How to address my gap year in SOP? Do I need to?

[myhairtiebroke]

I'm currently unemployed, and it's likely that I will still be unemployed by the time applications are due. How do I gracefully address this? I know people often take a gap year before going onto graduate school, so is it even worth mentioning? I feel like one short sentence towards the end would be best.

So far, I have something like: "I am currently taking time off from the rigor of academic research, and relaxing before taking on the demands of graduate school."

[Bioenchilada]

I don't think you should word it like that. Grad school will be much more difficult and longer than undergrad, you don't want to sound like you'll need a break while getting your PhD. It's true, a lot of people take gap years before grad school, but most of the ones I know were doing full time research during that time. If you were unemployed, I'd suggest not mentioning it, or looking for a way in which it doesn't sound weird or bad.

[ballwera]

5 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I don't think you should word it like that. Grad school will be much more difficult and longer than undergrad, you don't want to sound like you'll need a break while getting your PhD. It's true, a lot of people take gap years before grad school, but most of the ones I know were doing full time research during that time. If you were unemployed, I'd suggest not mentioning it, or looking for a way in which it doesn't sound weird or bad.

I feel like it at least has to be addressed because it will definitely come up during interviews. 

[myhairtiebroke]

25 minutes ago, Bioenchilada said:

I don't think you should word it like that. Grad school will be much more difficult and longer than undergrad, you don't want to sound like you'll need a break while getting your PhD. It's true, a lot of people take gap years before grad school, but most of the ones I know were doing full time research during that time. If you were unemployed, I'd suggest not mentioning it, or looking for a way in which it doesn't sound weird or bad.

Could I just leave at "I am currently taking time off from research before graduate school" in the SOP, and expand if I need to in interview? I didn't think taking personal time would be seen as bad.

[blc073]

27 minutes ago, ballwera said:

I feel like it at least has to be addressed because it will definitely come up during interviews. 

I'm not sure it will come up in interviews. Committees only care about an individual's ability to do good science. There are plenty of reasons to take time off, and I do not think individual interviewers will dig. 

@myhairtiebroke I would not mention it. Make your SOP about your research experience and why you are a good fit for the program. If a weird interviewers tries to bring it up, you can easily say something like, "I had a personal reason to take a gap year, but I am eager to begin graduate school now." 

[Bioenchilada]

38 minutes ago, ballwera said:

I feel like it at least has to be addressed because it will definitely come up during interviews. 

I don't know about you, but rarely did any of my interviewers bring anything up from my SOP. I feel like most of them didn't even read it thoroughly, if at all, which is understanding due to their workload. They just told me to talk about my research and then they told me about theirs, after all, interviews only last like 30 min lol 

[VirologyPhDinTraining]

5 hours ago, ballwera said:

I feel like it at least has to be addressed because it will definitely come up during interviews. 

Interviews tend to be hard enough to talk about everything in the short periods that they allow anyway. As was mentioned I doubt it would come up. 

 

OP: It's not a positive or negative thing, I would just not mention it, and if it comes up I would say something to the effect that it was time you took to explore your options and make the best decisions when it came to graduate school. It's a big decision, and one that shouldn't be entered into lightly. If you can spin it towards you sounding more mature and thoughtful, it is always to your advantage. 

[myhairtiebroke]

Thank you everybody for the feedback. I will not mention it. If I get interviews, and if I get asked, I will talk about it then.

[biotechie]

On October 5, 2016 at 1:12 PM, Bioenchilada said:

I don't know about you, but rarely did any of my interviewers bring anything up from my SOP. I feel like most of them didn't even read it thoroughly, if at all, which is understanding due to their workload. They just told me to talk about my research and then they told me about theirs, after all, interviews only last like 30 min lol 

We actually talked extensively about things in my SOP, as well as in my research statement (most of my schools required two essays). I was asked about why I chose to do a masters instead of going straight to PhD, but I mentioned it in my research statement. The fact that they don't read thoroughly is why you need to spend a good amount of time making it really tell your story and show your passion for science. That way, even if they skim, they get what is important.

I've also served on the adcom. If they don't ask you about the gap year, it may still get discussed by a committee. If it is a problem, they'll make sure to ask you about it.

[Bioenchilada]

3 hours ago, biotechie said:

We actually talked extensively about things in my SOP, as well as in my research statement (most of my schools required two essays). I was asked about why I chose to do a masters instead of going straight to PhD, but I mentioned it in my research statement. The fact that they don't read thoroughly is why you need to spend a good amount of time making it really tell your story and show your passion for science. That way, even if they skim, they get what is important.

I've also served on the adcom. If they don't ask you about the gap year, it may still get discussed by a committee. If it is a problem, they'll make sure to ask you about it.

Most of my schools did not require a research statement; however, interview experiences might change from one person to the next. I'm just talking about my personal experience. My original point was that if you don't have anything good to say about the reasons underlying your gap year, don't bring it up. I'd rather have something be subject to speculation, or not noted, than weakly justified. 

Having been interviewed people that personally reviewed my app, if they want to truly something, they'll ask.