Career goals in SOP

Graduate School
1

<p>I’m looking at graduate school SOP prompts. It’s a bit early, but I want to get some ideas of what I will be writing later this year.</p>

<p>One of the prompts I saw was something like “What are your academic and career goals?”
Can a career goal be in research?</p>

2

<p>Of course. That is what a Ph.D. program trains you for.</p>

3

<p>Yes, but think more specifically than that. Obviously you want to be a researcher, if you are applying to a PhD program, but give them an idea of what kind of research career you want to pursue - like being a professor at a research-intensive university, or doing research for government agencies or think tanks.</p>

4

<p>that’s a tricky question, considering most PhD’s I’ve talked to didn’t know what they wanted to do afterwards. I think they just want to know you’re goal oriented and motivated. I wouldn’t be too specific about it either.</p>