How the heck do I write a personal statement?

[Cotton Joe]

Seriously, I am at wit's end here. I have gone through four major drafts, and I am still not satisfied.

What can my personal statement tell the committee that my letters, writing sample, and CV cannot?

I am imaging the admissions committee reading at least 50 of these essays, for a more prestigious programs, 100s. How many of these two page essays will begin "Ever since I was little" or "I have always wanted to..." or "I first became interested in..."? I don't want to use these ridiculous worn-out phrases and essay structures. How can I do anything unique or interesting in this genre of writing? People have been writing two page personal statements for years and years!

The prompt wants me to write about research interests, qualifying experiences, and reasons for studying at University of X. There really are no unique qualities to me that my other materials do not already speak to. I have no specific reason for choosing generic American lit M.A. program A over generic American lit M.A. program B aside from funding and location. I have no burning desire to attend any specific university. I have never had an epiphany or a defining experience which pushed me toward English studies.

What the heck, then, do I write?

I am so monumentally exhausted from trying to get this right. I am tempted to write 100% bluntly and honestly "I want to be a professor. I need a PhD to be a professor. I want to research and write about American literature. I need an M.A. to be more competitive in the PhD applicant pool. Your program offers the highest GTA stipend and is in the cheapest city. Therefore, I am applying to your program. Let me into your program, goshdarnit."

[hj2012]

Is this a personal statement (which usually asks students to discuss their life experience, diversity, etc) or a statement of purpose? Assuming it is the latter, it may be helpful to think of the SOP as a cover letter for a job. No fluff about your childhood dreams, your burning desire to study literature, or a cutesy hook. Instead, be straightforward and professional because SOPs, like cover letters, are formulaic by nature. They start with a declaration of intent that succinctly describes your research and keywords, moves into your literary training and notable accomplishments, explains why your past experience undergirds your present research interests, and aligns your future goals with the strengths of the program under question. 

The ability to write a compelling narrative account of your research program and scholarly development is an important skill you'll use again and again in grant applications, self-evaluation portfolios, and of course, on the job market. It is the "highlight reel" that, like a good cover letter, convinces the reader they want to know more about the applicant and actually spend the time to peruse the writing sample. 

Hope this helps.

(Note: there may be more flexibility in terms of MA program SOPs - this advice is geared toward PhD program admissions.) 

[urbanfarmer]

Think of the SOP as being the thread that, in writing, ties all your materials together. As was stated by hj2012, they're not going to spend a ton of time reading everyone's 20-pg writing sample (probably)-- so convince them to. I started my SOP by giving a summary of my M.A. thesis (which was my writing sample), then had a paragraph talking about what my research interests are (how they related to my writing sample, and what I wanted to continue studying in the future), then had a few paragraphs explaining how my prior education and work experience made me qualified for a program, and how my research interests developed, then ended with a short paragraph about why I was applying to that specific program. 

Look into programs a bit, and mix in your "real" reasons with some other ones. Do the classes look interesting? Do they have a good reputation for getting MA students into PhD programs? It's like applying to a job-- even though you're applying because you need to pay your rent, you also have to sound like you know a bit about the place and there's SOMETHING about it that's interesting to you. Feel free to also say, "I plan on pursuing my PhD, and X program seems like it will provide me with the mentorship and skills needed to succeed further in academia." 

Don't worry about this being a place where you are writing something especially "new." Cover letters may catch an employer's interest with their content, but they're certainly not something that's ever "fun" to read-- and as hj2012 said... this basically is a cover letter. 

[Cotton Joe]

@urbanfarmer Thanks for the advice. I am applying from undergrad to M.A., so I do not have a thesis to summarize. However, would it be worth summarizing my writing sample and connecting it to my stated research interests? Also, when I am detailing research interests, I have so far written out a period, a genre, and a topic, but I have not articulated a theory approach. At the M.A. level, how necessary is it to show that I have a theory approach? 

Also, long shot here, but is your username a reference to Good People Brewing out of Birmingham, Alabama?

[RydraWong]

For what it's worth, in my MA applications, I briefly summarized my writing sample and then wrote "I would like to use this project, [insert clause about my research project], as a starting point for further research." Then I talked more specifically about why I thought my proposed research interests would be a particularly fruitful site of study. The SOP was by far the hardest part of apps for me and it helped when a professor told me to look at it as my intellectual history/biography. I think it's important in the SOP to show that your past work has prepared you to research in your field of interest and that you intend to build on this past work in interesting ways, so summarizing your writing sample and then talking about the future seems like a good way to do this. 

Also, I agree with urbanfarmer, including a line about why you want to do the MA at this stage instead of going straight to the PhD would be a good idea. In my own MA apps, I wrote that I wanted to pursue a PhD but I also wrote "I feel that the two years spent in a Master’s program would be help me further refine my research interests. I also remain open and eager to complicating my initial ideas as I take graduate courses on a wide range of topics." As far as fit goes, I found it helpful to look on program websites and see what was unique about a program. For example, one of the schools I applied to had a required PhD minor, which none of the other programs I was applying to had, so I made sure to mention that in my application and used that to show the school was a good fit for me because I was interested in interdiscplinary work. Some schools will have research clusters/centers that other schools don't, some will have archives that might be useful to you in future study. You obviously won't know a ton about what a particular research center/archive has available for your research but if you think there is even the slightest chance of it being related to your interests, I think it's worth it to find a way to bring it into your SOP because mentioning something like that shows adcomms that you've done the research and can envision yourself being a part of their intellectual community. 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

