italos Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 The Statement of Purpose (SOP) is an essay that contains solid information in support of your candidacy. At the same time there are many opportunities to make this essay significantly more convincing..However, there are things to bring in mind.Below I will discuss the most common errors of a SOP and will provide a structure on how to write an effective one. The first and most obvious weakness of the SOP essay is its extraordinary length. PhD essays rarely exceed 1000 words. Quite often they are limited to as few as 600 words by some institutions. Longer does not mean better. It usually just means longer. Second, the primary reason that generally this essay is so long is that it includes lengthy descriptions, statements, and assertions which should not appear in an essay of this type at all. Other information which is appropriate could be rephrased in a more concise manner. Third, the essay’s organization should not seem rather haphazard. Sometimes there is no sense of logical flow or causality in the essay. For that reason it seems to be quite repetitive in places. The sentence structures and grammar are also very complex and confusing in many places. Try to to make sure the sentences are grammatically correct,improve them and even making extensive rewrites if necessary. While there is no prescribed formula for a PhD essay, they do tend to follow a general pattern and include certain types of information regardless of the subject area or school. In short, a PhD essay should generally answer certain basic questions: What do you want to do? The simple answer is that you want to earn a PhD in economics from XYZ University. This could be just one sentence, of course, or you could combine it with some of your qualifications or with some of your research interests. In any case, simple as this may seem, it is critical to be clear on the purpose of the essay and why you are writing it. The essay is a self-contained document. It should be possible for anyone to pick it up and know what it is all about without reference to other information. What are your research interests? This description should be concise and allow room for changing your mind a bit in the future. It is sometimes effective to write this in terms of “questions.” That is: “I would like to explore questions such as whether the egg came before the chicken and whether the sky is really blue.” In any event, the reader should come away with a clear idea of what you want to explore. Why are you qualified and why should they take you seriously? Here you can indicate past research activities and other relevant qualifications. Why XYZ University? In describing why you want to study at XYZ University it is best to focus on specific reasons relevant to your area of interest. Grandiose statements of praise are not appropriate. They already know they are wonderful. You don’t need to tell them. What are your longer term plans? This should be brief and reasonably specific. Avoid generalizations and clichés about expanding horizons and the like. Finally, this essay obviously requires a lot of additional work, even to get it to the point where it can be edited successfully. On the other hand, by following the outline and guidelines I have provided you should be able to create a powerful and convincing essay in a very brief period of time. Most of the substantive information you probably wrote it and it is there. It just needs to be placed into a more logical sequence. The irrelevant and redundant information must be cut. It would also help to add a few words to explain how you came to be interested in your field, but keep it very brief and meaningful. Vague platitudes about the wonderful and exciting world of economics are not useful. Use concrete examples and facts. Remember: it is always better to show through example than to tell by making assertions. Telling the reader you are a hard worker is unconvincing. Showing the reader all the work you have done is convincing. The former is a meaningless assertion. The latter is a substantive recitation of facts. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted July 12, 2008 Share Posted July 12, 2008 Looks like a good post Italos. :) Is this piece of advice written by you or are you reciting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italos Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 it is mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactor Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 it is mine! Excellent! :tup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italos Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 I could have kept all these info for myself given that I am applying again this Fall.A wrong SOP could reduce the competitiveness and increase my chances but I simply don't behave in that sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 thanks, man :) that's great of u 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeves0923 Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 @italos: Have you worked on admissions committees before? You mention you are applying this year. Do you have your profile posted somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquare Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It's good -- and very standard -- advice. It's nice of italos to have taken the time to write it up and post it, though I doubt that it will actually affect the overall competitiveness of the applicant pool ;) For those looking for more advice about SOPs, here are a few links that may be helpful: *From SJSU (note that the "exercises" at the end are NOT necessarily ways to begin the SOP, just things you can do to practice writing one...) *From U-Mich (see the last paragraph; also note the descriptions of the relative importance of different parts of the application, from someone who has been on many admissions committees...) *From UCSD (My own take is that the only "correct" answer to "what are your future goals, at least in the SOP for a top 20 school, is that you want to do academic research as a professor at a research university. Also, I wouldn't waste too much space on their last element, "why are you a good match." Specifically, you do NOT need or want to discuss a specific professor as the primary reason for applying to the school; what if that professor has plans to leave or is overloaded with advising? Also, don't tell the adcom things they already know, such as how wonderful their school is... Do mention that your interests are well aligned with the department's strengths and move on.) * Wisconsin's application form actually has a nice, concise outline right on the form for you! * Information from someone at CalTech (an outline and some samples, from non-econ fields. In general, it's less important in econ than many other fields to emphasize connections or the fit with one or two specific professors. Remember that in hard sciences, grad students often "join a lab," and need to demonstrate that there is a good lab for them to join.) I think the bottom line is that there is a lot of good advice on SOPs, including what italos wrote earlier. The advice is also pretty consistent -- there really isn't any great mystery to this document. Make your SOP clear, concise, and relevant, and remember that it isn't all that likely to make or break your application. It's easy to stress about it because it's one of the few things still under your control come October or November of the year you are applying, but heeding any of the standard advice should yield you an SOP that satisfies the admissions committee and doesn't work against your application. