Re-Using Last Year's SOP

[maxined93]

Hello all!

I applied to eight English Lit Ph.D. programs last year and was rejected by all. I'm trying again this year, in hopes of greater success. I'm going to reapply to a few schools, but was wondering if I should entirely rewrite my statement of purpose for those I've already tried at. I was told by everyone who looked at it last year that it was quite good, so I don't want to start from scratch. But would it hurt my chances of acceptance if someone noticed it was largely the same document as I used to apply last year?

[charlemagne88]

I'm not 100% sure, but it's likely the people who read your statement last year wont remember your statement this year. However, if you weren't accepted last year, it may have something to do with your proposed research area indicated in your SOP, which if that's the case, it's likely you wont see better results this year unless you've made improvements to the other areas of your applications. 

[sjoh197]

I doubt anyone will remember the SOP you used last year. However, seeing as how you were rejected on all fronts (this happened to me as well) perhaps reusing a large portion of your SOP is a poor choice of "attempting greater success". I completely rewrote mine from scratch... without even looking at the original... and when I did, the results were leaps and bounds better than the one I had written the year before. 

[MarineBluePsy]

I went through a few rounds of application seasons and did not completely rewrite my SOP each year.  The section summing up my educational background, why I picked this field, and what I wanted to do in the future didn't change so I saw no reason to rewrite any of that.  I maybe tweaked a line or two, but that was it.  My relevant clinical and research experience was also recycled, I just updated these sections to include new experiences.  The section about why I picked school x, why I wanted to work with mentor y, and what type of research I wanted to conduct were what changed each season so this part was rewritten completely.

Whatever you decide when you consider how many applications each admissions committee reads each year I would say it is unlikely that they would remember yours enough to realize it is the exact same SOP.  While it may not have been the reason you didn't gain acceptance, it wouldn't hurt to spend some time having it edited and polishing it up at the very least.  A great document still has room to become an excellent document.

[maxined93]

Thanks much! I have edited a good bit, streamlining and updating. I'm glad I don't have to change too much, though.