chances. But with a full-time job, it kind of gets hard to even revise on GRE

 

Anyways, I need some more advice specific to me ..

 

So I'm thinking of applying to some of the relatively top class Computer Science universities, such as Berkeley, CMU, maybe also Stanford, etc .. (I'll probably get rejected in all, but I think I want to try at least)

 

So for aiming for an admission in such schools, what should I try to put in my SoP .. ?

 

Also, does anyone know exactly what are the SoP requirements for each of the above mentioned universities ? That is, what is their prompt statement ? I can't really determine that right now as applications for Fall 2015 admissions still haven't opened ..

[ahmadka]

Can someone from the CS field (or something related) can help me out with the question stated directly in the above post ?

[bsharpe269]

I'm not in CS but I am in a computational field. I get that it's hard while working but many people here are even current MS students and making time for it.

Instead of focussing on what the schools want to hear, focus on what you actually want from a school and write about that. If you write some standard statement that isn't authentic then you have no shot getting in. They want unique people with unique backgrounds. What about your unique background makes you want those particular schools? Write about that!

[Vene]

Also, does anyone know exactly what are the SoP requirements for each of the above mentioned universities ? That is, what is their prompt statement ? I can't really determine that right now as applications for Fall 2015 admissions still haven't opened ..

I don't think what universities look for with a SoP changes from year to year. I looked at Stanford's CS website and found their requirements.

 

Your Statement of Purpose should be concise, focused, and well written. It should describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the proposed program at Stanford, your preparation for this field of study, research interests, future career plans, and other aspects of your background and interests which may aid the admissions committee in evaluating your aptitude and motivation for graduate study. The Statement of Purpose must be no more than 8000 characters in length. This includes spaces in between words. it will be submitted as part of the online application.

 

 

I'm sure other universities have similar pages on their departments' websites. When I applied, which was admittedly not in CS, they all had it listed separately from their application form. The actual application typically just had a space for me to upload a document.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Vene