<p>Does anybody else feel dirty recycling personal statements from one school to the next with only the bare minimum amount of change in order to suit the specific program? I am seriously only changing the desired labs/projects and changing the university name. On the few programs that have cool training grants or certificate programs, I am throwing in the same paragraph with the appropriate modifications for each. I had convinced myself that my previous research experience, career goals, advanced coursework and whatnot doesn't change between schools but now I feel like some low life spamming grad admission departments.</p>
<p>I never felt bad about it. A personal statement is a personal statement. Do you change your resume around for each job you apply for?</p>
<p>Yes, I include projects that are relevant to the aims of the prospective job. I modify which advanced coursework I include on my cv. However, I guess the issue is that I have selected programs intentionally that have labs with very similar characteristics and research goals.</p>
<p>I don't feel dirty recycling. I want to send the same message to all my schools. But I feel dirty harping on my good points. Some of my prospective schools are asking supplementary questions like "Imagine there is only one spot left in our program, and the admissions committee must decide between you and one another applicant. Convince us why we should choose you."</p>
<p>I hate tooting my own horn. Why can't I just stick to my research goals, my academic background, and my enthusiasm for the subject? But no--I have to slam some poor hypothetical competitor and announce in boring, straight-shooting terms that I'm better, faster, stronger than other people. It's repulsive.</p>
<p>belevitt=> I was totally right there with you. I'm a first year now, but when I applied all I changed in my personal statement was the "therefore, I would be interested in working with x, y or z, because of a, b and c." I felt like I was trying to hook up with 8 women at the same time...."No baby, I love you and only want to be with you." x 8. Dirty.</p>
<p>So yeah, suck it up and do it. Make the schools feel special and then choose the one that's best for you. Take pride in it, when else will you get that kind of chance. :)</p>
<p>lol.. this is kinda funny.. esp New_User's response!! I haven't started with my SOP yet but I intend to do the same thing.. I did the same for Masters also. Worked just fine for me. I'll just be modifying the program name, university name, the profs I'm interested in working with and why.. I think thats the sensible thing to do.. unless ur applying to very different programs.. in which case you would need to tailor ur sop as per the program requirements..</p>
<p>Wow I did the same thing for my MA and PhD applications. The content was pretty much the same except the final paragraph which explained how the university in question would be the ideal place for the execution of my academic and professional interests. Of course I wrote two separate statements for the MA and PhD programs though.</p>
<p>So don't feel dirty about it :) You want to be consistent in your message to these schools.</p>
<p>No, I didn't because I did more than just changing that last paragraph by highlighting some of the profs' works in my research. So if Prof X at U of X influenced this aspect of my research, I talked about that in the SOP to U of X. However, I'd take out the name and change the content a little for Prof Y at U of Y. A little extra effort but I wanted to show how my research could really mesh with their interests. It also helps that my field is very small...</p>