Personal Statement / Statement of Purpose

[PsychBiker]

Hey there guys and gals, I am applying to a bunch of PsyD schools and a couple of Masters this Fall and its time to get this started. I was hoping to get an idea of what people think is appropriate in a Personal Statement - as well as general ideas about what should and should not go into one. I was wondering if it is appropriate to include experiences and issues with immediate family members with clinical disorders. How in depth should I get?

Also, if its not against forum rules, it would be awesome if someone could message me their Statement of Purpose so I could get an idea of these things. Dont worry, im not into plagiarizing.

Thanks for any help!

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[bigdodge53]

The biggest nono I have ever heard was don't try to present yourself as the most altruistic applicant that has ever existed (eg. "After I made peace between the Ubatu and Walawala pygmy tribes in Papua New Guinea, personally nursed a baby fur seal back to health, and cured cancer/AIDS, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career path in psychology. . . ) Also be aware of those darn run-on sentences. . .

 

[Sarahanne]

There is a great guide to writing personal statements called Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way Into the Graduate School of Your Choice by Donald Asher. This book has a step by step process into helping you shape your personal statement, and guides you as to what to include and what not to include. The book also features several examples of Personal Statements/ Statements of Purpose.

On another note, it had some great information on graduate admissions committees in general, and also great advice on how to approach the entire application process. I recommend checking it out.

 

[Thrak]

(eg. "After I made peace between the Ubatu and Walawala pygmy tribes in Papua New Guinea, personally nursed a baby fur seal back to health, and cured cancer/AIDS, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career path in psychology. . . )

I don't know if you're familiar with old Saturday Night Live sketches, but that really reminded me of the recurring Bill Brasky ones. A link to some quotes... some aren't really safe for work.

In one of my SOPs, I mentioned my late father's heart condition, type-A personality, and quite possible (though undiagnosed) Intermittent Explosive Disorder. I only mentioned it in one SOP, and it was to the only program that accepted me. Keep in mind this was for a Health & Social Psych PhD, and my POI studies stress and its relation to personality types.

Hope this helps!

 

[Mr Violin]

The biggest nono I have ever heard was don't try to present yourself as the most altruistic applicant that has ever existed (eg. "After I made peace between the Ubatu and Walawala pygmy tribes in Papua New Guinea, personally nursed a baby fur seal back to health, and cured cancer/AIDS, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career path in psychology. . . ) Also be aware of those darn run-on sentences. . .

This made me laugh! I don't have to write my personal statement for one year but this is still a valuable piece of info. Thanks!

 

[KillerDiller]

Although I don't think it's inappropriate to mention family situations, I do caution strongly against dwelling on them when writing your statement. In a way, the term "personal statement" is a misnomer, though it is used often by schools. Unlike when you applied for undergrad, your personal statement for grad school should be much more reflective of your academic and clinical experiences than your life's tragedies and triumphs.

 

[PinkSoil]

Don't say that you got into this field because you "want to help people." Do be cognizant of the type of programs you are applying to, and how your essay fits with that. For example, my school welcomed a personal statement that talked about how my personal life impacted my decision to apply for doctoral school. If you do this, make sure you create a fine line between appropriate and inappropriate self disclosure. Some schools are much more interested in what you did in your academics and work experience, than your personal choices. Don't sent the exact same essay to every school. Make yourself stand out, but not with grammatical errors! Remember, the structure of the essay counts just as much as the content. They are looking at a potential thesis and/or dissertation writer, and this is one way that they are going to make sure you can handle it.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Also, if its not against forum rules, it would be awesome if someone could message me their Statement of Purpose so I could get an idea of these things. Dont worry, im not into plagiarizing.

Although it is not against SDN terms, it is frowned upon because of wanting to ensure original work, etc. In the past people have asked if anyone was willing to read their PS's and offer feedback, typically done through e-mail/PM.

 

[deleted176373]

Although it is not against SDN terms, it is frowned upon because of wanting to ensure original work, etc. In the past people have asked if anyone was willing to read their PS's and offer feedback, typically done through e-mail/PM.

I think I actually posted mine publicly here, so if you search you'll find it.

