Master Template or From Scratch

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So I've started to write my first SOP (one of potentially 4 or 5), and have started thinking ahead of the other SOPs and editing. Now I know you don't want to make a "fits all sizes SOP", and have one SOP for 5 schools, and I also know you don't want to just change names or small minor edits for each school either. However, do you:

1) Write one SOP, fine tune it, edit it until it's ready to submit. Then use simply it's format to rewrite your other SOPs (i.e. say if you have 5 paragraphs, each paragraph with one theme. Copy those themes for the new SOP. So the new SOP will have 5 paragraphs as well, with the same themes, but this time it's describing things of the new school you're writing to). In this way, you edit and fine tune one, and the edits for the other letters will be minor. 

Or

2) Write a SOP for each school from scratch. Depending on the facilities of the school and faculty, you may structure one letter completely different from another. Some schools may have more things you will want to discuss, other schools may want shorter letters, etc. However, this method means you'd need to heavily edit each letter individually. 

Edited September 16, 2017 by samman1994

[JessicaLange]

My first two paragraphs only had minor changes for each school. I spent months fine tuning those parts. The next two or three paragraphs were personalized for each school. But, there were some sentences that ended up in every SOP. You're background is the same and your goals are the same; it's just the program that changes, you know?

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

The same basic structure should generally be the same, unless the programs are asking for different things to be addressed. Usually the differences between SoP prompts will be fairly minor and you'll be addressing 1. your research interests, 2. why the school is the right fit for you, 3. future plans, 4. probably how your past experiences have prepared you for your research at that school. 

I'll be keeping my paragraphs about my past and research generally the same, though with minor edits to emphasize the most salient points for each institution. I'm writing new material for points 2 and 3 for each program, though some sentences, as Jessica mentioned, will be similar or the same (ex. you want to work with two professors at different schools for the same reasons).