applying12010 Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I felt quite horrible for people who haven't gotten any acceptances yet! It must be so nerve wrecking to look at the 27 pages of posts of people getting in great programs for someone who hasn't received any emails/ letters. I was one of those nervous people before I get my first acceptance. My friends actually forced me to promise that I will not look at the gradcafe forum before I get accepted, which in my opinion, helped me maintain my sanity. Maybe that is a good advice for people who are as nervous as I was? Just try to relax (I know its hard), and know that if you have talent, you will shine nor matter what. You don't have to attend a top school to become a great scholar, and going to a top school would not necessarily make you a great scholar. Moreover, going to a top school doesn't even necessarily mean that you are exceptional (although most of them are; there are some very qualified people on the forum). I have a friend's friend who got into a top three program a few years ago and someone else wrote his/ her personal statement, and that person is not very impressive intellectually - just a grade grubber. I hope everyone will get into a good school, and live happily ever after! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applying12010 Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 forgot to mention the suggestion - shall we post our personal statements on the forum? I just got a new computer, but I will find the document soon and posted it here. It will be very useful for the future applicants! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowshoes Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 forgot to mention the suggestion - shall we post our personal statements on the forum? I just got a new computer, but I will find the document soon and posted it here. It will be very useful for the future applicants! I was just fixing to suggest this from those of you who have gotten into several great schools. If I don't get in anywhere this time, I plan to try again next fall. I think my personal statement was fairly weak (I don't know what a good one looks like, though.) so some exceptional examples would be of REAL use to those of us who don't quite have it all figured out. I looked and looked on google for some examples before I wrote mine but had little luck. Great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curufinwe Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I was just fixing to suggest this from those of you who have gotten into several great schools. If I don't get in anywhere this time, I plan to try again next fall. I think my personal statement was fairly weak (I don't know what a good one looks like, though.) so some exceptional examples would be of REAL use to those of us who don't quite have it all figured out. I looked and looked on google for some examples before I wrote mine but had little luck. Great idea. seconded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Sounds good. I am happy to post mine come April... a little superstitious.. Not sure whether my SOP was something that helped my acceptance at Stanford (and I havent heard from anywhere else) but I will happily share what I wrote. I suspect that my undergrad record and recommendations were the aspects that got me in, so not sure of how much use it will be. I am an international student, and I had a very limited idea of what is expected from a SOP; and to be honest, maybe that even helped me because I felt less corsetted. On the other hand, I would have liked to see a "good" SOP (whatever that is) before applying myself so I am happy to share... in April. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuddenlyParanoid Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Here are the two sources I used in writing my extremely short (490 words) SOP which I used for all schools. http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/agep/advsopcvsbe.pdf http://www.scholarshipnet.info/scholarship-tips/sample-statement-of-purpose/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Here are the two sources I used in writing my extremely short (490 words) SOP which I used for all schools. http://www.gdnet.ucl...advsopcvsbe.pdf http://www.scholarsh...ent-of-purpose/ 490...that's very short indeed! I was struggling to keep mine under 1000, so Columbia was a nightmare! How much did you adjust your SOP for the different unis you applied to? (Beyond "search replace all" "Stanford" by "Harvard"... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Here are the two sources I used in writing my extremely short (490 words) SOP which I used for all schools. http://www.gdnet.ucl...advsopcvsbe.pdf http://www.scholarsh...ent-of-purpose/ 490...that's very short indeed! I was struggling to keep mine under 1000, so Columbia was a nightmare! How much did you adjust your SOP for the different unis you applied to? (Beyond "search replace all" "Stanford" by "Harvard"... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuddenlyParanoid Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 490...that's very short indeed! I was struggling to keep mine under 1000, so Columbia was a nightmare! How much did you adjust your SOP for the different unis you applied to? (Beyond "search replace all" "Stanford" by "Harvard"... ) I switched school names and faculty names. The sentence about why I was applying to a specific school, I changed depending on the strength of the program. I played up my interest in Congress and downplayed interest in formal for Duke, and played up interest in formal for WashU and Rochester. So basically very few changes. As to the length, I felt I ran out of things I wanted to say. I talked about my current research, training, general areas of interest, and none of that took up very much space. I did not talk about my personality at all or hobbies. Was I supposed to? How much did you adjust your SOPs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curufinwe Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Since Columbia was at the top of my list, I designed my SOP according to them, meaning at most 500 words. So when I needed to tailor it to other schools, I did not even check what their limit was, I just did what SuddenlyParanoid did. I realized I could delve a bit more into certain issues in it and make it maybe 600-700 words, but I felt like it was already concise and clear and did not waste readers' time. So I left it at 500 words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yes Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I switched school names and faculty names. The sentence about why I was applying to a specific school, I changed depending on the strength of the program. I played up my interest in Congress and downplayed interest in formal for Duke, and played up interest in formal for WashU and Rochester. So basically very few changes. As to the length, I felt I ran out of things I wanted to say. I talked about my current research, training, general areas of interest, and none of that took up very much space. I did not talk about my personality at all or hobbies. Was I supposed to? How much did you adjust your SOPs? Switching school and faculty names seem obvious, though from what Thom Wall told me when I visited the department, there is a shockingly high number of candidates who dont seem to manage to do this (or name professors that they really want to work with who have left the department, or are not even alive anymore... ) I didnt mention any hobbies or personal experiences, though in my longer statements (esp Stanford) I did say a few things about what my undergrad taught me beyond the substantive factual side. I think my statement were probably more florid and narrative than most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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