What's in a “Statement of Purpose” or “Letter of Intent” and what should be included?

What's in a “Statement of Purpose” or “Letter of Intent” and what should be included?

“Statement of Purpose” or “Letter of Intent” is an important document in your application to any graduate program.
The following article by our own Dr. Christine Cooper-Rompato offers advice about application and letters of intent that applies to either an MA/MS or PhD application.  The advice is good for application to any program at either level. 

The Statement of Purpose: Applying to PhD [or MA] Programs
by Christine Cooper-Rompato
NOTE: While the article below was originally written for our MA students applying to an advanced degree, the advice is entirely applicable for someone applying to one of our MA programs.

Your “Statement of Purpose” (also known as “letter of intent”) should be a polished, professional document that highlights accomplishments, achievements, and interests, and it should set out a tentative plan of study and show why you would be a valuable asset to your target school’s program. Think about these general questions:



• Why is your previous/current course work or  any advanced independent work (like and honors thesis or MA thesis) valuable and interesting?How have your current studies led to your applying for an advanced degree?

•  What topics do you plan to research in the proposed advanced degree program? Why are these avenues interesting & worthy of study?

•  Do you have a tentative topic for your thesis (for MA apps) or dissertation (for PhD apps)? If you do mention a specific project, it’s important to make sure someone at the proposed school can work with you on it.

•  What resources would you make use of at the target school? Do they have fantastic library archives you can’t wait to get your hands on? For instance, is there an active women’s studies program that will supplement your studies?

•  Is there anything interesting or unusual (academically) about you? Are you bilingual? Have you worked interesting jobs or performed significant community service related to your professional career? (For example, tutoring English at a prison).

• Are you interested in teaching? Remember that you also want to be considered for a teaching opportunities (like a TA-ship or GI-ship), so it may be appropriate to discuss your teaching experience. Some schools may ask for a separate letter stating your teaching philosophy.

Try to set the tone right

Aim for confident, interesting (and interested in your subject), engaging, professional, smart, but not cocky or arrogant. You want to convince the admissions committee that, if they invest time and money in you, you will be an asset to the program and will ultimately be able to land a good teaching job.

Be sure to seek comments &  suggestions on your letter before you send it out! Show it to your recommenders and take their suggestions seriously.

Do NOT begin your “Statement of Purpose” with the following (all actual examples I’ve seen!):

·       I’m Stephanie and I’m 27 years old. (Your name is on the application, and this is a rather meaningless opening. Also avoid references to age).

·       Since my recent divorce, I’ve been really depressed so I’ve decided to apply to graduate school. (Too much information! They do not want to hear about your personal problems). 

·       I’ve wanted to be a medievalist ever since I was first given Legos as a child. (This was written with a quill pen on fake parchment! Cutsie will not convince them of your readiness for a PhD program).

·       I want to get my PhD for the fun of it. (Programs put a lot of time and energy into training a candidate to be a professional. Why waste their time if you’re not going to be a professional).

One last suggestion: In general, it’s a good idea to leave out faith references in your application. I remember the admissions committee at UCONN was baffled by several personal statements signed “God bless” and “May God guide you in your decision process.” Assume that the admissions committee will be comprised of professors of a variety of religions, and a number will have no religion. 99% of the committee members will believe that faith references do not belong in an academic application. If, however, religious experiences have formed a significant part of your intellectual and professional development, by all means include relevant information. For example, if you’ve been on mission abroad, you can say something like, “I’ve spent several years in x country, where I became fluent in x language, which I intend to continue studying …”).

Suggestions for the Writing Sample

·     Check out the programs to see how long the sample should be. Often they won’t give a specific page number. If that’s the case, a 15–25 page paper would be appropriate. Don’t send your entire thesis (unless they ask for it!)

·     Make sure your paper is perfect. It will be read for quality/complexity of thought, development of ideas, prose style, etc. Show it to your recommenders before you send it and ask for revisions suggestions.

·     Pay attention to details. Get the citation format right. Include a title and page numbers.

·     Choose an appropriate writing sample. Don’t send a paper on medieval poetry or creative writing if your application claims that you want to work on twentieth-century American prose.

·     If you have a publication in a good journal, by all means send an offprint as your writing sample.

I once saw an extremely qualified candidate rejected from the UCONN medieval studies program because he said he wanted to work on medieval Hebrew manuscripts. Since there were no professors qualified to direct that project, his application was rejected. If he had done his research on the school before he sent his application, he would have known there were no professors there who worked in that field. When I applied for my PhD program in medieval studies, I included a paragraph on my intended dissertation topic, “The Representation of Islam in Medieval English Literature.” I mentioned some texts I planned to work with, why it was an important topic, and how I had prepared myself to work on the topic. The committee afterwards mentioned that by including the project description, they were reassured that I would be focused and would finish the program on time (always a big concern since PhD students tend to hang around too long). I later changed my topic completely.

Note: This article is a revised version of an article entitled “Applying for PhD Programs after an MA,” by Christine Cooper-Rompato.  The original article appeared in Issue #3 (pages 7-12) of the online newsletter In Medias Res: A Professional Resource for Graduate Students in English. Published by Utah State University’s English department, this issue of the newsletter can be found at http://english.usu.edu/files/uploads/In%20Medias%20Res/INMEDIASRESFinal3.pdf. That original article, which is also broadly applicable to MA students, includes advice on how to make a decision to pursue an advanced degree, what things are generally included in an application, and an insider look at how admission committees read your application. Other issues of IMR can be found at the following address (just page down) http://english.usu.edu/htm/study/resources.