第六章：Statement of Purpose（ＳＯＰ）

Statement of Purpose (SOP)

申請美國研究所通常只要求學士畢業，因此在SOP地撰寫上必較不會要求具體的描述 Research interest. 通常SOP的字數大概是一到兩頁A4，14號字體。以一般網路上可以看到的SOP寫法，通常分成五段。

第一段 a short introduction and summary
簡潔地寫出你為什麼要申請這個項目，你的career goal， 為什麼選擇這個學校，以及你能對這個學校的研究做出什麼貢獻。大約五句話。

第二段 a short explanation of your motivation of studying XXX
簡潔地寫出為何你想要申請這個領域。大概三句話。

第三段 大學的訓練
EX：Ａ課 啟發了興趣， Ｂ課 修得很好 ，Ｃ課 研究所的課，與申請的研究領域相關
EX :  前沿領域演講 Seminar ， 或者是聽某領域大師演講， 或是修系外相關課程

第四段 研究經驗
跟哪個老師做什麼研究 ，研究的課題，學到什麼東西，對這個領域的貢獻。
這段要具體。

第五段 展望未來
未來在博士班想要研究的領域，以及有興趣合作的老師。你之前的研究對這個老師的實驗室可能的幫助。這段要具體，詳細。最好提到兩到三個 professors.並且針對他們的實驗方法下手。

第六段 Why here ?
為什麼選擇這個學校 ， 簡潔三句話。


在開始動筆之前...

確認該系對SOP 內容的要求。通常可在申請的 Ｑ＆Ａ 網頁找到。

Make sure you understand the conventions and expectations around statements of purpose in your field. In some fields, something fairly generic will suffice, and in others, it could be the DECISIVE component of your application. Talk to professors in the field you trust about whether your approach to the statement of purpose is an appropriate one.

This is also the 'fairest' part of your application. If you're passionate about the research you want to do, it will show up in your SOP unless you're a poor writer (in which case, you might want to reconsider the Ph.D. until you're a decent one; good writing/communication is essential for successful researchers). As I wrote in my own post down below, there are several proven techniques of getting a strong SOP. I'll detail the best ones here, which everyone can and should follow (but many don't). One approach you might take before you even start writing your SOP is to:

閱讀該教授的論文，確認的確是你有興趣的方向。

1. Select your research area and actively check out the profiles of relevant professors/post-docs/grad students (in that order) at the schools you are thinking of applying to. Check out their publications, and try to read (or at least skim) one representative publication before you start forming an opinion. The goals of this step are three-fold:
• (a) It will give you a good idea of how productive a research group is, and whether a professor is even accepting (or currently has) students. This is closely tied to the funding situation of that professor.
• (b) It will make you more informed about whether you really want to join that research group. What looks interesting at the high-level is not necessarily as exciting once you get into the nuts and bolts of the research.
• (c) If you discover a really good 'fit' (which is the best outcome of this exercise; trust me), you can use that in a big way in your application. In CS for example, students often post their code or demos. Download those and tinker with them. Apply them to new datasets. Have fun with what's available. I'm sure similar things can be done in other research areas

聯絡教授，問是否有在招學生，對教授的研究課題提問。

1. 
   

   2. After you have done (1), try to make contact with the faculty member of your choice. At the same time, also try to establish connections with the grad students. My adviser once showed me a list of potential Ph.D. candidates he was screening, and asked me if by chance I'd heard of any of them. As it turned out, I did know one, through early contact. Needless to say, she got the position. The rest of her application didn't even really matter at that point. Note that the reason you should do this step after (1) is to enable you to write an 'intelligent' note to the person you're contacting. It's a good idea to not mention that you're applying at all in your early emails. Instead, try to start a conversation around the actual research. Show that you're interested and that you know what you're talking about. Become a familiar name in that group.
   
   
2. ...and finally, make sure to attend lots of talks by visiting faculty in your undergrad university. You don't know where that will lead you. If someone's talk influences you to pursue an area of research, that's an excellent thing to reference in your SOP.

How does all this relate to the SOP? Well, essentially the SOP is your (diplomatic) chance to show your committee that you did this and more. You can drop faculty names you've successfully contacted, and even reference papers. You can personalize each application. Most SOPs don't cite even a single paper. Citing a paper though will move your application up another notch in the eyes of an academic committee.

Having reviewed certain applications, I would also like to mention one major flaw that shows up in the majority of the SOPs that get rejected. The SOP is NOT the document where you should ever get too 'personal'. Don't waste too many words talking about how you want to be the next Albert Einstein. I'm not saying it should all be dry, but make every word as objective (and verifiable) as you can. This is generally true, but especially so for the STEM programs out there. Academics are impressed by crisp, concise writing.

Compensating for a poor SOP

Compensating for a poor SOP is very difficult. A high GPA and perfect GRE scores will do little to help an applicant who has difficulties writing about research. In some fields, past research experience is expected, while in other fields the ability to write about research intelligently may suffice in convincing the admissions committee to admit you, even if you don't have experience doing research. Strong letters of reference can, to some extent, address a weak statement of purpose. However, there is generally a strong correlation between the strength of letters of reference and past research experience. If you have no official research experience, try and get letters of recommendation from professors where you completed a class research project that got a good grade. Even if you didn't do supervised research with the professor, the professor may be able to comment on your research skills and successes. Definitely contact the professor and remind them of your class project, and the grade you received. Summarize it, and attach the project to the professor so they can refer to it.