New answers tagged statement-of-purpose
2
What you want to do above all is to make your SoP about the future, not the past. Find a way to include your self study in your CV, say in a special section. Especially if you can say something brief but credible about it: online courses, work of authors x, y, z, correspondence with ....
Then, if you have some backup from the CV, and I don't think it needs ...
1
First, make your SoP forward looking, not backward. Only bring up past actions to support the idea that you are an excellent candidate who is well prepared and motivated and has excellent prospects for success. Your CV explains you past. Your SoP is for the future.
But I see no need to mention anywhere that you have a gap. Your transcripts and record will ...
0
If I read your question correctly, it seems that you want to do interdisciplinary work. That is highly valued in some places, even if it is a bit unusual. But to make it happen requires that you have an advisor who is on-board with the concept and that you have sufficient additional resources across the fields of study. This might mean a co-advisor. And if ...
1
(slight edit to clarify my perspective after reading Buffy's answer)
Is applying for PhD in mechanical engineering but not intending to do research with a mechanical engineering professor viewed negatively?
In my opinion, you're asking the wrong question. Don't ask how the admissions committee will view this, ask if you should even be considering doing ...
2
Don't confuse the purpose of the CV with that of the SoP. The former looks to the past, what you have already accomplished. The Statement of Purpose, on the other hand looks to your future and what you expect to do in the future, both in future schooling and beyond. Together they provide a more complete picture.
So, I suggest that you only mention your ...
2
This seems like a very specialized requirement. I haven't heard of it before.
But, think about what is required in a doctoral program. You mention some of these already, such as organizing, networking, etc. But there are others. Perseverance is a big one. Flexibility is another. But there may be some aspects of responding to setbacks that are specifically ...
2
(tailoring applications, organizing application materials, networking, interviewing etc.)
During your PhD and in your future academic career you will spend a significant amount of your time:
Tailoring applications to grants
Organising materials for those grant applications
Networking at conferences, workshops, online, etc across your discipline and in to ...
2
You may be making a mistake in writing about the past in your SoP. Your accomplishments are probably detailed elsewhere. Make the SoP forward looking, what you intend to do in the future, including beyond grad school. Mention your past work only so much as it directly supports your suitability for the degree and field you wish to pursue.
For a doctoral ...
3
will it be a safer bet to reveal my research ideas for the next couple of years with them, which I believe are capable of publishing in academic conferences or journals?
This is the entire point of doing a PhD - you are supposed to share your ideas with your collaborators! If you deeply distrust your potential research group to the extent that you worry ...
2
Put aside the details for a moment and think about the larger picture. You want your application to support your suitability for the program and your likelihood of success. Everything should support that and you have limited space to express it. For a doctoral program research is primary, so research experience, especially if guided by well seasoned and ...
3
It is a mistake to hide things, but you have no obligation to reveal everything. Make any application entirely positive, showing why they should consider you to be a good candidate for success in your degree and in your field.
If you are asked about any gaps or why you left the earlier program, just say that there were health issues that made continuing ...
6
You are under no obligation to share your medical history in an application, but you are under obligation to be truthful -- so no lying about the date of your accident.
It seems like you actually made the best out of your decision to drop out of the program back then. It's legitimate to say, in an application, that you felt at the time that the program was ...
1
There is a tradeoff here that you need to consider. How it balances might depend in part on the field of the application. At one end of the scale is a sort of checklist of points. At the other is a literary exposition. If your field were Creative Writing then you want to show how well you can write. For a more technical field the balance point moves the ...
1
Does it look something like the following?
Please include information on
motivation
experience
Why this school?
...
If yes, I wouldn't worry about the order.
If, on the other hand, it is more like
Please include the following information in that order:
motivation
experience
Why this school?
...
then of course you ...
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