<p>I'm considering some PhD programs, and I wanted some opinions on the Statement of Purpose. Take a look at Harvard's description of the document for English (my field):</p>
<p>"Applicants need not indicate a precise field of specialization, if they do not know, but it is helpful to know something about a candidate’s professional aspirations and sense of their own skills, as well as how the Harvard English department might help in attaining their goals."</p>
<p>"Those who already have a research topic in mind should outline it in detail, giving a sense of how they plan their progress through the program. Those who do not should at least attempt to define the questions and interests they foresee driving their work over the next few years."</p>
<p>I am caught between the two options they give. They seem to be saying it's "fine" to not have a research topic, or to even know your specialization, but if you do... then better? Presenting a detailed research proposal, or a general piece about my aspirations, would produce two very different things. So different that I find it difficult to contain both of them under one "Statement of Purpose" label. How will the student who follows the first track (writing something about intellectual development and future plans for development) compare against a well-formulated research proposal? It just seems so strange.</p>
<p>Is it better or worse to apply to these programs with a carefully designed project (perhaps with a bibliography etc..) or with a statement about your intellectual aspirations, what you might do, etc?</p>
<p>I, for example, have no idea what I want to do. My senior thesis was on Tennyson, and I would love to continue working in the 19th century. However, my real love is for modern literature. The problem there though is that I have no writing sample on modern topics worth submitting, and I really don't have the course background to explain the interest.</p>
<p>So would it be better to just apply saying "I'm not sure yet, but I'm interested in this..."? There is even an option for "undecided" in the specialization field of the application. It just seems like I might be penalized against better focused applications.</p>