Must It Be Perfect? An Analysis of Statements of Purpose Submitted to UNC SILS, 2003-2007

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the topics and rhetorical approaches used in statements of purpose (SPs) submitted to the UNC School of Library and Information Science (SILS) over the last four years. This study was motivated by the lack of useful guidelines available to help applicants write competitive SPs, as well as a dearth of research on the subject of personal statements within library and information science (LIS) as a field. Using a combined method of content analysis and close reading, this study analyzed a corpus of SPs and UNC SILS faculty responses to questionnaires. The findings of this study describe general and specific qualities possessed by successful SPs submitted to SILS' Master's program