The overall goal of a statement of purpose is for admissions to get a sense of whether or not I am willing and able to complete the Ph. D. program. Am I passionate about the topic? Do I have potential for consistent high research output?
Outline
Research
How/why do I love research? Describe my previous research experience and motivations.
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Arabic speakers acquisition of /p/
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plagiarism and ESL students
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academic honesty policy and linguistic minority students
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linguistic minority student success rates
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language rights research; india and macedonia
What did I learn from it? How did it make me want to learn even more? Describe motivations for future research projects.
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exploring the barriers of linguistic minority students in public education as a language rights issue Talk about gaps in research I want to explore What other faculty in this program share my interests?
Passion
What topic am I passionate about? not too vague, not too specific I am interested in exploring how biases towards linguistic identities affects student success in higher education. Why am I passionate about this topic? How do I express that passion? How does my background in Linguistics/TESOL make me a compelling PhD candidate?
Impact
What do I want my impact to be?
Specific fit
How is this specific program a good fit for me? Show that I’ve done my research
Timeline
- Statement of Purpose
- Reach out to faculty of interest in the program
- What are they working on now?
- What other faculty would they recommend I talk to?
- What other programs should I consider?
- Ask myself first: what would I even want to do? What roles do I see myself in after graduation? Student affairs? Diversity Officer? Professor?
- Reach out to former professors for letters of recommendation
- Read up on best ways to do this beforehand; it has been awhile.
- Beckman, Slabakova
- Betsy, Colleen, Dawn