How To Write A Statement Of Purpose (SOP)

Statement of purpose is a potential determining document of your acceptance into the program you are applying for. For a university, choosing the right candidate is not only about the person with tons of certificates and grades of A+. Undoubtedly, your certificates say a lot about your performance in school, academically and in extracurriculars, but the selection committee wants to be sure that the candidate they choose for their course is worth it. In this scrutiny process, Statement of Purpose plays a great role. That is why, if the university asks for a statement of purpose (SOP) as part of your application, you can not afford to lose that opportunity. This single essay has all the power to set you apart from all others, as a person and candidate. The universities realise that the candidate is, after all, a lot more than the grades and work experience. You wouldn’t deny, admissions committees get thousands of applications to look through and it takes extra effort to stand out. So, a generic essay isn’t going to cut it, and neither would be an indelibly blueprinted essay. Your SOP is a living opportunity in hand for you to highlight why you’re the right choice for the university, among hundreds of other candidates. But, wait, What is SOP? For writing a thundering SOP, you need to know exactly what it is. Let us clear that up for you.

What is SOP?

A Statement of Purpose, also known as a statement of intent, is a document that generally demonstrates ]your interests, hobbies, motivations, goals and attributes that make you the better candidate for the program you are applying for. While some universities give you a specific prompt to write about, others ask for a general write-up about why you’re applying for this program and university, and why you’re the right candidate. The selection committee is always going through hay of grades and extracurriculars. At that time what you can say about yourself, your interests, motivations, etc actually paints a more accurate image of you. To get the most appropriate SOP, here we are to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do while writing it.

Do’s and Don'ts of Writing SOP

There’s no fixed recipe for writing a statement of purpose. The document whose very aim is to set yourself apart, how can it have a fixed method of writing? This gives you the room to express yourself in your own unique way and beat the selection committee’s competitiveness by representing the real you. You just need to know some rules of thumb and best practices on how to write a good statement of purpose, and you are good to go. There are a few points that you should keep in mind while writing the SOP, that stands out. There are also a few mistakes that most of the students writing SOP commit. We want to make sure, you know beforehand, what you should do and avoid while writing the SOP. So, let’s dive into it.

Do’s of writing an SOP

1. Brainstorm your ideas

You must take care that you don’t just start with anything that comes to your mind in the first place. Brainstorm your ideas, jot them down and give them a nice thought. Ask your family and friends for a few more. If the university has given you a specific prompt, build your ideas around them. Then, filter through your ideas and go with the ones that best help you demonstrate your personality, skills, potential, and motivation.

2.Good research makes good SOP

The statement of purpose does not only demonstrate what you’ve done, are doing, and are planning to do in future, but also why this program is the right place for you. For this, you need to research thoroughly the program and the university you are applying for. In SOP, you got to tell them about what about this program or school makes it the perfect match for you. You also need to tell the university what it is about you that makes you the right candidate for the school or program. This would give the admission commission an insight into how it will be having you at their campus.

3.Stay relevant

SOP has a definite word limit and with a limited number of words at your disposal, it wouldn’t be possible and adequate for you to write a full autobiography. This makes staying relevant an important “do” that you should do. Narrow down your prime ideas to the ones that describe you the best and develop these in your essay. It is always advised to describe only those achievements of yours that would be highly relevant to the program you are applying to. Insinuating unrelated topics will disrupt the flow of your SOP.

4. Mind the tone and language

SOP is a highly official and professional document. You wouldn’t want to lose your chances of going to the school of your dreams by using slang in your SOP. So, it is advised not to use informal overly familiar language, colloquialisms, slang, etc. Keep your tone confident and positive, and your language highly respectful and polite. Don’t be excited and casual in your SOP. You can save that for your new friends in your new school!

5. Review and rewrite

Your SOP has a lot to do with whether you would be accepted into the program or not. So, it needs to be the strongest possible representation of you. You wouldn’t afford to rely on your first draft. Review it. Ask for feedback from teachers and lecturers. Since they’re superior in experience and are likely to have read similar SOPs, they can tell you what you’re doing right and where you can improve. Rewrite, if you need to. Review and Rewrite again, again, and again until you feel it’s the best you could come up with to demonstrate you in the best possible way.

6. Make sure it’s error-free

Getting an SOP with grammatical errors and typos will be the harshest thing for the admission committee. They wouldn’t want a candidate who can’t be serious with their most important document in applying for the program. Therefore, check your SOP thoroughly for grammar, typos, word choice, etc. You’re definitely going to be doing a lot of writing in university, and they expect the candidate to be good with that. Your SOP reflects your communication ability and writing skills more accurately than your English test scores.

Don’ts of writing an SOP

1. Don’t list all your grades and achievements

SOP is meant to add value to your application. While your achievements and grades are already listed in your résumé and transcripts, re-listing all of them won’t add any value to it. So, it is always best to pick out only those achievements that are the most relevant to the profile you’re presenting and depict extra-ordinarily about your personality. Let those things come out that demonstrate you as a real person, rather than an academic and workaholic person.

2. Don’t narrate passively

While writing your SOP, always use an active voice. Using passive voice can really hurt your writing, representing you as a person who always rides on the backseat of the life. You would definitely want to present yourself as someone with initiative and ambition. Writing as an active participant in your life and experiences makes sure you make things happen and things do not just happen to you.

