<p>Hi, I am applying to history PhD programs and worried about my SOP even after using a professional editing service. My SOP is solid and concise with no big, fancy wording. I'm wondering if I should use more big words or revise the structure to make it more impressive in its appearance.</p>
<p>My current SOP is like this:
1) how I was attracted to history and why I decided to pursue PhD
2) overall preparations (classes, researches and languages)
3) my academic interests
4) my career goals (more like future dreams)</p>
<p>Any advice on the structure? or whether I should use some big words (like a quote from Kant)?</p>
<p>And one more question. One of the programs I'm applying requires SOP of max 2,500 words!! Do you think I really have to write SOP of 2,000+ words?</p>
<p>Grad admissions is not like undergrad admissions, where they are looking for “interesting” writing and people. The professors reading your SOP know your field and probably some of your current professors - stick to the meat and potatoes and stop trying to wow them with how good a writer you are. Unless you are applying to a creative writing program, of course…</p>
<p>The SOP should be as long as you need, up to the maximum - if you don’t need or want 2000+ words, don’t use that many.</p>
<p>yeah, so I just don’t care about the wording fanciness and instead focus on the substance. I also decided to limit my SOP to 1000 because obviously 2000 words doesn’t look good.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about you SOP, clearly the professional editing service you hired did its job. That’s the editor’s job: to cut down verbosity.</p>
<p>Does the SOP reflect your voice and not your editor’s? That’s VERY important as admissions do want to hear you talk.</p>
<p>Make sure that you use buzzwords and when appropriate.</p>