discouragement

[tron]

the initial encouragement i received from my professors at my decision to apply to graduate school turned to discouragement when they read the first (and as of now, only) draft of my statement of purpose.

i have been trying to do reconstructive surgery on the darned thing, but the more i try to rethink the more i realize just how inchoate my ideas are, and the more i read the more i realize how much i haven't read.

my question is -- is this a unique dilemna, are these clear signs that i'm just not ready/should postpone or give up? or is the process of writing a statement discouraging by nature, are we supposed to be overwhelmed with how much there is out there that we're just not certain about/familiar with yet?

[monkeyface]

i can only speak for myself of course, but i feel your pain. i'm experiencing the exact same apprehensions as you, wondering if my ideas are trite and then freaking out that there are only a few weeks left to conduct the research that might help them become more sophisticated. i was also encouraged to pursue grad studies by professors, so in spite of my insecurities i'm going to go for it anyway. if it doesn't work out this year, i've at least learned a lot about the process and will have more time to do all that Reading and Writing and Thinking that might take my ideas to the necessary level by next year's round. i'm also applying to a spoonful of interesting master's programs as well.

i don't know if you're a recent grad like me, but i've read that adcom's don't expect as fully developed research projects from undergrad applicant's for PhD's as they might from master's students. so overall i'd just encourage you not to give up. just lay out as clear a design of your research goals as you're able b/c you never know if someone is going to really love your idea buds and want to help you develop them more fully.

[natsteel]

tron, are they now discouraged about you even attending grad school because of the SOP or just discouraged about the SOP. Have they said something like, "Maybe you shouldn't go to grad school?" That would seem a serious turnaround and I wonder how bad an SOP could be to occasion that. Did you ask them exactly what they didn't like about it?

Anyway, I would search the web if I was you for information and advice on writing an SOP. There's tons of it and most of it is good. Here is what I have gleaned from my searches:

1)It should not be a personal statement, i.e. "When I was 8 years old, etc..." unless it directly relates to your research interests.

2) It should detail your research interests. They will not expect them to be fully formed but you should know what period and country you want to study and possibly an area within that. For example, "My research interests lie mainly in the U.S. colonial and early republic periods. I would like to focus my inquiry on the social and political effects of the War for Independence on average American citizens both during the war and immediately after." Or something like that. Feel free to include another research interest possibly in a slightly different but related period with which you are familiar. They want to see that you have an idea of what you want to do but not that you are inflexible or close-minded and that it's the only thing you know about or are interested in.

3) You should also show that you have done your homework on the department and the faculty. You should be able to say which professor(s) you would like to work with, and, most importantly, why. Show that you are familiar with their work and write about what it is about their work that interests you, i.e. their methodology, their approach, specific books or articles. Don't ass-kiss, but show that you have done some reading in the field outside of your class requirements, which you should be doing anyway if you're really serious about grad school or your field. As for the department, perhaps they are known for a specific approach or have had some distinguished works published recently. You should show an awareness of these things. Don't think you can write one SOP that you can then send out to 8 schools. You should have at least 1-3 paragraphs tailored for each school including the stuff mentioned above.

Now keep in mind that I am only getting ready to apply next year but have been collecting advice for the last two years and this is the some of the stuff I have come across.

Best of luck to both of you.

[Sparky]

Why not apply for M.A. programs? That way, instead of having to be so specific on a direction, you can just say something like "I am interested in further exploring the economic history of early modern France" and "I am very inspired by the work of [insert name of Rock Star Historian]."

The theology equivalent of that got me into great M.A. history of religion programs, for what it's worth. I didn't apply to any Ph.Ds the first time around (I will let you know how round #2 goes in the spring, haha), but I imagine the committees would have had a raucous laugh at my application if I had.

[TMP]

You do need to figure what's going on in your professor's head.

I remember what it was like applying straight out of undergrad. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was just learning about my field when I was writing my senior thesis. So I really had a lot to learn about my field. Unless you're one of those super-invested history majors who reads beyond the required reading for seminars, it's hard to know what's out there without further coursework. My professors thought my SOPs were decent (now I think about it) but didn't feel that I had good grasp of what's up for debate/grabs in my field. So they were cautious about me applying for PhD but very supportive for my MA application. They REALLY wanted me to go to graduate school. One said, "To start a PhD program without MA is like learning to walk before crawling." But they'd prefer that I did some MA coursework to get grounded for PhD.