For my MA, I went to the same university as my undergrad because I own a home in the area. Because of that, it was a simple matter to transfer to the Graduate School. However, I did have to prepare a SOP for my PhD applications. All of the responses offer great advice. You asked why you couldn't say "I want to be a professor. I need a PhD to be a professor. I want to research and write about American literature. I need an M.A. to be more competitive in the PhD applicant pool. Your program offers the highest GTA stipend and is in the cheapest city. Therefore, I am applying to your program. Let me into your program, goshdarnit."  That is what your SOP really is -- a statement of purpose about why you want to be a professor and why you think that XYZ University is such a great fit. You also need to show XYZ why they should want you. It must be a fit both ways.

[urbanfarmer]

On 7/7/2017 at 2:35 PM, Cotton Joe said:

@urbanfarmer Thanks for the advice. I am applying from undergrad to M.A., so I do not have a thesis to summarize. However, would it be worth summarizing my writing sample and connecting it to my stated research interests? Also, when I am detailing research interests, I have so far written out a period, a genre, and a topic, but I have not articulated a theory approach. At the M.A. level, how necessary is it to show that I have a theory approach? 

Also, long shot here, but is your username a reference to Good People Brewing out of Birmingham, Alabama?

Yeah, I think very briefly talking about your writing sample, and then showing how that connects to your interests is a good idea. That way, the committee would have a clear idea of how the work you've done might show what you're capable of doing. 

And I wouldn't worry too much about a theory approach unless there's something you're really interested in. At least at my M.A. program, a large part of the program seemed to be to teach many different theoretical approaches. 

And no, it isn't! Just a reference to the fact that I used to be a farmer. 

[Cotton Joe]

@urbanfarmer Thanks for the advice! If any critical approach gets mentioned, it will likely be ecocriticism. As I have said elsewhere (maybe in this thread?), I use feminist and queer theory in my writing sample, so that may be enough to convince a committee that I have some grasp of contemporary lit theory.

p.s. If you're ever near Alabama and you like beer, you should try Good People's Urban Farmer saison, if for no other reason that because has the same name as your GC account (and also because it is a great drink made by great people).

[TeaOverCoffee]

You really need a hook in the beginning of the SOP. They're reading so many of these things, so you want them to remember you. That was one of the many good pieces of advice that my mentor imparted upon me. Perhaps ask friends in graduate school to share their SOPs with you so you can get an idea of what you should be doing. While there's no set format for SOPs, if you look at enough of them, you'll begin to notice a pattern. Many people may be timid about sharing their work, though, if you don't know them, simply because they worked really hard on these things and don't want to risk having their ideas "borrowed."

[Doll Tearsheet]

On 7/15/2017 at 5:03 AM, TeaOverCoffee said:

You really need a hook in the beginning of the SOP. They're reading so many of these things, so you want them to remember you. That was one of the many good pieces of advice that my mentor imparted upon me. Perhaps ask friends in graduate school to share their SOPs with you so you can get an idea of what you should be doing. While there's no set format for SOPs, if you look at enough of them, you'll begin to notice a pattern. Many people may be timid about sharing their work, though, if you don't know them, simply because they worked really hard on these things and don't want to risk having their ideas "borrowed."

 How does one even "borrow" from a SOP? They are so individualized that it may be actually impossible. The SOP is not supposed to be some creative genius type of work. It is very simple in theory. The hard part is explaining why you by using your own individual experiences, which is literally impossible for anyone else to have.

Edited July 22, 2017 by Doll Tearsheet

[JKL]

On 7/6/2017 at 4:18 PM, Cotton Joe said:

What the heck, then, do I write?

First things first: Don't feel like an idiot. It's not you; it's the genre. These things are difficult and take a lot of time to write. Don't get too exhausted. Take a break. Go watch an episode of your favorite show on Netflix. Play an instrument. Make your bed. Rearrange your bookshelf. Just do anything that doesn't require a lot of thinking. Then get a fresh cup of coffee or tea and come back to the computer.

The SOP is above all else a moment for you to tell a department how and why you fit their program well. It's a two-page elevator speech. Reflect on why you're pursuing American literature. They don't care that your Grandma used to read books to you or that you named your pet fish Moby Dick. Exclude anything along these lines. Keep it as academic as possible. Did you have an English professor (or professors) who inspired you to pursue American literature? Great. Talk about it. How did they inspire you? How did you develop a passion for literature? End the paragraph by stating that you want to pursue a doctorate to be an educator and that you want to cultivate in students the same qualities that the professor (or professors) cultivated in you.

You should also reflect on your research experience. What was the nature of this experience? Was it a thesis? If so, elaborate on it. Describe your methodology and sources. Also, mention the themes with which you want to work. Do you already have a thesis topic in mind? If so, great. Throw that in there too. The admissions committee (again, these will be professors) will want to see that you're not only thinking about a topic but that you're also interested in broader thematic issues.

Include a paragraph about why you're applying to that particular program. Does the program have a track record of placing students in good doctoral programs? Does it have a library or special collections division that houses material beneficial to your research interests? Does it have faculty members whose research interests align with yours? 

In short, leave no room for the committee to say, "Why is this person even applying here?"

I hope it goes well. Message me if you need more help.