SOP confusion

[twitchett]

I'm having trouble answering a SOP question that asks about particular challenges I've faced and how I've overcome them, as part of a more general question about what I feel I'd bring to the clinical social work field. The only compelling issue I could discuss would be seeking therapy for anxiety/depression related to family problems growing up and how that might allow me to empathize with youth seeking treatment, but of course there's a lot of uneasiness about mentioning personal mental health history. I'm truly not going into this line of work to try to sort out current or past problems, and I don't want to send that message and jeopardize my application. At the moment in my essay I just ignore that part of the question and discuss my potential strengths, but I'm wondering if it would be better to vaguely refer to my actual experiences (obviously without digressing into a TMI sob story)? Not sure if something is better than nothing.

 

More minor question: when a question asks about how you plan to manage the time commitment etc. involved in the program, how detailed an answer are you supposed to give? Is this just a dry reality check to make sure you have an idea of what's involved, or are they hoping to get a sense of your coping strategies in general?

 

Any thoughts would be a big help, thanks!

[adacot]

I usually give a rather short answer to that aspect of the prompt and save space for explaining other aspects of the prompt in more detail, such as my experience and my strengths in general. I'm not too sure but that question might be tailored a bit more to applicants who have other obligations such as kids or a partner because schools may want to know how heavily prioritized their program will be.

[Nochal]

I think mentioning in passing that you understand the therapeutic process from experience on the receiving end won't hurt your statement. Actually, they say the best therapists are ones who have gone through it themselves. 

 

I agree with adacot regarding your second question: if you plan on working to provide for your family or are taking care of a disabled/elderly family member, then that may affect how well the school sees your potential for success in their MSW program.

[CJMSW]

I'm so happy you brought this up Twitchett. I've been struggling with how to address the "challenges you've overcome" and explanation of negative academic record. I don't want to reveal too much in the SOP but the only way for me to explain my academic record and talk about the challenges I overcame is to discuss the TBI I sustained during my 2nd semester of college and the recovery process that went along with it. It's definitely hard to balance answering those questions while not getting into too many details.

[twitchett]

Thanks for your replies, adacot & Nochal - much appreciated!

 

CJMSW - I'm obviously far from an expert at strategizing SOP answers, but to me it sounds like you have a very valid story to discuss in your answer. I think generally it's just frowned upon to give extensive, heated accounts of difficult personal experiences, since it may give the impression that the applicant is still consumed by their emotional effects. But I don't think concisely describing the extent of your injury and recovery would be oversharing at all, as long as you focus on the strengths you gained from the experience and how you could apply them in your studies/work. Agreed that it's tough to balance honesty (particularly given how personal some of these questions get) with discretion in these cases, though.

[LittleDarlings]

In my SOP I mention seeking therapy for low self esteem and how I still work towards that, and then tied it back into how it has helped me and how I could help other people in that position.