3. Don’t get too wordy

Always remember, you have a very limited space to demonstrate yourself in the best possible manner. So, even though you might be an excellent writer, don’t get too descriptive. “Brevity is the soul of wit,” as aptly said by Shakespeare. All you need to do is to find the right balance between being precise and at the same time describing yourself the most. Also, don’t use too fancy words just to look like a nerd and make your essay complicated to read.

4. Don’t copy sample essays

Getting an idea of what the SOP looks like and what should and shouldn’t do, is completely fine, but nothing would be worse than copying the online available examples and moulding them to look original. This defeats the very purpose of writing an SOP that represents you, your communication skills, your writing style and your unique self. You should look through samples just to get a nice idea of the tone, structure, and narrative style of good SOPs.

Structure of an SOP

SOP usually isn’t very long. Most universities ask for a piece that’s around 500-1000 words, while in some cases, the word limit may be as short as 200 words. With this, as you may assume, the word limit is also a really challenging part. Therefore, make sure you don’t fluff around and stay focused, succinct, and precise. As already established, there’s no one fixed recipe on how to write a good statement of purpose, but a basic set of guidelines. To help you a little bit more, here we are to give you a general breakdown of the structure of a statement of purpose (SOP).

1. It’s About You, Beyond Your Application

The SOP, for real, is not to tell the panel about who you are, as your application has everything to describe them in such detail. Therefore, unless the application requirements ask you to, you don’t need to start by identifying yourself. Rather, introduce yourself beyond what your application says about you. Your background, interests, relevant courses, etc. Frame your introduction along the lines of how you match the requirements of the right candidate. For instance, if you are writing a statement of purpose for a master’s program in psychology, talk about your observations and interests in psychology studies rather than focusing on your time as a school athlete. If you are writing a statement of purpose for a PhD program, talk about the research you conducted and/or published during graduation or before or after that, rather than the irrelevant literature course you joined. In all, you must consider that introduction is super relevant. It shouldn’t be just another fluff to fill the space. Just filling the space will reduce your chances of filling the seat.

2. Why Did You Choose This Program?

Out of millions of degrees in thousands of universities, why this program? This is where you got to tell the events that led you to choose a particular program. Dive in with what pushed your interest in this field. Here, you got to Show, and not just tell. You have already told the selection committee about your zillions of qualities and skills over your résumé. Now, here you have to show how passionate you are about the program you are applying for. Let’s continue with the psychology example. What observations shaped your desire to opt for psychology? How did your background or of people around you, lead you to study psychology and how you want to help people? You want the selection committee to look through your SOP as a person with the ability to reflect critically, insightfully, and creatively. Again, remember to stay relevant to the program you’re applying for. You might have lots of trophies and awards to your name, but does winning the drama competition qualify you to become a psychologist? No, right? Discuss instead a time you helped someone get out of a hard time. Think about the experiences that motivated you to study what you are studying and why this program is exactly what you are looking for.

3. Why Should The Program Choose You?

Now that you have told in your SOP why you need the program, the next thing to write is why the program needs you as a candidate. Here, you have to ponder upon what you bring to the table that the thousands of other candidates don’t. Research thoroughly what the program seeks in the candidate and build your SOP around that. Display the attributes that best describe the experiences, qualities and intellect that make you stand out among all other candidates. Show the selection committee how driven and resourceful you are for the program. And don’t hold back on talking about failures too. Demonstrate where you failed and how you learned from them and how you didn’t let mistakes hold you back. Acceptance from the university is a two-way thing. More than what they have to offer you, they are more interested in what you have to offer them. Therefore, you need to make clear what you have to offer to the school.

4. What Are Your Goals for the Future?

You’ve talked about the past and the present. Now, it’s time to tell the panel about your vision. You need to tell them about what your various short-term and long-term goals are and how this program will help you achieve your long-term goals. Selection committees are induced more in favour of candidates who are more clear about what their future goals are. They need a candidate with a vision of how they see themselves after the program. The schools are inclined towards the candidates whose careers they can add value to. So, display a clear and realistic vision of the future and demonstrate the plan on how to get there. This would let the committee know about your strategic planning of your career and life as a whole. Demonstrate how this program would be an initiative or a boost to your future goals.

5. Write An Impactful Conclusion

Wrap up your document with the closing statement expressing how eager and curious you are to join the program and study at the school. Don’t be so desperate and drag the conclusion for so long and neither be so abrupt that they feel you are not that interested. The last words of the document set the last emotion of the committee of whether they should accept you or not. So, be confident, polite and eager in your language while ending your SOP. This sets the whole structure of an SOP covering all the points that should be included.

Footnote

Your Statement of purpose has a lot to do with whether you will be accepted into the university or not. While writing an impactful SOP might feel like a challenging task, it is worth any amount of effort that you can put in so that you stand out from all the other candidates applying for the program. You need to condense your potential, ability and core personality on two pages in the most appropriate manner because this is indeed a piece of paper that can decide your life ahead. Brainstorm, plan, write, get feedback and rewrite till you get the best possible draft. In all, remember to stay relevant, cut out all the fluff and demonstrate your true self while writing the SOP.