Statement of Purpose

[Esenabla]

Hey,

I'm preparing my statement of purpose for sociology PhD programs. I'm interested to know what general opinions are regarding how many faculty members I should mention in the statement of purpose. Some folks have told me 3, while others have advised to only mention one. Thoughts?

Edited September 5, 2017 by Esenabla

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

How closely does each faculty member apply to your research? How are you mentioning them? If you're doing a quick sentence or two explaining that you've read such and such from this faculty and believe their research/methodology complements your intended research in this way, not a bad thing to mention more than one, as long as it strengthens your letter. No point in adding a bunch if you're taking more than a paragraph to explain how each one connects to your research/if the connection isn't great there. You want it to look like you've carefully considered the research and methodology of those you mention and that it's a perfect/near perfect fit. If it looks like you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, that will detract from your app.

[Tigla]

For history programs, I have been told to mention the advisor I made contact with and maybe a secondary advisor. You really need to mention your main advisor and somehow tie them to your work and progression within your academic career. The advisor should already know you are going to mention them, so it is mostly to notify the committee of your intentions and contact within the department. Your SOP really needs to be about you, though. The professor aspect should be near the end and minimalistic.