Statement Of Purpose

ViJiT

Vijith Pujari
Statement Of Purpose (SOP)

How to write a winning Statement Of Purpose.

The Statement of Purpose is your first personal contact with the Admissions committee. Use it to distinguish yourself. The SOP should speak about you, your aspirations and professional goals and relate these to the graduate program that you intend to pursue. It should basically answer the question..."Why should the graduate school admit you... what makes you special?

Remember, the SOP is the tool that faculty use to gauge if you have what it takes to succeed in grad school and later in the academic discipline as a professional.

What they are looking for, is an undying commitment to pursuing the desired field, backed with adequate preparation from your side, towards the same. It would help to keep these points in mind while writing your SOP.

Begin with an eye-catching first paragraph.

Remember, the Admissions committee goes through at least 40-50 SOPs at a time. You've gotta catch their attention in the very first few lines. SOP should be to the point. Why do you want to continue studying? How is graduate studies going to affect your career? What have you done in the past? What do you expect? What are you looking for concerning an international experience? Why have you chosen this particular University? After MS, what and why Be objective, yet self-revelatory In a very straight-forward manner, speak about your experiences and academic background and how these have influenced your decision to pursue graduate studies.

SOP must demonstrate your knowledge of the field, but shouldn't lecture or bore the highly trained professionals who will read it. They already know what skills are important to the field. They want to know your purpose in graduate study and specific academic interests. You must know the field well enough to state a preference, without being simplistic or pedantic. High-light your achievements...this is no place for humility. List any special preparation or achievements that you have that may make you "more qualified" than others.

Remember the whole purpose is to convince or persuade the admissions committee and to make your application stand out from the crowd. Use it as a tool to explain any specific problems. SOP should honestly address any problems or special conditions e.g. grades on one semester may have been poor, b'coz the applicant had to work on a part-time job or was affected by a family emergency. Negatives should be balanced by positives e.g. "even though I had to take up a part-time job to support myself, I developed important time management skills that enabled me to not only raise my grades the following semester but to pursue my research interests".

Don't restate information already provided in the application. Don't limit the SOP to a recitation of achievements...its not a C.V. Don't quote from Univ catalogs. SOP should be limited in length, no more than two pages (or depends on Univ's instructions). If the Univ asks for a response to specific questions, answer accordingly. Never generalize. Don't use terms like 'invaluable', 'significant', 'challenging' etc without further explanation drawn from personal experience. Also avoid over-used phrases such as "I can contribute", "meant a lot to me" or "is appealing to me". Be direct. Be honest or at least sound honest. Try and strike a personal chord.

Remember, the Admissions committee is interested in knowing more about the person, that is YOU. They are tired of reading numbers and techno -gabble. Try and reveal bits (the better bits) of your personality through the SOP. They like to know that they are making decisions that influence the lives of people. Be University specific.

Don't make one common SOP and send copies of it to different Univs. Personalize it to the University you are applying to. Say why you selected the particular school and how you expect the grad school experience to change or enhance your career Sign the essay. Good Presentation. Lastly, run a spell and grammar check on it.
 

OldProjectsData

New member
Statement of Purpose ( SOP )

This document contains info on how to write Statement of Purpose and a few examples for the same.

Statement of Purpose is very essential and plays a crucial role in admissions in a foreign university.

Must download for people planning an mba abroad .
 

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ViJiT

Vijith Pujari
Graduate and professional schools often require some sort of written statement as a part of the application. The terminology differs, but may include "statement of purpose," "personal statement," "letter of intent," "personal narrative," etc. Some statements require rather specific information--for example, the applicant's intended area of study within a graduate field. Others suggest subjects which should be addressed specifically. Still others are quite unstructured, leaving the applicant free to address a wide range of matters. Some applications call for one statement, while others require responses to a series of six or more questions, ranging from 250 to 750 words each. The importance of the statement varies from school to school and from field to field.

Determine your purpose in writing the statement
Usually the purpose is to persuade the admissions committee that you are an applicant who should be chosen. You may wish to show that you have the ability and motivation to succeed in your field, or you may wish to show the committee that, on the basis of your experience, you are the kind of candidate who will do well in the field. Whatever its purpose, the content must be presented in a manner that will give coherence to the whole statement.

