Questions tagged [statement-of-purpose]
Concerning an individual, what influences them, professional interests, and plan for the future, typically described as part of a college applicant's application for admission.
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PhD: Research Proposal vs. Statement of Purpose for Australian Universities
I've learned that when applying to STEM PhD programs in Australia, you are typically required to draft a research proposal for your potential advisor. This differs from North American universities, ...
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Should I mention the reason I am transferring from my current PhD program in my statement of purpose?
I am currently in a PhD program in the US. I am also applying to PhD programs that start in Spring 2025 at other universities, because the situation in my current PhD cannot be salvaged. My question ...
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Should a statement of purpose be structured into sections?
I'm considering applying to Purdue University's computer science PhD program. While reading the section on the statement of purpose, I saw the following interesting comment:
There is no word limit ...
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Why do people dislike the resources I've used in the past to get into master's and Ph.D. programs?
I'm an autistic Ph.D student (US, 4.5 years in) who's been active on a fair amount of forums and have received a fair number of negative comments in the past month regarding my academic experience. ...
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Explain opportunity gap in SoP without proving it?
I'm applying for PhD programs in Computer Science (experimental part of AI/ML), and writing my SoP for it.
A part of SoP is supposed to talk about examples of what kind of work one wants to do later ...
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Should I write about my experience with academic bullying on PhD application personal statements?
After my M.Sc, I got involved in working on a project on relativistic astrophysics. The professor was a relatively good name in the field. Initially, he gave me papers, books to read, problems to ...
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How can we identify and filter AI-generated statements of purpose (SoP) and recommendation letters?
How can we effectively identify and filter out statement of purpose (SoP) and recommendation letters that are generated by AI tools?
The authenticity of these documents is crucial for our admission ...
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Personal/Diversity Statement
I advised students to spend several weeks crafting a statement of purpose for PhD applications in the US, and have reviewed them. However, many students now report that there is an additional "...
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In addition to naming three professors, should I mention that I am open to working with other professors in SOP?
I am naming three professors from specific Ph.D. programs with whom I have identified similarities in our research interests in my SOP. In the last sentence, I want to mention that I am also ...
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Mentioning faculty in SOP while already mentioning them elsewhere in application
Should I explicitly mention faculty in my SOP for a PhD program when there are prompts in other parts of the application where I already specifically chose faculty of interest? Would this be ...
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Is it risky or inappropriate to mention a history of substance abuse in a PhD application personal statement?
A PhD program that I am applying to requires a personal statement based on the following prompt: "what struggles have you overcome?"
Would it be risky to write something with the following ...
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Pronouns of professors in Statement of Purpose
In recent years, we have seen the emergence of numerous pronouns beyond the regular he/him and she/her, such as they/them, Xe/xem, Ver/vir, and many more. However, the issue arises when browsing ...
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How important is to show Extracurricular or Leadership skills in SOP apart from academic background and research interests?
I have an 83-word small paragraph in my SOP (computer science, PhD) mentioning that I am the honorary moderator of a computer club and how I organize events and motivate students to participate in ...
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I can't afford to pay for Statement of Purpose (SOP) proofread. What should I do?
Reliable SOP proofreading services are very costly, almost around $150-$200. I have written an SOP for my Ph.D. program in the USA, which is almost 1400 words, but I need to reduce it to 1000 words. ...
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In my Statement of Purpose (SOP), is it best to write about my specific area of interest, or to broaden my options?
I am currently a 4th year CS undergrad student.
If I tailor my Statement of Purpose (SOP) around my research interests (which are related to the research project I am working on with my professor), I ...
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Statement of Purpose for Math PhD's with a fairly complicated mathematical history
TL;DR: I'm applying for a PhD program in mathematics, but my academic performance was bad for a long while and I already have a PhD attempt that I ended early. (However, I now have good enough ...
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Is it better for a statement of purpose for a physics PhD program to be straightforward as opposed to attempting to make the style interesting?
Consider a statement of purpose of a physics PhD program.
Some people say that the statement of purpose does not matter, but a horrible one can hurt you. So, all that is necessary is to write a decent,...
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How to prioritize which content to mention and what not in the Statement of Purpose
I am applying for the CS Ph.D. program in the USA. While writing my Statement of Purpose (SOP), I realized I have a multitude of accomplishments to convey. For instance, I hold both undergraduate and ...
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What does this personal essay prompt mean?
I am in the middle of my application to Princeton physics graduate school. Princeton requires a personal essay, with the prompt:
Princeton is strongly committed to welcoming students from diverse ...
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Should I write a personal statement that is department-oriented or research-oriented?
I majored in computer science and I am writing a personal statement to apply for a PhD in computer science. The research direction I'm interested in is somehow related to computational biology in ...
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What to do if a professor with whom I have worked with for a long time is unable to provide a letter of recommendation for medical reasons?
I have been working with a professor for almost 2 years of my undergraduate degree and shared a nice bond with them. The work done under this professor is the soul of my Statement of Purpose and how ...
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Should I mention in CS PhD apps that I was accepted into Math PhDs?
I am applying to CS graduate programs, coming from a background in mathematics.
As an undergraduate I developed research experience and a strong background in mathematics and was accepted into math ...
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Using figures from papers in PhD applications
Is it okay to use figures from other papers when writing a statement of purpose for a PhD application, after of course citing the paper? Or do I have to ask for permission from the author?
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Is it reasonable to mention that you would certainly attend a school if accepted in statement of purpose?
When discussing graduate school and PhD programs, I had a professor mention to me that some schools will not accept a student because they do not anticipate that student accepting the offer. This ...
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Can a statement of interest be a narrative storytelling kind of style?
