<p>i'm going to be applying for systems bio / computational biology programs this coming fall. my first lab experience was spent doing experimental work for a semester but the project eventually fell through because the grad student i was working with decided to switch labs and the project was canceled. i later switched to a computational laboratory which is where i've been for about 2 years thus far. how do i mention this in my SOP? i want to mention that i have experience in a wet and dry lab setting, but i'm not really sure how to do this.</p>
<p>most schools allow you to upload a resume/list of research experiences in addition to the SOP</p>
<p>yeah, i realized it might not be wise to mention every lab experience i had in the SOP. thanks.</p>
<p>also, did most people reuse their SOPs for various schools? it seems rare that a school would ask for more than 1 essay and apart from a few minor modifications, most SOPs can probably be reused, right?</p>
<p>You’ll probably find a wide range of word/character limits. I’ve seen schools ask for both a research summary and a bona fide personal statement before. Overall though, the general content should be pretty much the same from one SOP to the next, excluding the tailoring to individual programs.</p>
<p>The PS gives you an opportunity to discuss what makes you different from other applications and anything you did not include elsewhere on your app. You also need to talk about why you are applying to school X. You can usually list all of your research experiences on your app, so only talk about the meaningful experiences in your PS (and explain how it was meaningful). </p>
<p>You can say that you have both wet and dry lab experiences (reference app or expand upon) and then state how that is applicable to your goals now, influenced your career path, etc. </p>
<p>My experience was similar to EvoViro’s. When I applied, I had final drafts of my NSF Research statement and PS. For apps, I made a third essay that combined these two. I also had an even shorter draft of this essay. I think all of these covered all of my apps. (also had a paragraph diversity statement). My essay was the same for each school with the exception of an extra paragraph that discussed why I was interested in that school. I think a few maybe had a few prompts/key words that I had to address/use. After developing my model essay, I spent typically 1-4 tayloring the essay and submitting the app to each school.</p>
<p>I used the same personal statement for all of the schools, with a paragraph that I changed for each school. It was pretty similar to my NSF personal statement. I talked about my two most important research experiences in it, as well as background and general goals. It was about two pages single spaced, which pretty much covered all of the schools that I applied to. You will also need the diversity statement that mtlove mentioned if you’re applying on the west coast.</p>
<p>I used my high school admission essay and changed “college” to “graduate school”</p>
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<p>:-) good thinking…</p>