Previous Coursework in SoP

[astroid88]

Would it be unwise to mention undergraduate coursework in the SoP? I double-majored in history and philosophy, and I'm thinking about bringing in (briefly) both a philosophy class and a history class that gave me the foundations for my thematic approach. They are outside of my regional focus, though. 

This is the theme I used in my senior research project, and the one I am proposing to continue (albeit while still being open to move in new directions with it) in graduate school.  

I know it's useless and takes up space to just name-drop random courses. However, these courses actually played a large role in my academic development. 

Edited November 4, 2017 by astroid88

[fuzzylogician]

As long as these courses actually contribute to the narrative beyond what's in your transcripts, I think it's perfectly fine. You shouldn't spend too much space on them, but using them as a way of introducing your interests or explaining how they developed can be useful, so sure. 

[Sigaba]

6 hours ago, astroid88 said:

Would it be unwise to mention undergraduate coursework in the SoP? I double-majored in history and philosophy, and I'm thinking about bringing in (briefly) both a philosophy class and a history class that gave me the foundations for my thematic approach. They are outside of my regional focus, though. 

This is the theme I used in my senior research project, and the one I am proposing to continue (albeit while still being open to move in new directions with it) in graduate school.  

I know it's useless and takes up space to just name-drop random courses. However, these courses actually played a large role in my academic development. 

FWIW, I took a number of classes that were outside of the history department (peace and conflict studies; military/naval/aerospace affairs; and a political science class or two). 

In my SoP, I briefly sketched how those classes were relevant to my fields of interest and gave a percentage, regardless of department, of all units taken in my fields out of all of my classes. (The percentage was surprisingly high.)

On another topic, @astroid88, I think that you would do well to become a bit more comfortable with the notion that your current interest reflect a logical evolution of your previous interests. Somewhere out there are two or three big picture questions that link your previous interests to your current ones and the ones  you'll develop in graduate school. If you can take readers by the hand and show them those questions, the question "How did astroid88 get from A to B?" will shift to "Did you see how astroid88 did that!?!"

 

[OHSP]

On 11/4/2017 at 2:10 PM, astroid88 said:

They are outside of my regional focus, though. 

I wouldn't worry too much about the different regional focus, especially if the classes helped you to develop your research questions, your methodological interests etc etc. I applied as an Americanist with a Soviet writing sample and it didn't stop me from getting into good schools--I did explain the shift (briefly) in my SoP but really they're more interested in the quality of the questions you're asking etc.