Help! Customizing SoP

[NsciApp]

Hi Everyone--I need your SoP writing help!

I have a decent draft of my SoP (is it safe to post here to have others read--risk of plagiarism?) What I need to do now is customize it for each school to which I'm applying (biosciences umbrella programs, always neuroscience). WHAT should go into that final paragraph with the school-specific info? I've contacted faculty at each school, so I can "name drop," but to what degree should I do that? After all, the adcomms already know that they're a good school and know that professor X does Y research. How in the heck do people say specific things about umbrella programs they want to be part of? My reasons for picking schools or thinking they were good "fits":

1) highly rated programs

2) lots of faculty (some neuroscience programs are so small it seems difficult to find someone you want to work with)

3) faculty in the neuroscience subfield I'm interested in responded to my emails positively

4) location, cost of living, word of mouth "coolness" of program

I'm having a hard time modifying this last paragraph in a way that sounds individualized but not sickeningly flattering or redundant of what's on the website.

[Nikki]

The "fit" paragraph should include all the reasons why that school is the best fit for you:

- professors whose research interests fit yours

- courses offered

- research opportunities (institutes, libraries, etc)

- location (if helpful in terms of research opportunities)

Hope that helps a little!

[mudlark]

You can also poke around for lecture series, colloquia, research groups, or publications that are housed at the school and related to your interests.

[kobie]

As I am trying to finish up my SOP right now, I find this post quite relevant. Many people advise to mention the faculty member whose research filed is of interest to the applicant. However, I have one concern:

- Does it sound kidda superficial to mention their names and their research fields only? Because those stuffs everyone can easily get off the department website. I feel that doing it this way does not really show that we have an indepth understanding into the field of those faculty members, and therefore my interest in their field is open to question.

- Or should I demonstrate my understaning about specific project, paper,etc. of only one or two faculty member who I want to work with the most? It is better than just merely mentioning?

Actually I am more into the second tactic because in some schools, I have more than 4 professors whose research interests me. Therefore, if I merely mention their name and their research fields one by one, that will sound really superficial. Moreoever, even only mentioning, I will waste a lot of space in my SOP.

However, if the admission committe base on this fit paragraph to choose which faculty members the application should be sent to for consideration, this tactic (only 1 or 2 faculty members mentioned) may seem like an unwise one.

So what do you guys think about this?

[NsciApp]

However, if the admission committe base on this fit paragraph to choose which faculty members the application should be sent to for consideration, this tactic (only 1 or 2 faculty members mentioned) may seem like an unwise one.

So what do you guys think about this?

I am going to mention all of the faculty whose interests match mine. I think it shows you are a good fit if you could potentially be happy working in several labs. If you just go on and on about one person/technique/article you may sound inflexible. In my thinking it's better to make yourself marketable to several faculty.

Then again, I'm no expert since I'm going through this process for the first time, too!