Approaching the SoP for interdisciplinary MA programs

Graduate School
1

<p>Dear all,</p>

<p>I'm in the midst of applying for interdisciplinary MA programs (the area being Middle Eastern Studies), and although I have a very good sense of what is usually included in a Statement of Purpose, I have a few broad questions.</p>

<p>-What is the best way of starting it? Obviously, I want it to be catchy and interesting to read, but it's often difficult to make that happen in a non-trite way. Is an anecdote of field research appropriate?</p>

<p>-How do I deal with the different lengths requested by different institutions? Word length limits range from 500 to 2500. My inclination is to be as concise as possible, but I feel that I am probably going to land at around 1000 words. Obviously, I will need to cut that down for the ones with shorter requirements, but should I bother to make it longer for the ones with higher limits?</p>

<p>-I have two primary research projects that interest me. Should I discuss one of them at length as the object of my potential MA thesis, and make brief reference to the other as a potential dissertation topic, if I decide to follow that route? Or discuss both completely, as my full research agenda? The difficulty is that one does not really follow from the other--they are quite distinct, though within the same field.</p>

<p>-I understand that when applying for PhD programs, fit with potential advisers is of paramount importance. Should that be as prominent in an MA SoP though, since it is based almost completely in coursework?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>I’m no expert but last year I was lucky to be admitted to several interdisciplinary MA programs in Middle Eastern Studies (and several Arabic language programs as well) with partial or complete funding. I did exactly what you’re suggesting in terms of the SOP-- starting it with an anecdote of field research. </p>

<p>As far as dealing with different length SOPs required by various schools, adjust the length according to the requirements. For example, Chicago allows up to 2500 words and Georgetown up to 500 words. You can use a 1,000 word statement for Chicago but you have to get the SOP down to 500 for Georgetown. (Ok, go over by 10 words, but not by several hundred.) I just used those schools as examples, but they are two I am familiar with. For schools that wanted only 500 words, I went light in discussing my background and focused instead on their program and my interests. Otherwise you risk the online system hacking down your essay or, worse yet, the professors not reading the whole thing if you go way over. </p>

<p>If you are applying for an MA, I wouldn’t get into depth on something you identify as your PhD dissertation. I’d talk about the fields that interest you for the master’s and maybe some indication of your possible thesis topic as well. I did name a professor or two, but it was tied in to my interests in the particular field. </p>

<p>Hope things work out!</p>