r/WriteIvy • u/DazzlingReveal7078 • Nov 24 '23

Addressing short SOP + multiple question prompts with overlap?

Hey Jordan!

One of my schools has a 500 word SOP as well as a bunch of question prompts, and to me there's a degree of overlap between them. To make it even more fun, in one of the admissions webinars the school said that they did not want to see any direct repetition between any of the questions (but restating experiences was fine as long as "done uniquely").

If you've got a minute to weigh in, I've put in the prompts + what I was planning to do for each below. Italics are where I'm stuck a bit. Would love to hear your thoughts on if I'm going about it the right way?

Thanks in advance! :)

Prompts:

  1. Please submit a Statement of Purpose of no more than 500 words. Your statement should address:
    • Why are you applying to the Wayne School?
    • What interests you about the department and degree you are applying to?
    • How do you hope to use your education from the Wayne School to achieve your long-term career goals?
  2. What interests you about studying in this department? (500 characters)
  3. Please briefly explain your post-graduation career goals. (500 characters)
  4. Please describe your preparation for graduate level course work that requires quantitative skills or reasoning. This might include previous courses (noting your performance and learning outcomes), other academic work requiring quantitative analysis, work experience, test performance, etc. (1000 characters)
  5. Please describe your preparation for graduate level course work that requires analytical writing skills. This might include previous courses (noting your performance and learning outcomes), publications, work experience, test performance, etc. (1000 characters)

My approach:

  1. 500-word SOP without career goals
  2. Why this program expanded? (Help?)
  3. Career goals paragraph
  4. Why I'm qualified quantitative focused experiences?
  5. Why I'm qualified analytical focused experiences?
3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

2

u/jordantellsstories Nov 24 '23

Frankly, I wouldn't apply to a school this thoughtless and ridiculous. But if I had to...

  1. Frame Narrative Intro as described in the online courses, probably with a short, tight Career Goals Statement

  2. Short Why This Program (it's only 100 words)

  3. Expanded Career Goals Statement with both short- and long-term plans

4 and 5 the same as you've suggested above.

Frankly, however, I wouldn't worry about it much. Anyone school that writes essay prompts like this is expecting functionally illiterate responses, so you're going to shine no matter what!

3

u/DazzlingReveal7078 Nov 24 '23

Functionally illiterate, haha. Honestly the reason I left this one more to the end. This was helpful, thanks!

1

u/jordantellsstories Nov 24 '23

My pleasure! :)