getting your character across in sop

[cheesethunder]

im in my final stages of one of my sops

and the people i have gotten to read it keep saying its not very personal/ theres no character blhelbhelh

and i get this but i dont know how to fix it without just listing a bunch of great qualities

i tried to infer these qualities through my research experiences to show my initiative/dedication/creativity to applying concepts from 1 area of psyc to another

but i can see how on the other end i come out as a jumble of facts without any clear indication of who i am as a candidate

how can i fix this!

[modernity]

Without seeing your SOP its hard to give suggestions... but I think you can show your character through your achievements, and through what you have chosen to do throughout your academic career. In addition to that I would also say...that I've read a lot of SOP advice which cautions against putting anything too personal/too much character into it... because while there is the chance that it may help you with some adcoms, it may hurt you with others. I know there are proponents on both sides of that fence though so I'm going to add in that ymmv.

[JerryLandis]

Try writing an entirely new "SOP" with no intention of sending it in with applications. Write down what interests you and why, without thinking about whether admissions committees would be impressed or horrified. This can help you develop a more casual, comfortable tone which can make your research interests seem more realistic and less stuffy.

You don't have to be too personal, but you can use tone to inject charisma into your personal statement without explicitly stating facts about your personal life.

[pea-jay]

Try writing an entirely new "SOP" with no intention of sending it in with applications. Write down what interests you and why, without thinking about whether admissions committees would be impressed or horrified. This can help you develop a more casual, comfortable tone which can make your research interests seem more realistic and less stuffy.

You don't have to be too personal, but you can use tone to inject charisma into your personal statement without explicitly stating facts about your personal life.

hey that's a pretty neat idea

[cheesethunder]

i like it too! yea i kept trying to remember how i talk to people aboutmy interests

but also know my 1st sop was WAY tooo personal

so i can get what you're saying

iwanted to come off as very professional so i think thats what sucked the personality/ character out of it

i guess im having trouble 'sellign myself'