What makes a successful SOP?

[Dialectica]

I apologize for inundating the forum with so many questions lately, but I think it's helpful in at least two ways: likely some questions will be asked that others want asked, but don't want to take the time to look at what applicants have said in years past. Secondly, it keeps this forum active, which, at times, is difficult, but beneficial. 

 

So, what makes for a successful statement of purpose? What has worked in the past (if you have reason to think it played a role at all in your success)? I've heard that one should try and "do some philosophy" in the statement. Not only have I not seen great examples of this, but I'm not entirely clear what is meant by it. If someone has any such examples, I'd be interested to see them. I think the problem of "doing philosophy"—depending on how one interprets it—is especially acute given concerns regarding word count. 

[wandajune]

I think attempting to "do philosophy" is probably bad advice. It's a cover letter.

My statement was mainly an outline of my research interests and relevant background, with a short quip about how I got interested in philosophy. I also opened with a light joke, which admissions committees mentioned as a positive aspect of my application. (Not everyone can pull this off, however, so make sure you have others proofread your statement to ensure that you've achieved the right tone.) The best advice is to stay on topic, but if you can show a bit of your personality in the letter, that can help you. 

[Ms. V]

what do you mean by "doing some philosophy"? does it mean that if one's statement engages philosophy (interdisciplinary and comparative in my case), it should be elaborating the sophisticated concepts in detail? MY question is how the SOP should be addressing each book and philosopher consulted if it is a sort of eclectic survey?

[MentalEngineer]

I've never sat on an adcomm, but I've read a few dozen SoPs for people in the last couple years. The common wisdom among the faculty at UWM who teach our workshop on writing samples and SoPs is that the SoP can very rarely help you, but it can hurt you. A stellar SoP isn't going to take a so-so application over the edge, but a bad one can get a good application thrown out. Mostly, you avoid having that happen by not trying to be too gimmicky or innovative. It's kind of like fashion - you can do, like, one thing that's kind of outside the norm as long as you can make it fit, but you can't completely disregard what everyone else is doing. Look at some samples, or get people you know to send you theirs. Keep things that feel authentic to you and change things that feel fake and research, research, research your schools.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I think the main positive thing you can do in your SoP is prove that you're a great fit for the particular program. In that sense, your SoP is a piece of philosophy, because it's an argument to the adcomm giving some of the reasons they should choose you over all the other applicants. Your writing sample proves (hopefully) that you're good enough at philosophy. Your SoP proves that you know what the program you're applying to does - not just in broad strokes of "I'm interested in philosophy of mind and Program X has many outstanding faculty who work in that area," but what faculty (and grad students, if they do something cool) have actually done recently. Your SoP proves that you have an idea of what you want to do at that particular program. Yes, your interests will likely change during the course of a PhD, but going into one without having thought about what you're going to do at all does not bode well. Your SoP proves that what the program does and what you want to do are a good match for each other. Ideally, it proves that not by declaring it to be so by fiat - anyone can do that, and adcomms get piles of applications that look like that. Instead, you prove it by pointing to things you have already done - courses taken, papers written, workshops attended, scholars corresponded with, and so on. Doing these things shows that you're approaching your graduate work with a professional attitude and not just applying for the hell of it. Since the ability to think professionally about what you do in your program is almost certainly a necessary condition for successful completion of a PhD, applicants who can already do it are, ceteris paribus, preferable to those who can't. Ceteris non paribus, of course, but you can't help that, so you should act as though they are.

Having a well-turned phrase or two in there doesn't hurt either.

[dgswaim]

One piece of advise that I got from my MA thesis advisor was this: Make it clear what your interests are, and try to provide evidence that you've been doing work in that area in a meaningful way, but try not to come across as "closed-minded." Your interests will change, and in a sentence or two, it's good to express some sentiment to the effect that you're open to such change. It was pointed out to me that this can help to make people who are outside of your area (and who might be looking at your file) more disposed to think of you as someone they'd like to have around.

[Dialectica]

@wandajune & @MentalEngineer : thank you for your responses. I think they are helpful.

 

@Ms. V : I think what has been in mind is something like what @dgswaim suggests; something like providing evidence that you've done work in this area—really show some intellectual engagement with your interests. The problem is this: I'm not sure what a nice concise way of doing that looks like, or at least I haven't seen a nice example of that. But, I suppose my original question just is what all this talk of 'doing philosophy' amounts to in an SOP. 

[Ms. V]

well my MA is in English lit with a thesis on comparative subject (visual-cyber art and lit, literary adaptation theories). yet, given that I haven't done much philosophy before, my current statement engages visual adaptations/video games and philosophy. the interdisciplinary frame is not new to my background if philosophical approaches are! however, I'm thinking of applying to both MA and phd (for each of which I have separate SOPs)...let's keep the fingers crossed  I donno anything about your background but maybe it's better that you write your statement and try to convince your POI to provide a feedback on it at this stage (not an easy favor to ask though!) or probably other students of philosophy attending the school to have a look and make comments. feed backs from various readers with different mindsets are helpful. MY problem is I'm applying to a program which is above all "interdisciplinary" with an emphasis on philosophy and cannot be written that "concise". I gotta elaborate the other disciplines engaged along with the supposed interconnections; a long statement which needs to be curtailed. this is the feedback I received from my POI " The key is to demonstrate that it is an interdisciplinary project, which you've done very well here but it can be a bit tighter".
I suppose one has to rewrite and revise the statement of purpose as much as it is possible to make it more to the point, saying a lot in an academic gist while using a winning policy not to let the committee down with your lack of background! 

[panpsychist]

On 10/16/2016 at 10:46 PM, MentalEngineer said:

SoP can very rarely help you, but it can hurt you

Completely agree. Having applied twice (MA programs, and then PhD programs) myself and talked extensively with people who have served on admission committees, I've come to know in many cases your SoP will most likely only be read after they start to seriously consider you as a competitive candidate. Then, what they're most interested in is figuring out if you are a good fit for the program, e.g. if they can see someone potentially supervising you, if they think the program is gonna prepare you for a successful career path, etc.