Writing a SOP conclusion is so darn hard

[joro]

I'm practically on my 4th revision of my SOP (working on this since July) and I can't write a decent conclusion. Does anyone have advice about the conclusion? I've read that I should basically sum up the main points of my SOP and state what I have to contribute to the program. Is there anything more to this?

[cheesethunder]

ahhh you got to the conclusion

i'm sitll on the intro!

i was going to go back to how i started it in the intro and mention the particulars of the school that make it special ex. that its small/ collaborative/ what makes it unique

[joro]

ahhh you got to the conclusion

i'm sitll on the intro!

i was going to go back to how i started it in the intro and mention the particulars of the school that make it special ex. that its small/ collaborative/ what makes it unique

Yup, I'm at the conclusion. I still have no definite conclusion after 4 rewrites. But at least now I have somewhat of an outline for my conclusion. I have the first and last sentences written out, just need to work on the insides.

[shai]

my humble advice would be to end with a short story/moral/wise joke that sums your main ideas. example - say you stated how interested you are in frogs and their mating behavior and would like to go into academia to be a better frog researcher. your concusions could be something like : "in my family there's a saying that to understand a frog you need to be one. although i'm not sure i will ever be able to get into a frog's mind, i would sure like the oppurtunity to find out". this way you a) finished on a high note made a comment that they will surely remember c) summed your interests but showed you're not only a boring scholar

does this help ?

[cheesethunder]

oh i wish i could be so clever haha

[joro]

Understood, but easier said than done.

[purplepepper]

hey no one is looking for a novelist!

they won't want to be made to laugh, learn the secrets of the universe, or who dunnit.

you dont even need a clincher to end it. just something pleasant enough to leave a nice and unobtrusive aftertaste.

[fuzzylogician]

What mims3382 said.

[shai]

that's true if you are applying to a place where there aren't many apl=plicants. but if you want to stand out in a crowd of 300-500 applications, just summing it won't do it. unless you have a 1600 GRE, 4.0 GPA and LOR for nobel prize professors, i think you need to try and be clever - if only for showing them your uniqueness

[kent shakespeare]

I always hated conclusions, too - the whole "summing up" bit. Rather than trying to sum up, I have better results by reframing the conclusion. Find a new angle through which to reframe your main points in such a way that reiterates but also freshens them up. If your SOP is a story, then your main points are your characters - like any good story you need to show how your points have developed along the course of your narrative. Not knowing specifics, it's hard to suggest something less abstract.

[cheesethunder]

ohh i really like that story analogy! cute. im writing mine for a psyc program currently should you site potential supervisors work throughout like......i like social support and depression, so and so at your school had an interesting finding of this in their study. At first i thought this was a good idea, but i have 5 people im talking about and I don't know.....if i should just randomly site them in my interests and how my research experiences may reflect some of their work? like.....or should i just write in the end who i want to work with since my interests i state in my SOP already match up with them.

But i guess siting their work shows that i read their research/ i was going to site where they put areas for future research in their articles....I'm just unsure about formatting of the SOP

[purplepepper]

if only for showing them your uniqueness

you show uniqueness with your ideas, not with quips about life and the universe.

it worked well for me...even in a crowd of 300 applicants.

[shai]

who said anything about life and the universe ? why are people here so sensitive about advice ?

the truth is no one in this forums knows what helps and what not, so we each say what we think. you shouldn't contradict other's advice, just give your own. let the advice taker decide which to take.

breath, people. breath.

[fuzzylogician]

the truth is no one in this forums knows what helps and what not, so we each say what we think. you shouldn't contradict other's advice, just give your own. let the advice taker decide which to take.

No one knows for sure, BUT those of us who have successfully gone through the process perhaps have a better perspective than those going through it right now. I can say I've talked to other successful applicants at various schools I visited before deciding where to go, and I talked to admissions officers at those places; From comparison with people and from what the officers actually mentioned liking about my SOP, I can be rather sure that the advice I'm giving is correct (with all the necessary disclaimers) and not just my personal unfounded opinion.

[glasses]

No one knows for sure, BUT those of us who have successfully gone through the process perhaps have a better perspective than those going through it right now. I can say I've talked to other successful applicants at various schools I visited before deciding where to go, and I talked to admissions officers at those places; From comparison with people and from what the officers actually mentioned liking about my SOP, I can be rather sure that the advice I'm giving is correct (with all the necessary disclaimers) and not just my personal unfounded opinion.

