Statement of Purpose for MA Program at Unranked Program

[lelick1234]

Hello, 

What is the difference between a statement of purpose for a MA/PhD program and a terminal MA program at an unranked university?  Should I approach the SOP as if I was applying to a PhD program, or is there a different approach for a terminal MA?  

--Leo

[rising_star]

The approach is pretty similar. You want to talk about your research interests and perhaps the courses you want to take while there.

[1Q84]

Good question! I was kind of an idiot and I wrote my MA SOP to be like a Ph.D. one, which was mostly fine except that I talked about who I would want to "work with," which I guess is fine except for the fact that it didn't totally matter and I didn't really get much of a choice (and people rarely do in English MAs, I find.) It helped to show that I thought about fit, which is super important, but made me look a little uninformed because I was so specific about my "faculty choices." 

So my advice is to have a good sense of faculty strengths, department focuses, and general vibe so that you can talk about fit but don't talk about "advisors" etc.