Statement of Purpose

[arp265]

Hey Everyone,

Just wondering how everyone else is handling their personal statement. I have mine written (already about 2 pages in length; coming close to their deadlines)... and now when I'm filling out my applications (Neuroscience Ph.D... each schools seems to give the personal statement directions slightly differently... and in addition.. they each want to know what it is about that particular school that makes you want to go there.. etc

Is everyone else modifying their personal statement for each and every school?

Not looking forward to this... And just when I thought I had come close to finally being done with everything

Thanks!

[cheesethunder]

this was my plan i spent like 2 months on my 1st one......then i was just going to tweak it but then i just ended up completely writing a new one for the rest of my schools because i tailored it completely to the reserach there i was doing slightly different research topics at 1 school, from diet and peer relations to moral psyc. i like this better because it shows how everything i did can be applied both in terms of skills and research to what i wanted to do at that school. but i guess i stuck to the same template so it was easier that way.

[dzk]

Also applying to neuroscience programs, and yes, I am modifying my statement for each school. It's not really that much work, since the reasons I picked the schools I did are the same for all of them.

[fuzzylogician]

What people tend to do is have the same basic SOP that's unchanged, plus 1-2 "fit" paragraphs that need to be changed for each school. They're also going to look roughly the same, they'll basically differ in the school name, names of profs you want to work with and maybe a few other things like a mention of the labs, libraries, special programs or whatever else drew you to each school.

[rising_star]

Is everyone else modifying their personal statement for each and every school?

I did. I started out with a template that I used to write each one, but what I actually submitted varied from one school to the next. AND, this may or may not matter, but I did more than just have a fit paragraph at the end. I made references to faculty and department strengths throughout my statement, in an effort to *show* and not just tell them that their school was a good fit for me. Whether it mattered or not is impossible for me to say but I did do really well in that round of apps (7 for 7).

[samjones]

for my phd applications (and that's where fit really matters) i plan on making word and approach changes in order to demonstrate my fit to each program. not only am i applying to different schools but one of my programs is an american studies program as opposed to an anthropology program. i need to use terms and phrasing relevant to each program and the type of faculty they have at each school. but even between the anthro programs i'm going to make some small changes to how i express my research interests so as to tailor to better fit the program to which i'm applying. and of course for each program i'll include a fit paragraph that talks about what faculty and resources i'll probably want to take advantage of and/or work with.

Edited November 10, 2009 by samjones