Fast forward two years later and in my third semester of my MA program, I must say... looking back, wow, well, what I knew at the time was what I really knew so I couldn't blame myself for my failures. My SOPs this round are much, much more focused. I've zeroed in specific problems in my field while discussing possible research ideas.

One should, for humanities, should always apply to both PhD and MA programs (unless you already have a MA) because the competition's so intense for PhD that they can only take the best prepared students who fit in the department's culture.

[StrangeLight]

my statement of purpose sucked. i had 3 potential topics for a thesis/dissertation and i wasn't sure which ones to pitch at each school. my professors told me, "well, try and pitch all of them, they're sort of interrelated, and more than anything, talk about the TYPE of history you want to do, not necessarily what your project will be."

WRONG. that is WRONG. it sounds good in a one-on-one conversation, but in an SOP, it seems like an unfocused mess. no one holds you to your SOP topic once you actually arrive in grad school. in fact, most assume that your SOP topic was irrelevant and that you're starting fresh. weird, i know. the SOP is essentially an opportunity to prove to grad schools that you know how to write a thesis proposal, plus add in a little bit about your past work and the type of researcher you want to be and how what you do fits with their school. but really... think of a topic, do a bit of research, and write a (informal?) proposal for that topic.

it should be something you might want to do, not precisely what you are going to do.

there is tons of discouragement and self-doubt and wondering what on earth you're doing. if you don't feel that way then you're not examining your work critically enough.

man, my SOP would look so different if i was applying to PhD programs again. i was really clueless, and i still got into one of my top choices with full funding and fellowships, so it's not hopeless!

[natsteel]

About reading in the field outside of coursework... If you do this and show it in your SOP you will appear to be a more attractive candidate. To complete a PHD you really have to love whatever it is that you're studying and showing that you are interested in your field outside of what you have to do in class shows them that you have that quality.

I don't know what specific field you want to study, but, usually, in most fields, articles will be published every once in a while which detail recent trends of the field and issues that remain unresolved. These kinds of "state of the field" articles will let you know what's been going on in the field. If you're not sure where to look, ask one of your professors in the field if he/she knows of such a recent article that would help you get an overview of work currently being done in the field. And you should also have at least a broad outline of the historiographical trends of the period.

For example, in US Colonial/early Republic, the 1920s-1940s saw the Progressive approach hold sway, then a consensus school emerged in the 1950s and early 1960s, followed by the neo-Whig rise of intellectual history and the republicanism v. liberalism debate, and, alongside that, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was the new social history. Just knowing the field's development and the questions currently being explored will help you to develop your own research interests and questions and will also show your professors and adcoms that you are self-motivated and enthusiastic about your field.

[tron]

thanks to everyone who empathized and/or offered advice. while i had little trouble articulating the initial seed of my research idea, the process of detailing it for the sop has been much more arduous than i envisioned, and i think the struggle came through more clearly in the sop than did the idea itself. my professors know what kinds of statements work, and they recognized that mine does not. i think what i've been working on recently is slightly less murky, but i've been so paralyzed by anxiety that i'm having trouble finishing it. doing additional reading in the field has become my primary method of procrastination (b/c i can convince myself i'm being productive) but somehow reading always leads me to a realization of a new pile of books that i absolutely have to read if i want to sound at all intelligent. sigh.

in any case, i have thrown a few ma programs into the mix, and i will be keeping my fingers crossed but my expectations realistic (which is to say, low).

again thanks to everyone for your comments. this is certainly a demoralizing process -- i hope we all emerge unscathed!