I'm doing this for a program. More specific is the prompt here:
Share why you want to serve on this committee! Your statement of
interest should describe your background, knowledge, and any
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When asked about my topic of interest, I don't have a story to tell. How do I make my answer sound interesting and convincing for the position?
I am currently doing master's in mathematics and am applying for summer research projects in various institutes where they ask a particular question: What is your topic of interest and why? I asked a ...
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I want to do a research project in Mathematics. But I am getting rejected due to no research experience. How should I proceed?
I completed my undergraduate in Mathematics in 2018 and masters degree in 2020. After that, I taught in a college for two years. I was not satisfied with my masters degree, and also was getting ...
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How would PhD Admissions committee read Statements of Purpose?
I am referring to PhD admissions in US here. I've been always told that SoP's are important and require some commitment in writing. But in the meantime I hear a lot of such voices that PhD programs ...
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In my statement of purpose, how much should I elaborate on my project/thesis plans?
I’m applying to schools for my Masters in Computer Science and I’m writing my statement of purpose. I don’t really know what I want to do for my project/thesis, but in their prompts, the schools ask ...
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What motivates requiring a diversity statement from minority applicants?
Applying for many academic positions in North America often requires a diversity statement.
As someone who is a disabled, racial, sexual and religious minority, immigrant, and someone who grew up poor,...
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Addressing the shortcoming in IELTS results
I'm applying for fall 2023 and I took the IELTS Academic but scored an overall of 7 with a writing 6. I'm planning to retake the test. Should I mention this in the sop?
I wrote this:
Despite having ...
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Best way of mentioning specific non-famous/named theorems in my Statement of Purpose (SOP) for PhD math
In my SOP for PhD math in US grad schools, I am mentioning a specific instance where I came up with an easier solution to a problem using elementary theorems, instead of using more complex theorems. ...
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SOP: Should I mention that I was accepted before for a similar course but decided to drop out?
Due to my above average performance in my Bachelor's, my university (which is the toppest one in my country) allowed me to enroll a master's course directly. This is really a great opportunity and is ...
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How to call a paper that has been submitted to a journal? [duplicate]
For my statement of academic purpose I want to highlight that I have a work on arXiv which has been submitted to a journal. How would I call such a work? Is the term "submitted publication" ...
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Can I mention my current grad school in my PS for PhD application to other schools?
I am currently a master's student at upenn, and I am trying to apply for phd in other schools. Would it be okay if I explicitly mention upenn in personal statement because I was trying to talk about a ...
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Should I mention in my Statement of Purpose that this university is my "top" choice
I am applying to graduate schools this year for a master's degree.
I've read that some universities will reject some "strong" applicants because they believe this student would be accepted ...
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Guideline for Statement of purpose
In the guidelines for the statement of purpose for a PhD one of them says this: "A self-assessment of any past research experience and analytical skills.". This is my first ever statement of ...
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Humor in a personal statement
As I write personal statements for graduate school, I want to highlight my hard work through humor and also just show my personality. As someone who works full time (in order to fund my education) as ...
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Indicating professors from a different department in a PhD application statement of purpose
I am applying for US PhD's this December. I have a BS in mechanical engineering and an MS in artificial intelligence. The common advice is to mention advisors you would like to work for in the ...
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Life story on Ph.D SOP
I am applying to math Ph.D programs from U.S universities for next fall.
Frankly, I was not a good student during my Bachelor's degree. Instead, I did many things towards finding my real dream: what I ...
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How to write statement of purpose with study gap and unrelated work experience?
I'm having difficulty in writing my statement of purpose for my MA political science. I had a degree in political science, then a 10yrs study gap. All my work experience are not related to my field of ...
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Best website for giving details of a book mentioned in a Statement of Purpose
I want to mention a book in my SOP/PS and would like to provide a link so that the reader can easily get more details about the book instead of googling it. What would be the ideal website for this ...
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Is it better to merge my SOP and PS into a single essay or just join the two files one after the other to create a single file?
I'm applying to grad schools in the U.S. for a Ph.D. in mathematics and I recently read about the key differences between an SOP(Statement of Purpose) and a PS(Personal Statement) after noticing a few ...
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Should I explain the reason why I am still taking basic computer science courses when applying for graduate school?
I am an undergraduate student double majoring in computer science in my last year of college, but I am still studying data structure, operation system and will study algorithm and computer ...
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On Writing Statement of Purpose for Grad school Applications
I'm currently preparing a Statement of Purpose (SoP) for my grad school applications this year, and I have some questions about the content and organization of SoP.
Some people say that SoP should ...
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What to write in a motivation letter where the template says "In a few lines, specify your professional project"
My program is structured such that I have to do two years at one institution, then transfer to a different institution for the third and final year. I am now finishing the second year and filling out ...
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Will it hurt my chances if I state I want to study Theoretical Computer Science instead of something like AI/ML for PhD?
I will be applying to CS PhD programs coming fall. I have a BA in Mathematics right now.
I am hearing that it is harder to get into a CS PhD program if I state I want to study Theoretical Computer ...
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We are applying for Australia and my wife wants to pursue her diploma? [closed]
My wife and I want to go to Australia. She wants to pursue her diploma in hotel management and so we are on the verge of writing our SOP. Should I state that she is single or married, as we heard that ...
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Write up on preparation for pursuing a PhD degree in your subject of interest
I am applying Ph.D. in Mathematics. In the form I found the question.
Please write about your preparation for pursuing a PhD degree in your subject of interest?
How should I write the answer? What ...
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PhD personal statement include controversial past
I grew up in an abusive family wherein some family members continuously manipulated and exploited me. And around 10+ years ago I engaged with some violent resistance.
Later I reflected on this ...
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