Identifying and Writing About Your Program Fit
Up to this point we’ve talked about the first two goals of the SoP framework: experiences and motivation. You might think of these goals as having a cause-and-effect relationship – that is, how your past experiences have influenced your current research interests, objectives, and overarching motivation to pursue a graduate degree. The next step is to identify your fit to a specific graduate program; this is one of the most important components of the SoP that is often overlooked by writers. In this section, we explore how you establish this fit to program.
- Goal 1. Experiences: The relevant experiences you’ve had which have informed and prepared you to pursue a graduate degree.
- Goal 2. Motivation: Your purpose for wanting to pursue a graduate degree which is often related to specific research interests and/or career objectives.
- Goal 3. Fit to Program: A discussion of why a particular graduate program is right for you given your motivation (and especially your research interests and objectives).
