<p>I just read the draft of D’s personal statement, and she very clearly states her career intentions and articulates how the program supports those intentions. </p>
<p>Thinking about it though, and not knowing who exactly decides who gets accepted, let alone the financial side, are the people involved going to be turned off by a PhD candidate who makes it clear in the personal statement that the career direction is information exploitation, military intelligence and national defense? Even worse, are they going to think something like “if this person’s goal is that they essentially just want to be some sort of international police officer or a spy, the bachelors degree is good enough, she doesn’t really require any more education, no need to let her into the program”?</p>
<p>I’m just wondering if the people make the decision to accept or reject will be turned off, compared to, say, a personal statement that focuses on subject matter that is less incendiary at the moment.</p>
<p>It is not whether the statement is incendiary or not. It’s whether the career goals are academic or not. If she applies to a Ph.D. program, there is an inbuilt bias by members of the admissions committee (whose members are also members of the department the applicant is hoping to join) toward applicants who are destined for academic careerss. A student who applies to a Ph.D. program but wants only to reach the MA level will be disadvantaged. So would an applicant whose career goals are joining an NGO, a bank, a ministry or the military.<br>
An applicant with a practical bent would be better served applying to MA program in specific fields rather than to a Ph.D. program whose main aim is to turn out college profs.</p>
<p>Marite, I hear you; her intention was to apply for Master’s only, mainly because she’s not really sure - or at least she wasn’t sure - about being in school that long - in her opinion PhD will consume too many years of time. But then, the professors who are writing her recs or otherwise advising her are tell her to go for the PhD.</p>
<p>If her goals are undecided (regarding MA vs. Ph.D.) she should avoid discussing her career goals. Many students do think about taking one step at a time, and change their minds (as I did). What her statement needs to focus on anyway is her area of academic interest rather than her career plans. It would be different if she applied for a terminal MA (such as in International Relations, area studies, and similar programs). In such programs, admissions committees are used to dealing with applicants with very diverse background and diverse career goals. Some may come straight from undergraduate programs, others from various work experiences. Some may want to pursue academic careers other want to join a profession right away.</p>