<p>I have written the first draft of my SOP for a competitive university I dearly want to attend. The essay is thorough in addressing each point statements of purpose are supposed to cover, but I'm worried that it is a little dry. I imagine that it is similar to those many other candidates will be submitting, and does not really convey the excitement I feel for this field and this program. On the other hand, I get the feeling that grad application essays are not supposed to be as flashy/creative as undergrad were supposed to have been - more clear and plain, more focused on cramming all the necessary information into the available space. Is this true?</p>
<p>It likely depends upon the program and discipline. If your statement of purpose matches what the program and faculty perceive that they have to offer and if you have skills/abilities which fulfill their needs, then you have a good essay. This should not be interpeted as producing a dry essay which clearly indicates to admissions that you have carefully read the departmental brochure. Your statement should tie together how your specific interests and experiences mesh with the work that the faculty are doing. For example if you know that you want to study hypnosis and there are three faculty in your program that are doing hypnosis research, find out the nature of that research and find a way to include it in the essay. Although I think the essay counts little in the overall rating of your application, the extra effort to convince the program that you "mesh" with them is worth the effort.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughts. My interests do match faculty specialties very well, and my problem is more that the essay just seems lifeless and uninspired, which is unfortunate because I am very passionate about this field of study.</p>
<p>I hope you are right that the essay counts little in the overall application (I hadn't heard that before).</p>
<p>I hope it does not make you wory, MaryCeleste, but I've heard it is a large part of the process. It probably depends on the type of program, of course. Do your best, for that is all that you can do.</p>
<p>IMO and in others, grad school admission is based primarily on research experience, letters of recommendations, GRE's, GPA, academic preparation and then other things like statement of purpose. While some grad programs might elevate the importance of the statement, most do not. DRab may have some specific information regarding his/her point of view that it is a large part of the process but that has not been my experience when applying to grad school and when evaluating grad school applications in psychology.</p>
<p>That's probably so, mol10e. Perhaps the trend varies by general subject area, as in science, engineering, social sciences, humanities, different specific subject areas, as in English vs. Philosophy, and by department. Given this, it would make sense to me that the more strange and unique the area of study being pursued is, the more likely the GRE will be less important and the reasons that you should be picked to study with the particular faculty and specialized field of study will be more important. These can really come across in your statement of purpose. If you're applying to something like Social Though in Chicago, Rhetoric in Berkeley, Consciousness Studies in Santa Cruise, this is probably even more highlighted than at a Media Studies department. Media Studies is not as unique as these, but much closer to these unique programs than English or History. Perhaps Im too aware of these strange interdisciplinary programs to be of use to many admissions decisions in other fields. Although it is possible that the admittance board could care less about your statement of purpose, they may use it as to figure out why you should be there and not elsewhere. It can also be used to see your thoughts on a page, although submitted writing portions play a large and probably larger part in this. Of course, they could not count the the statement of purpose to highly. I could be quite wrong. I would think that, because the departments in question are fairly unique, they will want to know why you want to study there.</p>
<p>It's quite possible that I don't understand the nature of your intended programs, or the nature of admissions committees. <em>Shrug</em></p>