>>> Pay attention to the purpose throughout the statement so that extraneous material is left out.
>>> Pay attention to the audience (committee) throughout the statement. Remember that your audience is made up of professionals in their field, and you are not going to tell them how they should act or what they should be. You are the amateur.



Determine the content of your statement
Be sure to answer any questions fully. Analyze the questions or guidance statements for the essay completely and answer all parts. Usually graduate and professional schools are interested in the following matters, although the form of the question (s) and the responses may vary:

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Your purpose in graduate study. This means you must have thought this through before you try to answer the question.
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The area of study in which you wish to specialize. This requires that you know the field well enough to make a decision and are able to state your preferences using the language of the field.
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Your intended future use of your graduate study. This will include your career goals and plans for the future.
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Your special preparation and fitness for study in the field. This is the opportunity to join and correlate your academic background with your extracurricular experience to show how they unite to make you a special candidate.
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Any problems or inconsistencies in your records or scores, such as a bad semester. Be sure to explain in a positive manner and justify the explanation. Since this is a rebuttal argument, it should be followed by a positive statement of your abilities. In some instances, it may be more appropriate to provide this information outside of the personal statement.
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Any special conditions that are not revealed elsewhere in the application, such as a significant (35 hour per week) workload outside of school. This, too, should be followed with a positive statement about yourself and your future.
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You may be asked, "Why do you wish to attend this school?" This requires that you have done your research about the school, and know what its special appeal is to you.
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Above all, this statement should contain information about you as a person. They know nothing about you unless you tell them. You are the subject of the statement.




Determine your approach and style of the statement
There is no such thing as "the perfect way to write a statement." There is only the one that is best for and fitting for you.

There are some things the statement should not be:

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Avoid the "what I did with my life" approach.
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Avoid the "I've always wanted to be a " approach.
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Avoid a catalog of achievements. This is only a list of what you have done, and tells nothing about you as a person. Normally, the statement is far more than a resume.
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Avoid lecturing the reader. For example, you should not write a statement such as "Communication skills are important in this field." Any graduate admissions committee member knows that and is not trying to learn about the field from the applicant. Some statements do ask applicants about their understanding of the field.

These are some things the statement should do:

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It should be objective, yet self-revelatory. Write directly and in a straightforward manner that tells about your experience and what it means to you. Do not use "academies." This is not a research paper for a professor.
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It should form conclusions that explain the value and meaning of your experience, such as what you learned about yourself and your field, your future goals, and your career plans. Draw your conclusions from the evidence your life provides.
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It should be specific. Document your conclusions with specific instances, or draw your conclusions as the result of individual experience. See below a list of general words and phrases to avoid using without explanation.
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It should be an example of careful persuasive writing. Career Center Counselors can help you determine if this is so by reviewing your draft statement.
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It should get to the point early on and catch the attention of the reader.
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It often should be limited in length, no more than two pages or less. In some instances it may be longer, depending on the school's instructions.
 

ViJiT

Vijith Pujari
Sample SOP

Economics

The Economics Student

In this essay I am going to concentrate mostly on the incentives that stimulate me to pursue further studying, and reflect the motives for my choice of Princeton University as well as state my future career objectives.

I have chosen to work in the area of international microeconomics because it has such a demand for new ideas. At the same time it requires a good mathematical background and has obvious implications in real life.

My education suits this field very well, I have Master of Science with Honors in the field of applied mathematics and physics and a Master of Arts in economics with a specialization in international economics. I already have extensive research experience both in applied sciences and economics, know basic economic models and have strong background both in abstract modeling and data manipulation. All this probably makes me an economist, but my objective is to become a good one.

I have been taught by very good lecturers. After course I took with Professor Branson I decided that there is nothing more interesting than international economics. Professor A made issues of monetary economics and government policy fascinating. Lectures delivered by Professor B attracted me to labor market problems. I enjoyed listening to them and want to teach my mind to operate in a similar manner -- attention is paid to every individual fact and each formal problem solved reflects a real economic situation.

While writing my master's thesis I had a chance to see that a simple look at a graph can be more useful than application of sophisticated economic techniques. One of the reasons I want to study further is to reach at least the same level of intuitiveness and panoramic view of the subject as my teachers have.

