How to write your Statement of Purpose

nick18_in

MP Guru
Statement of Purpose (SOP) is the most important part of application. Accurate information about SOP importance, information that a SOP should contain, and how to write a SOP and perfecting it, is incredibly helpful to take the intimidation out of the SOP-writing process.

Statement of Purpose Importance

To reiterate, the Statement of Purpose (SOP) is the most important thing in your application. It's hard for students to understand the importance of this essay but it is more important than the transcript.

SOP is in fact an essay that you as an applicant write to the admission committee (AC) to explain "why" based on your background and research interests you would like to join their school/department. You cannot say that you want to go to graduate school because your friend did the same, or it looks trendy or fashionable. You need to provide a logical argument.

Statement of Purpose (SOP) is a statement about you, your academic interests and your plans for the future. It is the only part of your application packet over which you have full control. It is a chance to make you exceptional among hundreds of qualified applicants. A high-quality SOP will certainly improve your chances of gaining admission, and may compensate for weaker portions of your application.

Remember that you are writing for an audience who cares about one thing and one thing only: they want to recruit graduate students with a great deal of intellectual promise. Your statement must stand out among countless others.


Each of the items in the application packet adds an extra dimension to your personality, but the SOP is what actually gets you an admission.

Information that a SOP may contain

The SOP is not the main deciding factor. Academic record, grades, test scores, relevant work or academic experience, being from a reputed school or college, and recommendation letters, all can improve your chance. However, only the SOP can uncover your uniqueness.

Your SOP should demonstrate your creativity, curiosity, enthusiasm for learning, teamwork ability, and other good attributes. You should "show" these factors in your SOP not "talk about" them. It means you should not say, “I am a creative student.” You can show it by saying:


I have done the X project in my undergraduate. During this project I suggested "Z" to my supervisor which yielded outstanding results. Afterward, my supervisor encouraged me to develop my idea and published it in a paper titled "Y".

These sample sentences "show" that:
1) You are creative
2) You have a paper
3) Your supervisor admires you


You can see that these sentences demonstrate the admission committee three most important factors.

Your SOP and application should reflect anything you mention in your essay. Do not try to tell the admissions committee what you think they want to hear. Be honest, look inside yourself and do your best. Of course we want to have an effect on the admissions officers. The important thing is to do so without appearing dishonest.

Admission committee members want to be convinced that you have thought long and hard about who you are, your objectives, and your future career. It is not necessary to have all the answers. After all, several admirable people had no idea where they were going even at the age of 40 or 50. It is necessary to show that you have thought about this. And that these life experiences have taught you something.


Turn to the section on "Guidelines for writing SOP" and find out how these attributes translate into concrete steps.
 
First get to know what id Statement of purpose

A Statement of Purpose is a sentence that you write, which states, in some detail, what you want to learn about in your research project. The statement guides you as you work so that you will read and take notes only on what's needed for your project.

:nerd:
 
The Statement of purpose should include your interests and motivations. You need to sum up your undergraduate and past graduate career and experience too. Highlight everything from a optimistic viewpoint and try to write in an active, not a passive voice.
 
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