Edited November 18, 2009 by tron

[misterpat]

thanks to everyone who empathized and/or offered advice. while i had little trouble articulating the initial seed of my research idea, the process of detailing it for the sop has been much more arduous than i envisioned, and i think the struggle came through more clearly in the sop than did the idea itself. my professors know what kinds of statements work, and they recognized that mine does not. i think what i've been working on recently is slightly less murky, but i've been so paralyzed by anxiety that i'm having trouble finishing it. doing additional reading in the field has become my primary method of procrastination (b/c i can convince myself i'm being productive) but somehow reading always leads me to a realization of a new pile of books that i absolutely have to read if i want to sound at all intelligent. sigh.

in any case, i have thrown a few ma programs into the mix, and i will be keeping my fingers crossed but my expectations realistic (which is to say, low).

again thanks to everyone for your comments. this is certainly a demoralizing process -- i hope we all emerge unscathed!

The SOP is really terrifying to write. Don't get discouraged (I say this, but I get discouraged all the time). I went, for all intents and purposes, 0/9 last year (admitted to a few, but without funding). Looking at the statements I submitted last year make me want to throw up; I fear that my friends whom I had proof-read it have lower estimations of my intelligence than they had before.

I have read a LOT of outside material since last year's cycle, and it does make it a lot easier. Now I feel like I can speak somewhat confidently and not sound like a fool, and my main task is trying to figure out which potential ideas are going to make the best impression on each particular program.

I can't offer much advice other than the excellent suggestions offered above. But for what it's worth, here are a few tips:

1. Maintian a confident tone. It's intimdiating knowing that you've only read 1/1000000 of the stuff the people who will be scrutinzing your SOP have, but if you don't sound like you think you know what you're talking about, why should anyone else think you do? Modesty is good, timidity is not.

2. No personal stuff, unless it's explictly requested or (somehow) relevant to a research idea you are proposing. Even then, keep it brief.

3. The person who described it as a proposal is right. If you had to write proposals for research papers in undergrad, it should kind of be like that.

4. Don't get too attached to anything you write. Starting from scratch a bunch of times is probably better than revising what you currently have. You'll surprise yourself with how easy it can be to hammer out a more coherent version of what you had written the first time.

[youcallthatagency?]

I'm an undergrad to grad person (PhD no MA). And I will say this:

The people who come in with an MA get fewer years of funding and need to start with a dissertation topic out of pure necessity and tend to change fields less frequently. You, however, would get the luxury of an extra year to account for coursework. A lot of people in my department have found themselves changing fields from Latin America to Europe, etc. So it's not uncommon to put something down and change your mind. In fact, it's kind of expected and by the time you start no one in the department remembers what it is that you said you do anyway.

With that in mind, I would say organize yourself around what you know and what you've done. Give them a clear picture of where you fall generally (15th century France) and based on work you've done, where you think you'll go. You don't need to go around reading tons of books to know where you might fall in the field or what is currently going on. Get out some journals for your field and peruse the book reviews and articles to see what's getting reviewed (attention) and what isn't. The book review is your friend. Try H-Net reviews also and if you can find syllabi for the reading survey courses in the departments you're looking at that'll give you a good idea of what they think is important in the field (and often they pick really current works that are groundbreaking in some way) that everyone should know.

Self doubt and insecurity appear to be a common trait amongst all us academic types, but I think this is a good opportunity for you to decide that maybe you can push forward even though others are doubtful. It's definitely a valuable lesson. It's a tough one, though, and never forget: there's always next year.

[_alyssaryan_]

the initial encouragement i received from my professors at my decision to apply to graduate school turned to discouragement when they read the first (and as of now, only) draft of my statement of purpose.

i have been trying to do reconstructive surgery on the darned thing, but the more i try to rethink the more i realize just how inchoate my ideas are, and the more i read the more i realize how much i haven't read.

my question is -- is this a unique dilemna, are these clear signs that i'm just not ready/should postpone or give up? or is the process of writing a statement discouraging by nature, are we supposed to be overwhelmed with how much there is out there that we're just not certain about/familiar with yet?

I faced this same issue two years ago when I applied for my MA. My "adviser" read the first draft of my personal statement and told me that I needed to heavily revise it if I was planning on getting in to grad school. I made a few changes and sent it back, and again, he told me to revise it or I "wouldn't get in." Ultimately, I decided that the statement was me and that if a school didn't want me on the basis of my personal statement, then I didn't want them either. I wound up getting into all of the schools that I actually finished applications for.

So, don't be discouraged! Just keep your chin up and have faith in yourself. You're not doing this for your professors, you're doing this for you.