It sometimes helps to know that an applicant is familiar with your
program and knows a little about what you or some of your colleagues
do and have done. But for the applicant, getting that information out
demands a more or less Cavellian tonal balance to ensure The
Avoidance of Asskissing.
>I have similar questions. I am working with two of my students on
>such statements-- I had heard that the following book was good and
>recommended that they check it out of the library or buy a copy:
>
>Graduate Admissions Essays: Write Your Way into the Graduate School
>of Your Choice (Graduate Admissions Essays) (Paperback)
>by Donald Asher
>
>I like your comment that the purpose those essays may be a way of
>weeding out the psychos. If that is the purpose, it hasn't been very
>effective at a great many places.
>
>Brian Lockey
>Assistant Professor of English
>St. John's University
>718-390-4442
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List on behalf of David Wilson-Okamura
> Sent: Fri 11/17/2006 9:46 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc:
> Subject: Statement of purpose -- what should go in it?
>
>
> Earlier this week, someone who is applying to graduate school
>(not one of my own students at ECU) asked me to review his statement
>of purpose (SOP). This I was happy to do -- the student is well
>read, hard working, and bright. However, my department doesn't have
>a literature PhD and I don't get to read these things very often.
>Could the Jedi Knights who do comment? Specifically, what should the
>SOP cover? Should it describe a project that the student wants to
>work on in graduate school, or is that too narrow? Does it matter?
>Is the SOP really just a method for uncovering psychos before they
>arrive on campus?
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [log in to unmask]
> English Department Virgil reception, discussion, documents, &c
> East Carolina University Sparsa et neglecta coegi. -- Claude Fauchet
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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