Mark

PS - I made it too easy for you: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=470078

 

[numbereight]

hey all-- i saw this on harvard's website and thought that i should share it with y'all





Here is some advice from Prof. Marc Hauser for writing a good application essay:

Over the past 12 years, I have been reading graduate school admissions’ essays. These include essays from students applying to work with me as well as those from my own students who are preparing to apply to other graduate programs. When my own students apply to graduate school, I give them very specific advice about the nature of the essay, what I think most candidate schools and advisors are looking for. I have always had a particular view about what makes for a good read, of course from a personal perspective. I have been struck by the fact that many of the incoming essays lack the kind of content that I am looking for, having the appearance of an undergraduate application essay. This seems unfortunate because I often use the essay more than almost anything else to get a sense of the applicant’s intellectual potential and passion. Many students that apply have stellar GPAs and GREs, but only a few present carefully reasoned essays that really motivate the reasons for going to graduate school. In essence, essays that capture my attention are ones that develop ideas, propose experiments, point to holes in the literature, and do these things with passion and excitement. These very general comments, which will certainly not capture every advisor’s perspective, or even the majority, can be distilled to a few essential ingredients, presented below as questions:

• Why continue on with your education? Why do you need to learn more? What skills, theories, and knowledge do you lack?

• What are the kinds of discoveries and theories that sparked your interest in the chosen discipline?

• In graduate school, what kinds of questions do you hope to address? Why do you think that these questions are important? Given the set of questions that you will focus on, what kinds of methods do you hope to apply? What skills do you bring forward as you enter graduate school and which skills do you hope to acquire?

• What holes do you see in the current discipline [big picture stuff]? In what ways do you think that they can be addressed during your graduate career?

• What kind of graduate environment are you looking for? Are you particularly keen on working with one faculty advisor, and if so, why this particular person? If you are leaning more toward a cluster of advisors, as well as the department more generally, why? Hint: faculty are engaged by students who have read some of their work, have thought critically about it, and wish to develop some of the issues addressed. Further, it helps with admissions to have one or more faculty championing your case.

Essays that have the above ingredients are truly informative. They tell each faculty member why the candidate wants to go to graduate school, what problems they hope to tackle, what skills they bring, and which skills they hope to acquire. Following this format is, of course, not a ticket of admission, but it will certainly make your application more interesting and informative.

 

[cara susanna]

I think that my SOP was the best part of my application, honestly. I was really quite proud of it. I've sent it to people here via PM before, so just let me know if you want to see it.

 

[AryaStark]

I think this is a great list, and a very very valuable resource for anyone writing a personal statement. I wish I had this! However, keep in mind that Marc Hauser does not do clinical research. I have actually spoken to a few of his graduate students and other grad students in that particular program, and they had a lot of similar ideas to eachother and now I see, similar to Dr. Hauser. However, they all seemed to reiterate the fact that their program and clinical programs are fairly different. From them, and other professors at my school, I was told to have the research areas etc discussed in my essay, but also discuss what you want to DO with the clinical degree. There are so many things that could be done with this degree, and it's important for you to clearly state what your intentions are (even if they are subject to change). Additionally, keep in mind that this is HARVARD. You aren't always expected to know EXACTLY what you want to do. and know where the holes in the literature are etc. Having worked in a similar lab to Dr. Hauser's, I got a LOT of hands on experience doing research with a specific population and had a serious amount of responsibilities. If I wanted to go into that, I would have been SET! Unfortunately for clinical students (especially straight from undergrad), it is somewhat difficult to get relevent clinical experience or clinical research experience in the subject that you REALLY want to study. I received some pretty solid advice regarding this from those grad students. Although i wasn't interested in subject Y, I should use it as a positive experience. Show the programs why Y WASN'T for you, and how it increased your interest in subject X. Just my thoughts.

hey all-- i saw this on harvard's website and thought that i should share it with y'all





Here is some advice from Prof. Marc Hauser for writing a good application essay:

Over the past 12 years, I have been reading graduate school admissions’ essays. These include essays from students applying to work with me as well as those from my own students who are preparing to apply to other graduate programs. When my own students apply to graduate school, I give them very specific advice about the nature of the essay, what I think most candidate schools and advisors are looking for. I have always had a particular view about what makes for a good read, of course from a personal perspective. I have been struck by the fact that many of the incoming essays lack the kind of content that I am looking for, having the appearance of an undergraduate application essay. This seems unfortunate because I often use the essay more than almost anything else to get a sense of the applicant’s intellectual potential and passion. Many students that apply have stellar GPAs and GREs, but only a few present carefully reasoned essays that really motivate the reasons for going to graduate school. In essence, essays that capture my attention are ones that develop ideas, propose experiments, point to holes in the literature, and do these things with passion and excitement. These very general comments, which will certainly not capture every advisor’s perspective, or even the majority, can be distilled to a few essential ingredients, presented below as questions:

• Why continue on with your education? Why do you need to learn more? What skills, theories, and knowledge do you lack?

• What are the kinds of discoveries and theories that sparked your interest in the chosen discipline?

• In graduate school, what kinds of questions do you hope to address? Why do you think that these questions are important? Given the set of questions that you will focus on, what kinds of methods do you hope to apply? What skills do you bring forward as you enter graduate school and which skills do you hope to acquire?

• What holes do you see in the current discipline [big picture stuff]? In what ways do you think that they can be addressed during your graduate career?

• What kind of graduate environment are you looking for? Are you particularly keen on working with one faculty advisor, and if so, why this particular person? If you are leaning more toward a cluster of advisors, as well as the department more generally, why? Hint: faculty are engaged by students who have read some of their work, have thought critically about it, and wish to develop some of the issues addressed. Further, it helps with admissions to have one or more faculty championing your case.

Essays that have the above ingredients are truly informative. They tell each faculty member why the candidate wants to go to graduate school, what problems they hope to tackle, what skills they bring, and which skills they hope to acquire. Following this format is, of course, not a ticket of admission, but it will certainly make your application more interesting and informative.

 

[moxie89]

I have a burning SOP question that I guess I will toss out here...

One of the programs I plan on applying to specifically asks to trace through different events in my life that made me want to do what I want to do... I want to be an adolescent clinician, focusing on problems rooted in self esteem (self injury, eating disorders, etc). Is it too much of a sob story and does it make me look unstable if I mention that I was a self injurer (a decade ago) and that this obviously influenced the age group and types of issues I want to work with? Or is that just a huge no-no to mention?

 

[AryaStark]

That's such a hard question to answer. In any other situation I would yell no no no no no no no. However, it seems like they are asking for it. Is this for a PhD???

I have a burning SOP question that I guess I will toss out here...

One of the programs I plan on applying to specifically asks to trace through different events in my life that made me want to do what I want to do... I want to be an adolescent clinician, focusing on problems rooted in self esteem (self injury, eating disorders, etc). Is it too much of a sob story and does it make me look unstable if I mention that I was a self injurer (a decade ago) and that this obviously influenced the age group and types of issues I want to work with? Or is that just a huge no-no to mention?

 

[Wildcat06]

Yeah, as Arya said, they might be looking for that. But I would advise tread lightly. I would tend to state something more along the lines of "I had adjustment issues as a teenager" or "my teenage years were particularly difficult" rather than spilling the beans completely.

 

[krisrox]

I always thought they wanted you to focus on clinical and research experiences rather than personal revelations and issues. It sounds way more professional to talk about research ideas than personal experience, but, on the other hand, less passionate. So I guess it depends on the vibe you want to give off. There are pros and cons to each one.

 

[AryaStark]

typically you are, but if they explicity ask for events that triggered this it's hard to tell huh. To the OP, you might want to contact the department and ask them what it means. Do they mean personal , professional, or educational events?

I always thought they wanted you to focus on clinical and research experiences rather than personal revelations and issues. It sounds way more professional to talk about research ideas than personal experience, but, on the other hand, less passionate. So I guess it depends on the vibe you want to give off. There are pros and cons to each one.

 

[leavingprov]

I have a burning SOP question that I guess I will toss out here...

One of the programs I plan on applying to specifically asks to trace through different events in my life that made me want to do what I want to do... I want to be an adolescent clinician, focusing on problems rooted in self esteem (self injury, eating disorders, etc). Is it too much of a sob story and does it make me look unstable if I mention that I was a self injurer (a decade ago) and that this obviously influenced the age group and types of issues I want to work with? Or is that just a huge no-no to mention?

I remember having a SoP prompt that was similar-- My inclination would be largely to consider "events in my life" to be "events in my professional life." Generally you will want to devote the vast vast majority of the allotted space to professional experiences, so even if the question seems to be more autobiographical, I agree with other posters that your personal struggles might only be mentioned in passing. This argument has been played out quite a bit on previous threads and I think if you look them over you'll see a moderate range of opinions on this matter. Good luck with the writing!

 

[TenaciousGirl]

The biggest nono I have ever heard was don't try to present yourself as the most altruistic applicant that has ever existed (eg. "After I made peace between the Ubatu and Walawala pygmy tribes in Papua New Guinea, personally nursed a baby fur seal back to health, and cured cancer/AIDS, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career path in psychology. . . ) Also be aware of those darn run-on sentences. . .

haha.... perfect example of what not to do.


Between applying for two different grad programs and various internships I've had to write/tweak about 15-20 SOPs in my young life. Here is my .02$

-Keep the "fluff" factor down. What I mean is, for everything you say (especially about yourself) you should have a fact to back it up.

- ^ Try to stay away from generalized statements.

- (this next one is kind of tricky) try to stay away from saying things that can be inferred. I.E. "I"m a good student..." when you have a 3.9GPA. This is tricky because as applicants we want to tell the adcoms everything in the SOP because it is our chance to shine. However, try to do this in other ways with your ECs, research, presentations, etc.

- I think it's okay to mention personal experiences to an extent. Like, if you know someone who has suffered from alzheimers and that experience has made you want to do more research on it, etc etc I think it's okay to mention that. However, you want to stay away from things having to do directly with you. I.E. "I was abused as a child...." extreme stuff like that.

This is all I can think of for now. Have as many people as you can read your SOP and if you can get a teacher/mentor at school to read it, even better. Most of all, be yourself. I can't stress how important being yourself in your SOP is. Hope this helps.

TG

 

[kim20k]

Can you send your SOP to me?
I am applying to Clinical Psychology program this fall, and just started working on my SOP.
[email protected]

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Can you send your SOP to me?
I am applying to Clinical Psychology program this fall, and just started working on my SOP.
[email protected]

MOD NOTE: We discourage members sharing SOP as a general practice. If people want feedback on their SOP is one thing, but we typically do not encourage freely sharing SOPs. -t4c

 

[Psy01]

In a way, the term "personal statement" is a misnomer, though it is used often by schools. Unlike when you applied for undergrad, your personal statement for grad school should be much more reflective of your academic and clinical experiences than your life's tragedies and triumphs.

In the Insider's Guide, it advises the reader to think of it as a professional statement.




OP, check this out:
http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~campbell/GradSchoolAdviceArticle.pdf

If anybody wants a laugh, look at the examples on pg 20 of how people have been "professionally inappropriate" on statements.

 

[applebottom]

one of the schools to which i'm applying asks for both a statement of purpose and a "personal history statement," in which they want you to discuss barriers you have overcome, efforts you have made to reach underserved populations, etc. this statement seems like it would invite inappropriate oversharing; hopefully people realize that they should still keep it professional and not disclose anything that would raise concerns among the admission committee members.

 

[SaraP]

I think that my SOP was the best part of my application, honestly. I was really quite proud of it. I've sent it to people here via PM before, so just let me know if you want to see it.

Dear Cara Susanna,
Do you mind emailing me your SOP? to : [email protected] (I just popped into this forum and saw your post )
I am applying for clinical psycology this fall and my BS degree was in a different major...graduated in 1996 !!!..so I just wanted to get an idea of the structure of SOP....
cheers

 

[InternationalStudent]

Hi I'm an International student from Costa Rica; I'm going to apply to Baylor’s PsyD program. I have a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminology, lots of volunteer experience but very little research experience and no publications. Schools in Costa Rica don't require SOP plus it takes twice the effort for me to write in english, so I feel like I kind of need a dummies guide to do this, I feel really lost and need all the help I can get. If someone could give me starting pointers and them maybe read my SOP to give some feedback I would really appreciate it.