Yeah . . . my professors and friends who've done this tell me that the "funny anecdote" thing is not the way to go. That being said: yup, these conclusions are hard. I'm on the 8th draft, and my last sentence is still, "[[Need one more sentence here.]]" Tempted to send it in that way.

[joro]

I finally finished writing my conclusion . And it's being sent to a bunch of people to proofread, then to my LoR for further review. I hope this will be the last revision I make so that I can I start writing other essays some schools require. I also need to finish my artistic and technical portfolio for my first choice school :cry:

[coyabean]

It could be a holdover from my professional days but I am hard-wired to send my readers off with a "take-away" and to "ask for the business." In academic terms that means giving them one or two sentences that sums up how perfect we are for each other and then a non-aggressive and uncreepy request to join their academic community.

[noojens]

In academic terms that means giving them one or two sentences that sums up how perfect we are for each other and then a non-aggressive and uncreepy request to join their academic community.

I prefer aggressive and creepy requests, personally!

[kdilks]

Have you asked people with admissions experience in your field how much they look at the statement of purpose? At least for my field (math), the impression I got from multiple sources was that if they even read your statement of purpose at all, they're just checking to see if you can communicate in English and aren't obviously misguided/crazy. If your field is similar, then it might not be worth all the effort you're putting in.

[rainy_day]

At least for my field (math), the impression I got from multiple sources was that if they even read your statement of purpose at all, they're just checking to see if you can communicate in English and aren't obviously misguided/crazy. If your field is similar, then it might not be worth all the effort you're putting in.

Ah, kdilks, it never even occurred to me that the SoP might not be the end-all-be all.. Personally, I'm English, so the SoP needs to be a work of art. I get the impression this is true for most humanities folks.

[coyabean]

I prefer aggressive and creepy requests, personally!

As do I! But some people are so sensitive.

[KieBelle]

Apparently I'm an anomaly- both the hook and the conclusion came to me right away. It's all the stuff in the middle that's taking me FOREVER to write. I finally finished my first draft of my first essay today, lol. One down, 50 to go... :roll:

[cheesethunder]

hmm....when i did my first draft i wanted my sop to focus on my strengths and how all my research experience which doesn't appear that relevant to what i wanna do actually ties in, etc but now ......i have answers to i guess 'justify' my poor gre scores/ bad first year but i don't want my sop the only place i have to really show my passion in the subject to be half riddled with excuses, should i put in justifications for weakness inmy application or just let me sop shine my strengths?

[fuzzylogician]

hmm....when i did my first draft i wanted my sop to focus on my strengths and how all my research experience which doesn't appear that relevant to what i wanna do actually ties in, etc but now ......i have answers to i guess 'justify' my poor gre scores/ bad first year but i don't want my sop the only place i have to really show my passion in the subject to be half riddled with excuses, should i put in justifications for weakness inmy application or just let me sop shine my strengths?

There are two approaches to this issue, and the answer that best suits you also partly depends on your specific situation.

Personally, I am against "making excuses". If you simply had a bad semester for no special reason, as happens to a great many of us, I wouldn't try to explain it (there's no good reason, right?). Let you record speak for itself - the adcom should be able to see that it was a one-time thing and your record has subsequently improved. Why draw attention to one bad semester and let it overshadow an otherwise good transcript?

Now, this is not to say that if you have a legitimate reason for doing badly a semester or two (or three), you shouldn't put it in your sop. A serious illness, death of a loved one, having to work two jobs - those are all valid reasons for not being able to focus solely on your studies. Same goes for deciding to change majors and not doing well in the previous one. You can mention all of these, BUT a)do it briefly - no more than 1-2 sentences do it positively - by focusing on how you've overcome the difficulty and are doing well now/how you've grown and learned from the experience, etc., c) only mention a problem if it's now resolved, and d) make sure there's a discernible upward trend in your grades since the problem has been resolved. Otherwise how is the adcom to know that there's really no more reason for you not to be able to fully focus on your studies? You don't want to hand the adcom flaws to hold against you!

[UnlikelyGrad]

I've always hated writing conclusions (for essays--it's the easiest part in a lab write-up). After staring blankly at my SOP draft for a couple of weeks I handed it to my hubby and asked how I should end it. I just wanted a suggestion, but he ended up writing a paragraph for me that was absolutely perfect.

Maybe I should have him look at my fellowship essays, too...