My Master of Arts degree was in the field of Health Economics, which I am very interested in. It was mostly empirical dissertation. My dissertation was titled ".." and I worked under the guidance of Professor C. The greatest part of my work was devoted to macroeconomic cross-country econometric (panel data) analysis. The task was complicated by the necessity to work with omitted variables and low quality data as well as the low reliability of data for developing countries and countries in transition.

We also made efforts to build a model that explains the impact of macroeconomic parameters on health deterioration and the probability of death. My master's thesis has been presented at the "Russian Economic And Political Institutions In Transition" conference and currently we are preparing it for publication.

At this time I am also doing empirical research devoted to inflation and monetary policy. I feel cautious specifying which area of economics interests me most for further study, but I do not think that this is a drawback. I find economics particularly attractive for the fact that it is broad, and has not yet been split into a set of narrow sub-branches -- economists all speak almost the same language. I also think that in the face of complexity we face in this discipline, it would ineffective to specialize too narrowly.

This year I realized as I had not before that I wish to continue my studies. Being a teaching assistant in Professor A's Macroeconomics and Advanced Macroeconomics classes, I understood a lot of effort must be applied for a good student to turn into a good teacher. I feel that a similar gap lies between a good student and a good researcher.

I am a hard-working and determined person, and I am ready for a new leap in my economics career. I will work hard in hope that the quantity of the effort I put in will result in high quality knowledge. The fact is that the best possible supervisors and a highly competitive atmosphere are necessary for this quality. The only reasonable decision for me was to aim for such a place. All this gives me the motivation to apply to Princeton University.
 

bhavin_3

Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
Well this is for all the candidates who are applying abroad for they masters program. You can post your SOP and we will help you redefine it for better prospects for the univ..

Do post the sop.
Objective of Study
Univ you opting for.

You can post the SOP here itself and we will try to make the best out of it.
 

bhavin_3

Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
Hello Friends.!!

This new sub-forum is specially for discussing difficulties and options for MBA abroad A little outside the green world of IIMS and ISB..

This thread is to discuss on statement of purpose. As acads are already done with for most people who apply there isn’t much change you can make there, but what you could change is the whole set of how you go about putting across your profile to a b-school, how well you can represent all your ideas your previous awards your life choices etc.

The basic idea behind an SOP is that the graduate school you applying wants to know more about you. It wants to hear your story how you have gone about your life as your acads can be evaluated through marksheets received but a person cannot be. And that’s why you have an essay where you can express your life in the best possible manner. There have been different names to SOP such as statement of Intent, Statement of Reasons for Graduate Study, etc. so don’t get confused with the name its pretty much the same.

The statement also serves other purposes. It is an example of your ability to express yourself clearly in writing. It helps the program faculty to determine whether or not your goals and interests fit with theirs. And it can be expanded to include additional information which can affect your admissibility. But the catch is do not write what you think the university wants to hear coz that’s one of the common mistakes done by students who are extra smart in writing or rather copying a similar SOP from an entrant or alumni of college. Believe me each SOP differs from the other and it is your story that the admission board is interested in rather than a replication of another.
So a million dollar question is what do you include in SOP?
The instructions which come with the application form should be your first guide as to what to include in your statement. The instructions should give you a good idea as to what information the program needs from you: your area of interest in the field (both what it is and why you are interested in studying it), your background preparation (education, training, work experience), and other relevant information.

(Special Note: SOP's have to be given a time of atleast 15 days so it can be gone through a million times for all mistakes before a final draft.).

Statement of Purpose
Your previous academic background and scores in the standardised tests ( GRE / SAT) show what you are capable of delivering. The admissions committee also wants to know

What are the motivations that are driving your life?

Why do you want to pursue the course you are applying for?

How relevant is the course to your long term goals?

Since you will not go through an interview, the admissions committee gets to know about you as a person through your SOP. SOP is very important. Spend time to get it right.
How can you get it right? - by being honest about yourself and projecting your true self in the SOP.

