Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose is one of the best ways that you can demonstrate your intellectual development, ability to write and think clearly, and knowledge of your field. Graduate admissions committees want to know that you understand what you're getting into, that you have the commitment to survive a demanding academic program.and that 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.

What should you do to write a good 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?
• There's another thing you got to do, use the internet or the university prospectus to study about the university you are applying to and the course you want to study. Then, You MUST mentions in your SOP as to why you chose the university you are applying to.
• Write down about any employment experience relevant to your further study interest.
• What are the reasons for you to study that particular area of interest in particular Overseas Destination (I.e Australia, NZ, Canada, UK, Etc...)
• 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 SOP in the form of an essay.

Note: Please Read carefully the Tips and Warning area mentioned below, before you start to write your own Statement of Purpose. It will help you to write an impressive and effective Statement of Purpose.

Tips:

• Presentation is important. Use a legible font (such as Times New Roman) and respect term paper-style margin standards (1" - 1.25") and font sizes (11-12 pt). If you cite sources, be consistent with your style sheet (Chicago, APA, etc.).
• Make sure your SOP is grammatically correct, is written in a good flow and does not exceed the prescribed word limit (300 to 450 Words). 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.
• Remember that your first paragraph should be no longer than four or five sentences, but it should give a summary of the entire Statement of Purpose. Many graduate committees will read your first paragraph to decide if the rest of your application is worth reading as well.
• Keep it clear and concise, yet detailed and specific when it comes to faculty and areas of potential research.
• Don't tell the admissions committee how amazing you are. Avoid empty phrases like "I'm talented", "I'm very intelligent," "I'm a great writer/engineer/artist" or "I had the highest GPA in my department as an undergrad." Show them through your professional Statement of Purpose and application portfolio and let them decide if you are amazing enough to attend their institution.
• Should you attempt to explain how "amazing" you are, make sure that you justify it. Yet, you must remain humble. For example: "I believe that I have the confidence in myself to strive for the furthest goal."
• Use short story to highlight your strengths. After committee members have read a few dozen statements, they all start looking alike; some specific and interesting details can help a candidate to stick out. Of course, it helps if these stories are related to the broad point you're making in your statement.
• Focus on your previous and future research experiences. Many students make the mistake of summarizing their CVs. Committees that bother to read your application know already that you're a good student; they now want to see whether you'll make the transition to a more unstructured and self-directed form of learning in graduate school. They look for evidence of this by seeing how you describe your past research experiences and your future plans. The key is not particularly the topic you propose--the committee will expect this to change after you get some more experience. Instead, they will look to see whether you have a realistic and well-informed sense of what a graduate student would expect to do in a degree.

Warning:

• Don't mention your interest for one particular school. In a general application that is possible your Statement of Purpose being sent too many schools and vice a versa.
• Don't be overly specific about your research goals if you are actually somewhat flexible. If there are no faculty in a particular department working in your described area who are taking students in a given year, you might be rejected even though you are considered "above bar". At the same time, there's no point pretending to be interested in a broader range of topics than you are.
• Don't be too technical, i.e., using words or jargon-style expressions within your field that are unfamiliar to you or that you have picked up while skimming literature relevant to your studies; if you use a term blatantly incorrectly it may deter your acceptance.

Sample SOPs:

Useful Links for SOPs: