question about SOP

[penguinbean]

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I'm not sure if this would be better posted on a previously established thread or not... but here goes.

I have been struggling with my personal statement and the whole "not adding too many personal details" thing...

When I was in high school, I was at Columbine HS during the shootings, which in a way lead to my interest in psychology. My friends and I started a non-profit and went around the country talking to other students who had experienced school violence and also did some talks to police, schools, etc about handling situations and our experiences.

This has also led to my research interests of dealing with PTSD and trauma. So I know it has to get in there somewhere, because without it, I would probably not be applying to psychology. I have my master's and have been practicing with clients many of whom have trauma, so I do have more current reasons for my interest in those areas.

concerns- 1) I dont want to come across like an attention seeker looking to just cash in on that experience 2) I dont want to get too personal and make them think I am needing to be fixed or whatnot 3) I am not sure if I decide to put this in there how much I should include about it (I was thinking part of a paragraph and move on to more current issues?)

TIA, any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[LHDMMD]

I've been struggling with my SOP as well. I have one paragraph in the beginning that explains how I knew what I wanted to do even when I was a kid and why. I'm wondering if that is too personal. I based my SOP off of med school examples, but I'm not sure if Psychology is the same way. So I would also like to know how personal should a statement of purpose should be.

 

[deuce22]

I'm not sure if this would be better posted on a previously established thread or not... but here goes.

I have been struggling with my personal statement and the whole "not adding too many personal details" thing...

When I was in high school, I was at Columbine HS during the shootings, which in a way lead to my interest in psychology. My friends and I started a non-profit and went around the country talking to other students who had experienced school violence and also did some talks to police, schools, etc about handling situations and our experiences.

This has also led to my research interests of dealing with PTSD and trauma. So I know it has to get in there somewhere, because without it, I would probably not be applying to psychology. I have my master's and have been practicing with clients many of whom have trauma, so I do have more current reasons for my interest in those areas.

concerns- 1) I dont want to come across like an attention seeker looking to just cash in on that experience 2) I dont want to get too personal and make them think I am needing to be fixed or whatnot 3) I am not sure if I decide to put this in there how much I should include about it (I was thinking part of a paragraph and move on to more current issues?)

TIA, any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated

I've been reading all of the "how to" books on writing personal statements, and most of them agree that having an attention-grasping opener is paramount to having your SoP standout amidst the stacks of other essays the selection committees will have to read. I'm sure you are aware how competitive this process is, and how valuable a well-written personal statement is to being labeled as a viable candidate for the programs to which you are applying. That you were present during the Columbine shootings has obviously played a large role in your current career interests, and I think that by not including this experience in your essay you would only be doing a disservice to yourself and reduce your chances of getting noticed.

In my honest opinion, I think you should find a way to open your essay(s) with a description of the events and how they led to your current interests in psychology. You did more than just live through the experience, but also found a way to use it to help others understand what happened as well as have grown as a professional as a result. You don't have to go into too much detail about your personal reaction to the events, but its obvious that this has genuinely influenced your interests and so not mentioning them would, again, probably not express the extent to which your experiences have informed those interests. I hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[wigflip]

I've been reading all of the "how to" books on writing personal statements, and most of them agree that having an attention-grasping opener is paramount to having your SoP standout amidst the stacks of other essays the selection committees will have to read. I'm sure you are aware how competitive this process is, and how valuable a well-written personal statement is to being labeled as a viable candidate for the programs to which you are applying. That you were present during the Columbine shootings has obviously played a large role in your current career interests, and I think that by not including this experience in your essay you would only be doing a disservice to yourself and reduce your chances of getting noticed.

In my honest opinion, I think you should find a way to open your essay(s) with a description of the events and how they led to your current interests in psychology. You did more than just live through the experience, but also found a way to use it to help others understand what happened as well as have grown as a professional as a result. You don't have to go into too much detail about your personal reaction to the events, but its obvious that this has genuinely influenced your interests and so not mentioning them would, again, probably not express the extent to which your experiences have informed those interests. I hope that helps. Good luck!

