Revised SOP mark II
I totally scrapped my original SOP and worked on making it relate more to my experiences. I hope this one is a little better but it is way too long. 773 words whereas one program requires a maximum of 500 words :/ It also leaves out my high school and middle school teaching and proctoring experience, I'm not sure if this is good or bad. Anyway, thank you in advance I hope it's a little better this time :/ I'm not sure if the first paragraph should just be scrapped entirely...
When I was seventeen I realized a career in Politics was a very real and exciting prospect. In my Junior Year of High School I attended the Model United Nations for Oxfordshire and the surrounding area. I was enthralled and exhilarated by the debate and the possibility that these kinds of discussions really happen for people who work in Politics.
Members of my family migrated to the USA after World War II. Family that have visited them and have come back painted a picture of a land of opportunity where people could be happy and prosperous, building their own houses and owning acres of land. I grew up in a very pro-American household and became fascinated by all aspects of American culture. Television programs presented America as an exotic place with limitless wealth and opportunities. It was natural that my love of all things Americana would translate to American Politics eventually. Aged seven I was very interested in the British general election while my classmates jumped rope, played spy games and braided each other’s hair.
When it came to choosing which subjects I would continue to A (advanced) level I immediately chose to consolidate two of my greatest loves: Politics and Geography. I was interested and fascinated by the exotic and alien Electoral College which seemed totally unfamiliar and a million miles from Britain’s fusion of powers. In Geography class I became interested in Mexican migration into the southwestern United States and also patterns of migration within the USA. I began to wonder how such migrations would affect the Presidential elections and the proportion of votes within the Electoral College.
After graduating from High School I found it difficult to find a course purely in American Politics in the UK. My dream education simply didn’t exist and moving to the USA was out of the question for financial reasons. I started hearing about earning your degree online and it seemed like the perfect solution. I could work towards my degree and have some time to earn money before finally making my journey ‘across the pond’ for graduate school.
Though my undergraduate education has been sometimes frustrating and challenging beyond belief trying to juggle full time work and studying I have had some very valuable experiences, met some interesting people and expanded my intellectual horizons in both Politics and other social sciences. I took ‘Introduction to Geography’ and ‘Introduction to Human Geography’ which taught me a little more about Mexican migration but it was in ‘Comparative Political Systems’ where I was able to explore the ‘push’ factors of Mexican migration to the USA in the context of Mexican Politics. My final class in senior year will be a Senior Seminar in Political Science where I hope to explore these issues further in a structured research paper.
I believe that ___________ is the perfect school for me. The Federal Elections project has a program in Campaign Management where I would be able to develop my thesis and ideas on my proposed dissertation. I am interested in taking the American Politics course on Elections and Campaigns and expanding my knowledge of Mexican Politics by taking North American Politics and Mexico in the age of NAFTA. I also feel my research could be enhanced by the Center for North American Studies model North American Parliament and researching the effect on the state of New Mexico in depth via the annual summer New Mexico research project.
When I was seventeen I realized a career in Politics was a very real and exciting prospect. In my Junior Year of High School I attended the Model United Nations for Oxfordshire and the surrounding area. I was enthralled and exhilarated by the debate and the possibility that these kinds of discussions really happen for people who work in Politics.
Members of my family migrated to the USA after World War II. Family that have visited them and have come back painted a picture of a land of opportunity where people could be happy and prosperous, building their own houses and owning acres of land. I grew up in a very pro-American household and became fascinated by all aspects of American culture. Television programs presented America as an exotic place with limitless wealth and opportunities. It was natural that my love of all things Americana would translate to American Politics eventually. Aged seven I was very interested in the British general election while my classmates jumped rope, played spy games and braided each other’s hair.
When it came to choosing which subjects I would continue to A (advanced) level I immediately chose to consolidate two of my greatest loves: Politics and Geography. I was interested and fascinated by the exotic and alien Electoral College which seemed totally unfamiliar and a million miles from Britain’s fusion of powers. In Geography class I became interested in Mexican migration into the southwestern United States and also patterns of migration within the USA. I began to wonder how such migrations would affect the Presidential elections and the proportion of votes within the Electoral College.
After graduating from High School I found it difficult to find a course purely in American Politics in the UK. My dream education simply didn’t exist and moving to the USA was out of the question for financial reasons. I started hearing about earning your degree online and it seemed like the perfect solution. I could work towards my degree and have some time to earn money before finally making my journey ‘across the pond’ for graduate school.
Though my undergraduate education has been sometimes frustrating and challenging beyond belief trying to juggle full time work and studying I have had some very valuable experiences, met some interesting people and expanded my intellectual horizons in both Politics and other social sciences. I took ‘Introduction to Geography’ and ‘Introduction to Human Geography’ which taught me a little more about Mexican migration but it was in ‘Comparative Political Systems’ where I was able to explore the ‘push’ factors of Mexican migration to the USA in the context of Mexican Politics. My final class in senior year will be a Senior Seminar in Political Science where I hope to explore these issues further in a structured research paper.
I believe that ___________ is the perfect school for me. The Federal Elections project has a program in Campaign Management where I would be able to develop my thesis and ideas on my proposed dissertation. I am interested in taking the American Politics course on Elections and Campaigns and expanding my knowledge of Mexican Politics by taking North American Politics and Mexico in the age of NAFTA. I also feel my research could be enhanced by the Center for North American Studies model North American Parliament and researching the effect on the state of New Mexico in depth via the annual summer New Mexico research project.