Yet another SoP thread

[Venetia]

Hi all,

I've done my GREs and chosen some universities, so that part is all going fabulously. The thing that is catching me up, however, is my SoP. This is my first time applying to American universities, so I'm completely at sea. I found some reputable advice online (including one site that told me it's the 'most important piece of writing you'll ever write'...thanks for that, no pressure then, eh?), but am still struggling to figure out what they're looking for. Would anyone mind sending me an example of a decent SoP or giving some tried-and-true suggestions? Of course I have no interest in plagiarism...if that worries anyone, I'm applying for English, so any humanity subject apart from that would be vaguely similar in style (or so I believe).

[mudlark]

Hi all,

I've done my GREs and chosen some universities, so that part is all going fabulously. The thing that is catching me up, however, is my SoP. This is my first time applying to American universities, so I'm completely at sea. I found some reputable advice online (including one site that told me it's the 'most important piece of writing you'll ever write'...thanks for that, no pressure then, eh?), but am still struggling to figure out what they're looking for. Would anyone mind sending me an example of a decent SoP or giving some tried-and-true suggestions? Of course I have no interest in plagiarism...if that worries anyone, I'm applying for English, so any humanity subject apart from that would be vaguely similar in style (or so I believe).

I was a successful applicant in English last year, and I used the same template that I used for research grant applications.

1. Introduction of field: what time period, which authors, what focus, and why?

2. Research Questions: what questions are you hoping to answer with your research?

3. Literature Review: what has already been said? where are you intervening in the conversation? where are the research gaps?

4. Methodology: what approach will you be using (marxist/feminist/cultural studies/new historicist/material culture/print culture)? how is this choice justified by the preceding elements?

5. Project Outline (optional): if you have a sense of what your diss will look like, what sections/chapters will it be organized into? This is probably more useful for grant applicants who are further along in their programs than it is for applicants, but hey, if you know, go for it.

6. Preparation: what courses have you taken that have prepared you for this project? how does it relate to any major projects you have written, or conferences you have participated in? do you have any useful languages?

7. Future Preparation/Fit: what does the PhD program offer you that will complete your preparation? are there specific courses you can use? languages you will learn? archives, libraries, or research groups you can use? who are the key professors you want to work with and why?

This is a rough version of a template that was given to me by my old grad chair when she was teaching us how to write grants. I think it works because it lets you show that you know the field, you know the criticism, and you have something important to say about both. The 'Fit' section can easily be swapped out for each university. It takes some work to get through all of this in the allowable word count. It can be done, but the result is sometimes that by getting everything in, you end up glossing over important sections. So when I went back to my SOP to edit it for this year's round of grant apps, for example, I ended up deleting my old project outline (#5) in order to spend more time clearly explaining my methodology and research questions. I've seen dozens of SOPs written on this model, and it seems to have served a lot of my friends quite well.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

Same here. Everything is going smoothly, I got professors writing letters of recommendation, TOEFL & GRE are done, transcripts ordered...but the SoPs

This is the first time applying to American universities for me too, so I'm just as confused. Should I be very specific about what I want to do, or should I be open to new ideas? Should I focus on the future, or my background?

If there is anyone willing to take a look at my SoP I'd appreciate it very much. Right now I just need to get one SoP for one program done so I can model the other ones after it!

[gurumaster8899]

The SOP is the tricky part

But i have always found it useful to just outline your essay:

1. State your goal/research interests

2. Talk about background/ research/ work experience ...anything relevant to graduate studies

3. Brief paragraph about extracurriculars and awards/ publications

4. Why are you applying to that school/ how is it a good fit

5. Strong conclusion/ mention how you and the school are a perfect fit etc...

just get something done, a rough first draft or a skeleton, then start modifying it and stuff

and always have a couple of people willing to read and critique your essay...

[BlueSwedeShoes]

The SOP is the tricky part

But i have always found it useful to just outline your essay:

1. State your goal/research interests

2. Talk about background/ research/ work experience ...anything relevant to graduate studies

3. Brief paragraph about extracurriculars and awards/ publications

4. Why are you applying to that school/ how is it a good fit

5. Strong conclusion/ mention how you and the school are a perfect fit etc...

just get something done, a rough first draft or a skeleton, then start modifying it and stuff

and always have a couple of people willing to read and critique your essay...

I'm going for a similar structure. The very first paragraph is essentially "This is what I want to do". Number 2 & 3 there is a bit meshed together, mostly because a lot of the research experience I have has led to publications (two papers and one poster at large international conferences so far, two more papers in the works) but I have nearly no awards (Sweden isn't too keen on them...).

So I have a rough draft now, but I need those people willing to read and critique it. Being in Sweden, there is nobody, not even faculty, that knows any better than I what a good SoP look like.