PhD/PsyD SOP Question

[MiniLop]

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I searched the archives but didn't find anything that exactly hit on this.

How specific should be in describing your interests in your statement of purpose/personal statement? Say your interest is bi-polar disorder (not mine, but just for the sake of this discussion). Should you just say I am interested in studying bi-polar disorder and this particular treatment modality? Or should you be more specific and say that you want to study how this particular treatment modality impacts this particular aspect of bi-polar disorder? Or should I say I want to study how this particular treatment modality impacts this particular aspect of bi-polar disorder under these specific circumstances? Are POIs going to be impressed by how much you've thought about this, or are they going to think that you're being over-specific?

If it's significant, I'm applying to all scientist-practitioner model programs.

Thanks everyone!

 

[thewesternsky]

The first and second level of specificity (bipolar disorder, or bipolar and and this particular treatment modality) sound right to me. You don't want to be overly specific-- It's not useful to plan your entire M.A. project without your potential advisor's input! 🙂 It's generally good to talk about the disorder you're interested in, why you're interested in it, and some general questions you might have related to it. It's best not to be absolutely wedded to one particular project or idea at this point, but you do want to have some focus.

e.g., "I am primarily interested in bipolar disorder and the effective treatment of bipolar disorder. Dr. So-and-so's research is an excellent fit with my interests. In this domain, I am particularly interested in his work on the effectiveness of [X particular] treatment for individuals with bipolar disorder. I would be interested in extending this work in a number of ways, perhaps by... I am also interested in more general questions related to risk factors for biploar disorder, such as..."

 

[MiniLop]

That's exactly what I wanted to know. Much appreciated!