NSF personal statement vs. SOP

[econslave]

As I try to cram my personal statement into the last few days before the NSF application, I'm wondering -- what should I mention in my NSF statement that I should not mention in my statement of purposes, and vice versa? Should I include the things about school X that make me want to apply to that particular program, or should it be more general? Should I talk about the math classes I took. In what ways does the NSF statement differ from the statement of purpose I use to apply to these programs?

[Golden Rule]

The NSF and application statement of purpose's can be quite different because the purposes are quite different.

The NSF is interested in evidence that you are competent to carry out a specific research proposal (intellectual merit criteria) and evidence that you're capable of producing research that will have a broader impact on society. A good NSF statement of purpose will then complement the rest of your application in providing such evidence. (p.s. mentioning math classes you took is only helpful to the extent you can say they help you carry out your specific research proposal).

Schools you are applying to are interested in your competency to complete an economics PhD program in successful and outstanding fashion. This means you're both capable of completing the necessary coursework, and you're capable of doing independent research, coming up with a dissertation topic at the school you're applying to, and pursuing this topic to completion. A good statement of purpose here will then complement the rest of your application in providing such evidence for these goals. (p.s. mentioning math classes you took will only help to the extent that it adds value relative to your transcript. One way to do this might be to specifically mention how coursework is helpful for your research goals... saying that it helps you complete first-year coursework is probably only useful if the course has a vague description and ad coms have no clue what it is).

So because the two applications have quite different goals, I would expect your SOPs to have much less overlap than your original post seems to suggest. The biggest difference is your NSF statement of purpose will be much more geared towards a specific proposal (yes, I know you have a separate proposal, but because you want to demonstrate your ability to carry out THAT particular proposal it's going to change the points of emphasis from your personal background and past research experience ). Another big difference is you'll have much less in an admissions statement of purpose geared towards satisfying specific NSF broader impacts criteria. So if you spend time guest-lecturing an inner-city school about economics, that would be useful evidence in an NSF statement of purpose but not at all useful in an admissions statement of purpose.