I have to reference the name of the school and the department and degree type multiple times in my SOP. Is it too informal to write UCLA rather than the full title?
I started the document out using the full title of Luskin School Master of Social Welfare program at the University of California, Los Angeles. After this I have used shorter versions like “the MSW program at UCLA” or “The Luskin School of Social Welfare”
Technically the school is the Luskin School of Public Affairs, and it hosts the Master of Social Welfare program. If I write out these long titles over and over I’m eating up half my SOP space.
Currently I’m totally out of room and am trying to trim back words to eliminate 2 sentences that are over the 3 page double space limit.
Also, when referencing people like my former professor or supervisor, should I include their titles of MSW, LCSW etc?
Thank you !!!
It’s totally fine to use shortened versions in your statement of purpose, even the first time you write it. “After a two-year stint in the Peace Corps, I entered the MSW program at UCLA” or “…at UCLA’s School of Public Affairs” are both equally acceptable.
And no, you don’t need to include people’s letters or titles.
However, I wouldn’t call it the School of Social Welfare if it is actually the School of Public Affairs.
For a school such as UCLA, which is better known with its abbreviated name than its full name, it should be okay but this can not be generalized to every school. For example I wouldn’t write UCB for Berkeley! Or even USC for University of Southern California where it could be confused with another school with similar abbreviated name in another state!
@juillet Thank you very much for providing examples and helping me with this issue!
@uclaparent9 That’s a great point, it is the only UCLA and everyone calls it UCLA, come to think of it I’ve never heard it referred to by it’s full name by anyone. Thanks for your reassurance and insight.
I definitely would write those, or might even use “Cal” if you have space issues. And since the SOP should be customized for each school, there will be zero confusion.
^I personally wouldn’t use Cal. That’s a bit too colloquial, and honestly used more in the social/athletic sense: I didn’t know Berkeley was called Cal until just a few years ago, when I met someone with the hat. I also personally wouldn’t use “Berkeley” first because that’s a town as well. Just for clarity I’d probably lead off by saying “at UC-Berkeley” and then follow up by just using “Berkeley” or “UCB”.
Well, the OP is talking about schools that he went to in the past, not the department/program he’s applying to. If you were applying to University of Southern California and referring to it in the SOP, then yeah, you could just say USC.