6. Tips for writing the statement of purpose

1. How personal should a personal statement/statement of purpose be? I have often thought of “personal statement” and “statement of purpose” as being synonymous. However, I think “statement of purpose” is a more face valid name for this very important piece of your application materials. I’ll explain. To my mind, a “personal statement” implies that the writer is going to tell the reader something about the writer as a person. That might include things like the writer’s passions, hobbies, values, and important life experiences. While I do very much want to get to know my students as people, your passions, hobbies, values, and important life experiences will have little impact on how I review your application. What will impact how I review your application is the skills and research experiences you’ve acquired that make you prepared for a research-intensive degree.

But because we often refer to the “statement of purpose” document as a “personal statement,” sometimes applicants end up making this document too heavy on the personal elements (note, this is all my personal opinion and other reasonable people may feel differently). Sometimes applicants devote the majority of their statement of purpose to describing why they’re passionate about clinical psychology. Sometimes that includes talking about their own personal or family experiences with mental health problems. With my clinical hat on, I certainly find these personal details intriguing and am regularly impressed by how resilient, adaptive, and strong people can be. But with my PhD advisor hat on–which is the hat I have on when I’m reviewing applications–these personal details are less compelling because these details don’t communicate the applicant’s readiness for a research degree within a research-intensive environment.

I want to be clear that having one’s own and/or family experience with mental health problems is NOT something that I perceive negatively. (Though see below for a relevant historical/contextual caveat.) In fact, it’s totally normal for applicants to have had their lives touched by mental health problems in some way and for that to motivate them to pursue a clinical pyschology PhD–that’s literally why I’m in this field! In my opinion, talking about one’s own or loved one’s experiences with mental health problems within a statement of purpose can be effective if that information helps communicate how someone got to where they are now (e.g., in a few-ish sentences). However, if the lived experience details/observations are prioritized over information that communicates the applicant’s research-related experiences that prepare them for a research-intensive environment, I think those details (and/or the length of those details) could weaken the statement of purpose.

My advice is to keep in mind that almost everything you write in your statement of purpose needs to help the reader evaluate your readiness for research in that lab specifically. If that includes briefly describing some personal/lived experiences, great. If that doesn’t include personal/lived experiences, also great. Being an effective scholar/scientist is not dependent on lived experience, but it is dependent on research skills and experiences.

Caveat to point 1. Historically, some people in the field of clinical psychology believed that people who had lived experience with psychopathology should not be in the field becuase they could not be effective clinicians or researchers. There was also an attitude that if you had personal experience, you definitely COULD NOT talk about it. These attitudes are stigmatizing and not aligned with data. Lived experience is not only understandable and statistically normal, but it can also motivate major advances in the field (e.g., the development of DBT). If the topic of psychologists with lived experience is of interest, check out Sarah Victor’s groundbreaking work.

2. Showing vs. telling. I think the most effective statements of purpose show rather than tell. For instance, I noted in my “Who is a good fit” document (#3 in this series) that people who have relevant experience are a good fit for me. In your statement of purpose, just saying “I did a senior thesis,” “I’ve published X first-authored papers,” or “I know how to follow a protocol” won’t help me understand where you’re coming from, what skills you have, how you think, or what you know. Instead, show me that you did that stuff. Walk me through what you did, why you did it, what you learned, how you stumbled and recovered, etc.

3. Instead of saying how much you like X element of a PI’s research program, tell PIs your specific research questions that are in line with the element of the PI’s research program that you like. Clinical psychology PIs get dozens, if not hundreds, of applications. It’s a good rule of thumb to assume that anyone applying to work with a PI likes that PI’s research. Therefore, if you include sentences in your statement of purpose that you are drawn to/inspired by/passionate about X element of the PI’s research program, you should assume that there are at least 10 other applicants writing that exact same sentence in their statement of purpose. So, not only does this not help you stand out, it also does not highlight your scientific thinking. And your scientific thinking is literally one of the most important things I’m evaluating when reviewing apps.

I know that throwing your own research ideas out there is vulnerable and can be scary. But diamonds aren’t made without pressure (or whatever that phrase is). If you are to be competitive for my lab, you must communicate what you’re interested in and why. And you must be specific. For example, saying you’re interested in “eating disorders among sexual and gender minority people” is not specific enough. Something that is specific enough would be something like “I’m interested in understanding how XYZ construct relates to eating disorder behaviors among sexual and gender minority people. This is important to study because [insert specific reasons that are of interest to you/are important to the field].”

If you don’t have specific research questions, that might be an indicator that you need more time to identify your research interests.

4. Personalizing your statement of purpose. Effectively personalizing your statement of purpose to a professor is hard. Here are some thoughts on sentiments that are less vs. more effective.

4a. Less effective:

• “I’m applying to X professor because our research interests align.”
• “I’m applying to X lab because I’m passionate about Y topic.”
• Any text that you’ve essentially copied/pasted from a lab’s website.

The examples above are less effective because they’re essentially pre-requisites for someone applying to a given lab. Anyone who is applying to work with me is likely interested in and/or passionate about the topics I study. Therefore, answers like those above won’t distinguish you from other applicants applying to the lab.

These examples also don’t show PIs how you (specifically) think. They do not convey that you’ve thought critically and systematically about a given topic; thinking crticially and systematically are necessary to do good science (IMHO). Personally, I love chatting with, learning from, and working with people who think about things in unique ways, who think critically, who think systematically, and who see things from angles I haven’t considered. So please show me evidence of your critical and systematic thought in your statement of purpose!

4b. More effective: Ask yourself some or all of the following questions. Your answers are things you may want to use to communicate a clear and distinguishing explanation for why you’re applying to a specific lab.

• What types of specific questions or topics might you want to ask or study in this lab specifically? Why are these questions interesting? How are they innovative? What excites you about them?
• What types of skills might you want to learn in this lab specifically? Why do you want to learn them? How might these skills prepare you for your next steps post-PhD?
• Is there training in a particular type of intervention that you’d get? If so, why do you care about that and why is it interesting to you specifically? (although I’m not currently doing intervention work [though plan to in the future], this Q might be good to ask yourself for labs that are doing intervention work)
• How does this lab align with and/or expand on what you’ve done before? How might your previous experiences bring a new perspective to the lab and expand the lab’s research?

4c. Be genuine in describing research interests, even if they’re not a 100% fit. Don’t personalize so much that your specific research interests seem like they’re coming out of nowhere or like they could be disingenuous. For instance, if your statement of purpose was telling your journey of discovering your passion for conducting research with Black and Latine people, but then you state that you’re interested in studying suicide in LGBTQ+ people, I’m going to wonder if you’re REALLY interested in suicide in LGBTQ+ people or if you’re just saying what you think I want to hear. I totally get that it’s super competitive out there and that applicants obviously want to get accepted, so it is understandable that you’d write what you think I’m looking for. But (part of) what I’m actually looking for is someone who can think independently (in addition to being interested in the topics I study). Take a risk on yourself and your ideas. If you have genuine passions, relevant experiences, and informed research questions, throw them out there, even if they might not be a 100% match to what I’m studying. Fit is so tricky that way. Fit has to be strong and genuine but it doesn’t have to be 100%. No all-or-nothing thinking here. :)