Potential PhD students: Don't waste space in your SOP (Statement of Purpose) restating what you have in your CV. Talk about 1) Potential ideas you want to work on during your Ph.D. 2) How your background and the school you are applying to can help 3) Mention potential advisers!
1/n This post is gaining attention. Happy to add more thoughts and tips for your SOP. Make sure you stick to page limit, use normal font size and avoid quotes (from Albert Einstein etc). SOP for graduate school, especially PhD work differently than that for undergrad admissions.
2/n Use Latex for making your SOP if you can (even your CV). Overleaf is free and lot of free templates Avila keep that you can quickly adapt. Latex documents look clean and very polished. Watch YouTube videos to learn @overleaf
3/n There is no one recipe for SOP but I generally like to do: 1/3 ideas or projects you want to tackle during PhD; 1/3 your past experience and training that is relevant; 1/3 how the particular school you are applying to is going to help you achieve your goals
4/n The ideas that you mention may or may not end up as your PhD project. But it shows the selection committee that you can think through things carefully and solve problems with right guidance.
5/n Taking in a PhD student is a lot of time and money commitment for PhD advisers. So be straightforward rather that spinning unnecessary stories. They are looking for students who can be professional and get things done
6/n Make sure to mention few professors you would potentially like to work with. Tell them why you are interested in their work. Don’t be generic or make up things. Read their latest papers or listen to their talks.
7/n Writing and editing are two different things. I have written about this earlier in my Twitter feed. Get your documents reviewed by others. Visit online writing center in your current university to get help.
9/n Finally, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to potential PIs to see if they have openings (if so, on what projects). You can then specify this in your application.
10/n Follow me for more advice! You can check out a latex generated CV in my website (suhasep.com)! Good-luck :)
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