Think about yourself and do the following exercise:
  • Write down all your past accomplishments - academic, extra curricular, social contributions, sports - whatever you've done well in life. Also write down all the things that you feel or care for strongly.
  • What is it that you want to do in life? What is the career you want to choose for yourself in the future and why?
  • Write down the area that you want to study further in. How will taking up this course of study help you achieve your long term career goals that you described above?
  • Now, write down why should you have the life that you want? Why should you get all the things you listed above? What qualifies you to have all the success you desire?
  • Now, you've got the contents of your SOP in place.
The next step is to write it in the form of an essay.
Make sure your SOP is grammatically correct, is written in a good flow and does not exceed the prescribed word limit. The SOP should be enthusiastic, friendly and confident in tone. If writing is not your strength, don't hesitate to take the help of a friend or colleague who can write well.
 
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gaurav_kh3

New member
i need a biograpical sketch of mine for tiss...i'm pasting my cv.....kindly help me through.......i'm unable to frame professional sentences.


CURRICULUM VITAE

GAURAV KHATRI

Computer Skills
Programming Languages FoxPro, Visual Basic, C & C++
Platforms Windows 9x, Me, XP
Software’s MS Office, MS Visual Studio
Multimedia 3-DMax, Illustrator, Macromedia Flash, Auto CAD

Languages
English Fluent in both written & spoken forms

Academic / Research Interests

• The fields of Process Development and Control hold special interest to me and I am keen to pursue a career in these fields.
• I am very interested in working on Process Instrumentation.

I am interested in pursuing research in these areas as I think research in these fields is important owing to increasing complexities of modern laboratory control systems.

• Also I am interested in working in the field of Biochemistry.




Relevant Courses Taken
Biotechnology Biophysics and Instrumentation, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Microscopy.
Basic Sciences Basic Biosciences(Botany and Zoolgy), Fundamentals of Chemistry, Physics and Computers

Laboratory Exposure
• Botany Laboratory (Basic Botany with Plant diseases and study of various classes)
• Zoology Laboratory (Zoology with study of lifecycles and histology of organisms)
• Biophysics Laboratory (Biophysics- Electronics and Mechanics, Instrumentation of Biotechnology)
• Chemistry Laboratory (Qualitative and Quantitative study, Physical and Organic Chemistry)
• Biochemistry Laboratory (Analysis of Biochemical compounds and reaction study)
• Microbiology Laboratory (Study of Microbial world, Life cycles and Behaviour)
• Microscopy Laboratory (Instrumentation and handling )

Scholastic Achievements

 Among Top 2, with 90% scoring in Compulsory English in Sr. Sec. Exam (C.B.S.E) in District.
 Consistently performing from the school up to the undergraduate level.

Co-curricular Achievements
• District Level Chess Winner in Senior Section
• Part of the organizing team of VIBGYOR 06(The Institute’s University Level Cultural Festival)
• Software Designer for school’s Library Management and Database Management.
• Organized and Edited Skit in various cultural functions in Institute.
• Played Synthesizer in various cultural functions at school level.
• Represented the various School team in basketball & other sports activities
• Voracious reader most interested in reading books & novels.
Strengths
• Sincerity to work tirelessly on the chosen field
• Ability to work harmoniously in a team
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong network & good association with institute professors which will help me get solutions if I face any problems in research
• Excellent Computer skills (Designing, DBMS and Programming)
 

shahalap

New member
good info shared....keep it up...this will help all students who are planning to get their MBA done abroad.
 

kartik

Kartik Raichura
Staff member
IIM Calcutta(IIMC) PGPEX

Application Essays and Statement of Purpose

Statement of Purpose

Start by answering the following questions:
1. Why do you wish to pursue an MBA? The answer to this question would be closely related to achieving your career goals. So, write your long-term and short-term goals. To make your goals convincing, show how the goals originated, in which industry and position you wish to work in, and what would you like to achieve and contribute.
2. How does your past work experience qualify you to achieve the career goals you have set for yourself? By briefly describing your career progress till date show your suitability for the career you have planned for yourself.
3. If your career progress does not support your career goals, write about your special skills and the interests you have passionately pursued at work or through extracurricular involvements that can project your fit with the future you have imagined for yourself.
4. What would be your learning objectives during the MBA? Students normally go to the programme to upgrade their knowledge, skills and attitudes.
5. Why do you wish to get your MBA from IIMC? What characteristics of the programme attract you towards it? How would the programme help you meet your learning objectives?
 
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