Statement of Purpose
Statement of Purpose
How closely do the top programs read the SOP? I know in some of the sciences (including the social ones) that departments don't even care.
Re: Statement of Purpose
I have 4 data points for this. The admission folks at Penn and MIT said that they don't care about SOPs except in special circumstances because they all read alike. UT Austin seems to pay a lot of attention to your self-stated research interests. I fell through the cracks and was "accidentally" rejected because I expressed interest in two different fields (geometry and topology), which lead neither of those two research groups to nominate me for admission. Finally, the admissions director at Michigan really seems to want to know how likely each admitted student is to enroll. I *assume* but do not know that he reads SOPs more carefully to gauge your level of interest in their graduate program, and he certainly does ask others who know you (e.g. your professors and students from the same university) about your level of interest.
Re: Statement of Purpose
Owlpride,
As is always the case, your response is great and much appreciated
As is always the case, your response is great and much appreciated
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Re: Statement of Purpose
I asked the graduate committee chair in my university, who is one of my referee. He said he read these very selectively. He would pay attention to those on the shortlist. The rest he doesn't care.