👍 👍 👍

completely agree.

but since you brought it up, would you mind please sharing titles of the most helpful guides to writing the personal statement? I'm going to have to go through this again soon and could use the help...

 

[ClinicalTrainee]

The trick with using personal information in a personal statement is to speak about it professionally and keep the information relevant.

To the OP, I agree with chuckdanger that telling your audience something memorable will help you stand out. I, in fact, said "whoa" out loud when I saw your post. It also sounds like your experience strongly affected you and your subsequent behavior, including your research interests. There is no harm in saying essentially what you did here. It would be too much if you kept referring back to it repeatedly...that would be overkill and also sounding like you're trying to cash in. So yes, mention it up front and then move on.

Don't undersell yourself. Starting a non-profit as a high school student is pretty cool and worth mentioning too. In fact, saying that demonstrates a lot of great qualities people look for in grad students--shows initiative, interest in helping others, comfort with public speaking--all without having to label yourself.

The fact that you're thinking about how a possible letter reader might view your statement suggests to me that you won't overdo it. If being at Columbine HS was an integral part of your path to grad school, mention it.

As to the other question...ask about relevance when you try to decide "how personal is personal." This article says it better than I can:
http://www.psichi.org/pubs/articles/article_165.aspx

 

[deuce22]

👍 👍 👍

completely agree.

but since you brought it up, would you mind please sharing titles of the most helpful guides to writing the personal statement? I'm going to have to go through this again soon and could use the help...

The guide I'm relying on most is titled "Graduate Admissions Essays: Write your way into the graduate school of your choice" by Donald Asher. It's not centered on writing SoPs for Clinical Psychology programs but definitely helped me a lot in coming up with the best way to frame my essays in terms of what each program wants by highlighting my credentials and desire to pursue graduate study. The book also includes several examples of essay submissions for different types of programs (like 30) so that you can get a sense of what details are necessary to write a successful personal statement.

I've also been referring to the 2nd edition of "Getting In: A step-by-step plan for gaining admission to graduate school in psychology" and the "Insider's guide to graduate programs in clinical and counseling psychology." Though in terms of writing the SoP I've stuck mainly to the Asher guide.

 

[deleted176373]

When I was in high school, I was at Columbine HS during the shootings, which in a way lead to my interest in psychology. My friends and I started a non-profit and went around the country talking to other students who had experienced school violence and also did some talks to police, schools, etc about handling situations and our experiences.

Done the right way, I can certainly see how this is relevant to an application letter. Think about how you want to present it without having it become the focal point of your application. Certainly, this could be an excellent spring board into some very interesting research topics and you would not be alone in your desire to address major points in history.

Stanley Milgram was motivated for a similar reason. He wanted to understand how the Germans could as a country be manipulated by the Nazi leadership. Not an unimportant comparison that might find it's way into the reader's mind.

Mark

 

[wigflip]

The guide I'm relying on most is titled "Graduate Admissions Essays: Write your way into the graduate school of your choice" by Donald Asher. It's not centered on writing SoPs for Clinical Psychology programs but definitely helped me a lot in coming up with the best way to frame my essays in terms of what each program wants by highlighting my credentials and desire to pursue graduate study. The book also includes several examples of essay submissions for different types of programs (like 30) so that you can get a sense of what details are necessary to write a successful personal statement.

I've also been referring to the 2nd edition of "Getting In: A step-by-step plan for gaining admission to graduate school in psychology" and the "Insider's guide to graduate programs in clinical and counseling psychology." Though in terms of writing the SoP I've stuck mainly to the Asher guide.

Thanks, chuckdanger! 🙂

 

[penguinbean]

Thanks everyone for your input. I guess I have spent all my time trying to be more than a poor little kid who went there, and then wanted to cash in on the fame. But since I am aware of that, I think I'll be able to incorperate my experiences in a way that's not attention seeking