500 word limit...what is essential in such a short SoP?

[guadalcanal]

Hey everyone,

 

So I've started work on my SoPs and for most of them I only have 500 words to convince a committee of strangers that I am the perfect fit for their Masters programs. I've read up on the advice in the forum but for the most part everyone seems to be heading for PhDs (congrats, you guys!) and have 1000-1500 words to make a case.

 

What do I absolutely have to include in my SoP, and how should I do it? I can't brag about myself, I haven't opened with an anecdote, and I have tried to explain how I got into my field of study (IR). I have to include a CV so I figured I'd get my achievements in there, and I have to provide a statement of intent (proposed research) separately.Do I either overlapping these slightly, or keep the SoP devoid of any information in the other two documents? 

 

Thanks a ton!

[Dedi]

In your case, I think it would be a good idea to extend what you have in your CV (reflect on those achievements/research experiences) and how they relate to your proposed research interests. That's just my opinion. Anyone have any other thoughts?

[themmases]

I had a 600-word one, and found it incredibly difficult. I ended up using advice from here, same as for longer ones, to focus on fit.

 

Knowing that you have three body paragraphs, tops, to talk about yourself, I would come up with a list of 5+ things you might choose to brag about, if given the chance. They could be specific, like "presented X paper at Y conference in May 2014", or broad, e.g. "worked closely with specialists in Z". I picked stuff that was related to my CV, but maybe not clear from it, e.g. what I did on a project that won an award or how I communicated with the subjects my CV says I recruited. Then use your research to choose which 2-3 points are related to each school and deserve to make it into each SOP. Finding workgroups or resources related to your interests is great IMO, because it shows you did your research but you can easily name-drop them without using up too many words explaining what they are. Then the bragging parts of those paragraphs can be reused in future essays, for a modular SOP.

 

I think editing is much more personal. I like to write exactly what I want to write, at whatever length I feel like, then insert a couple of line breaks and re-write directly above my original. I am always able to come up with something much shorter and more pointed by doing this because it's sort of like moving: easier to throw stuff away when you're deciding whether to move it, rather than whether to hang onto it. Other people probably have other methods for getting an essay nice and short.

[GeoDUDE!]

Your Purpose.

 

So many people make the mistake of reflecting on their CV: a SOP is a vision of the future where as a CV is historical. What do you want to do, why do you want to do it, who do you want to work with, and how does this particular department help you achieve your goals. These are all that is necessary in any SOP, let alone one that is shorter. Don't waste their time rehashing your CV.

[surefire]

Essential to a short SOP: making it EASY for the adcomm to see why you're applying for (1) THIS field (less necessary when you're entrenched and applying for a PhD, more important for MA applications, especially for diverse programs like the ones you're looking at); (2) THIS institution; (3) THIS department/program.

 

You've likely run across the advice that the SOP is for establishing "fit". "Fit" means (1) What you're bringing to the table and (2) what resources you'll draw upon to thrive and finish. So show them that there's fit by discussing what you've got that they'll be interested in, and what resources they've got that you'll utilize. This should be about your interest/intent/capacity and their faculty/specializations/resources. You could highlight one or two things from the CV to show that you know what's attractive to them, but I wouldn't really recommend re-hashing the CV. Instead, do the translation work for them and show that you have a plan. "(Specific faculty member's) research in (sub-specialty) would assist the development of my research interests in (something specific and parallel)"; "(Institution's research centre) would prove an invaluable resource for my project concerning (data source that the centre has access to)".

 

This is going to be exhausting, because you'll need a different SOP for each (for goodness sake, don't send a form letter), but you'll get better results by tailoring.

Look to each department's website, odds are they'll discuss a specific mandate that highlights their ideologies, what they emphasize, their timelines/expectations, and what they value/try to cultivate in their grad students. My program at U of T, for example, speaks at length about their specialized areas and their commitment to training research "producers", as opposed to "consumers". Don't parrot those things back to them, but take these into account and determine which of these values/resources are echoed by your own established background and future plans. I made damn sure, for example, that I "fit" in one of my program's specialized areas and that my project was "actively" framed to produce something new.

 

Good luck! If you wanna talk U of T specifically, feel free to PM me (you too Dedi, if ya want, though I'm quite a bit further from you, discipline-wise!)

[guadalcanal]

Thanks for all your help, everyone! One thing that I see across the board is "the fit", and I'm definitely working on that. Another issue that's been popping up is how much my personal statement and SoP should overlap...so far I have little besides some initial research details, but my SoP (for now) is purely research-oriented (research topic, outline, how the department will be good for me, which faculty are doing my kind of work), and my personal statement is all about who I am, how I'd fit in, the posts I've held, and what my professional goals are. Is that good?

 

 

Good luck! If you wanna talk U of T specifically, feel free to PM me (you too Dedi, if ya want, though I'm quite a bit further from you, discipline-wise!)

 

Thanks so, so much! I will definitely PM you as soon as I figure out how to...

[Sigaba]

Look to each department's website, odds are they'll discuss a specific mandate that highlights their ideologies, what they emphasize, their timelines/expectations, and what they value/try to cultivate in their grad students. My program at U of T, for example, speaks at length about their specialized areas and their commitment to training research "producers", as opposed to "consumers". Don't parrot those things back to them, but take these into account and determine which of these values/resources are echoed by your own established background and future plans. I made damn sure, for example, that I "fit" in one of my program's specialized areas and that my project was "actively" framed to produce something new.

 

IMO, surefire's guidance is profoundly useful, especially if one takes the time to do research on the faculty and see how its members fit together.

[guadalcanal]

IMO, surefire's guidance is profoundly useful, especially if one takes the time to do research on the faculty and see how its members fit together.

 

I agree, I've already done this. I've even quoted faculty-written research to show just how they would benefit my educational/research growth. I think this is a good move since IR is traditionally research-oriented for the most part, and I thought if I can show that I can research both what my own interests are and the people who can help me out, it would look good to an adcomm ^{maybe I hope so}

 

Thanks for your help