In one study conducted at a large university, 90% of science and technology respondents felt more objective measures—test scores and grades—were most important Ohio Wesleyan University Writing Center © 2011 Page 1 and used the statement of purpose for borderline decisions. However, of liberal arts faculty who responded, approximately half valued the essays as much as other parts of the application package. ? Determine the importance of the mentor system. The importance of the statement of purpose increases, as Robert M.
Brown notes, at institutions with strong mentoring programs ? because it is the only place where an applicant can elaborate a research interest to the extent that faculty members can judge how well that interest dovetails with their own? (245).
Identify graduate programs that specialize in your area or areas of interest. Remember, your statement should mention a specific program and perhaps even target a subdivision or an area within that program—not American literature but the 19th century American novel with an emphasis in American Realism and Naturalism.
Learn about the professors in the program and familiarize yourself with their research; in other words, read some of their scholarly works—reviews, articles, monographs, and books. Learn about campus and program resources, such as research facilities. Familiarize yourself with the disciplinary culture by identifying the ethos—the values, beliefs, discourse practices, and epistemological assumptions—of a department, program, or college (liberal arts or science and technology).
The Dissertation on Research Statement
Research Statement Current Research The Areas and Future Projects of my Research My research interests cover the areas of embedded system designs, computer architectures and computer-aided design. My research emphasizes on system-level design methodologies, verification of embedded system designs, and architecture modelling and exploration. The topicality of my research interests is determined by ...
What does it mean to think and write like a member of a specific intellectual community?
For example, members of the science community embrace an epistemology—a way of knowing—? consistent with the traditional objective orientation of scientific inquiry? (Brown 245).
Contact professors at your prospective universities and discuss your research interests, and ask them about the importance of the statement of purpose relative to other application materials. ? ? ? ? II. Content Compared to personal statements, statements of purpose require a more programmatic approach that includes, to a greater or lesser degree, the topics numbered below.
Always follow, of course, the prompt provided by the school. Some schools may ask you to devote more or less space to one or more of these topics. For example, the prompt for students applying to the Zoology and Botany graduate programs at the University of Florida asks—tells—applicants that the statement of purpose is very important and they should focus on future experiences, not on past experiences. As you develop topics one through six, also consider the bulleted list of additional suggestions below. 1.
Illustrate and explain how and when you became interested in the field: Applicants often include an anecdotal and personal example from their formative years that illustrates a long-term interest in the field and personalizes, to a degree, an essay that focuses primarily on academic achievements and intellectual development. Though you may have a long-term interest in a subject area, you should not state or imply that you Ohio Wesleyan University Writing Center © 2011 Page 2 knew by third grade you were destined to become an art historian or a chemical engineer.