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italos Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 @italos: Have you worked on admissions committees before? You mention you are applying this year. Do you have your profile posted somewhere? No but I know a lot about admissions.Just read my signatures(and if you like them just add some reputation.Btw it is hard to understand why you gave me a negative reputation on this post! ).As for my profile I' haven't posted it yet but if you are reading frequently this forum you should already known something about me!Btw you could met me attaining this conference these days Program, July 19th 2008 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnLaPlaya Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I could have kept all these info for myself given that I am applying again this Fall.A wrong SOP could reduce the competitiveness and increase my chances but I simply don't behave in that sense! Sometimes this forum is funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 How long should the SOP be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I could have kept all these info for myself given that I am applying again this Fall.A wrong SOP could reduce the competitiveness and increase my chances but I simply don't behave in that sense! Maybe you're irrational? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeves0923 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 I'd say certainly less than 1000 words, but preferably around a page. Otherwise, they would undoubtedly be bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bscout Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 it is hard to understand why you gave me a negative reputation on this post! ). That also will increase your chances of admission? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruDog Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 My best advice would be to make sure that you have the name of the school correct. I know several people who forgot to copy and paste the right name, which definitely doesn't help your cause. Additionally, for those students coming from lesser-known schools, this is your chance to sell yourself and your undergraduate education. It's really important to note your research and courses taken, because some schools don't really think that students from non-PhD granting universities have any idea what they're getting into in a PhD program. (I had almost no clue.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asianeconomist Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I was just wondering that does it make sense to idolize a person in your SOP and basically state that you would like to emulate his/her contributions to society. For instance, an Indian referring about Amartya Sen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asianeconomist Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 My best advice would be to make sure that you have the name of the school correct. I know several people who forgot to copy and paste the right name, which definitely doesn't help your cause. LOL. I actually got the name of one of the professors wrong. Close shave I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenizaro Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 I don't know if my SOP was an important factor in my admission outcomes. I think the most critical component of my application were my LORs, especially one of them. With my SOP what I tried to do as much as possible was to show that I had a lot of ideas about research projects. Over the years I have assembled a list of questions and observations on different topics and I pretty much tried to summarize those in my SOP. Something a little bit like what Akerlof recommends here: http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/webfac/akerlof/e202_f07/lecture1.pdf (see point 11 at page 5) I want to think that my SOP readers saw at least one interesting research idea in that and that this benefited my application. Though I really don't know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayern Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Additionally, for those students coming from lesser-known schools, this is your chance to sell yourself and your undergraduate education. It's really important to note your research and courses taken, because some schools don't really think that students from non-PhD granting universities have any idea what they're getting into in a PhD program. (I had almost no clue.) I am from a LAC. When you mention "note your research and courses taken", do you mean that we should go into some details on the math, adv econ courses, and research I have done at this level? How do we really convince them that the some of the courses we are taking is quite advanced, and that I can handle hard math other than just naming the math courses? How can we make it different than the details provided in the transcript? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenizaro Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Bayern: you could comment on the books used or describe in detail the topics covered. For instance: we reviewed all the first 4 chapters of W. Feller in my Probability class, or we saw this and that application to microeconomics of the lagrange multipliers method in my adavnced calculus class. I think that's what TruDog means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asianeconomist Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 How long should the SOP be? Mine was pretty long actually, 1.5 pages with 1.5 line spacing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italos Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 To all those that PM me to evaluate their SOP or require an advise on presentations please stop do it so.I am not an SOP expert neither a professional.And for sure that wound not be for free(no free lunch).I just post this information in order to give some general guidance.I am sorry but I will ignore all PM with this context.Hope you understand.As for if I am irrational or not by giving these info on SOP I have to say that personally I have nothing to loose. SOP is not so important as the LOR.It is has just a small contribution to the admission procedure ,ie whether you had some problems or other but again it is better to be explained in a strong LOR.I am going to say it for the nth time in this forum.The most important thing in the application is the LETTER(LOR). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 And for sure that wound not be for free(no free lunch). LOL! I like that. :D As for if I am irrational or not by giving these info on SOP I have to say that personally I have nothing to loose. Just for the record, it was a joke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italos Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 LOL! I like that. :D Just for the record, it was a joke. cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruDog Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Bayern: you could comment on the books used or describe in detail the topics covered. For instance: we reviewed all the first 4 chapters of W. Feller in my Probability class, or we saw this and that application to microeconomics of the lagrange multipliers method in my adavnced calculus class. I think that's what TruDog means. That's pretty much what I mean. You (and your LOR writers) really have to convince the adcoms that you were in a technically rigorous program if your school doesn't have a PhD program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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