Write a winning Statement of Purpose

The Statement of Purpose or Personal Statement is probably one of the most important factors that will decide whether you get into a particular institute. It can reveal a lot about you: It tells the admission committee about your passion for the subject, your level of interest in the course they offer, your commitment to the subject, your background and interests. In short, it’s the best way to let the college know what kind of a person you are, and why you want to study there, the closest you can get to a personal interview. While most universities have their own requirements from a Personal Statement or a Statement of Purpose, there are some basic guidelines you can follow.

Why is your SOP important?

The university you have applied to has facts and figures about you: where you studied; your grades in school; your CGPA at college, etc. But it is a well-written SOP that actually gives your application the edge; it can make a big difference, particularly if you have not had very good grades in school/ college, or if your scores in the entrance exam weren’t terrific.  While you cannot change your CGPA or your letters of recommendation, you can write your SOP so that the college gets to know the real you.

The University of Berkeley, on its official website, says, “The Statement of Purpose is one of the most important parts of the application process. It is from this essay that the admissions committee will discern the seriousness of your intentions, your experience, and your motivation for graduate school.”

Shantanu Garg, a student at BITS-Goa, who is now heading to Stanford University for his Master’s, believes that it was the SoP that helped him get into the institute. “I didn’t have a great CGPA. My GRE score was below-average. So I believe that in my case, it was the Statement of Purpose that helped me get into four of the five universities I had applied to. I explained why I seriously wanted to study there, and that helped.”

Siddarth Baliga of Career Saathi says, “The Statement gives the applicant a chance to go beyond what his transcripts speak about him.  Let’s say a candidate with an engineering background intends to study economics at post-graduate level.  He/she can use the Personal Statement to describe the series of developments in his life that introduced him to economics, and any informal study that he may have done in that area.  It can also be a platform to mention important points (that could not be accommodated elsewhere in the application) which can strengthen his candidature.”

Be honest

The most important rule when it comes to writing your statement is this: Be honest. Do not fabricate or exaggerate. The official webpage of the University of California, Los Angeles, has this tip for all applicants: “Don’t manufacture hardship. A Personal Statement isn’t effective only because it chronicles difficult circum-stances. Rather, an effective Personal Statement gives us a clear sense of your personal qualities, and how you have used and developed them in response to your opportunities and challenges.”
Achintya Rao, an MA (Science Journalism) student of City University, London, says, “Know your strengths and highlight them, but also mention what you think you need to improve on, and how the course will help you. For instance, I wrote: I am well-versed in quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, but I find some difficulty understanding solid state physics. The refreshers course you offer at the start of term will help me overcome my problems and perform well in the field.”

Of course, writing an SOP can be far from fun. It’s not always easy to put down on paper a few paragraphs that will convey your personality, qualities, skills, hopes and dreams.  

“Considering that most of us don’t like to do research, it’s mostly boring in the beginning because we need to put in a lot of research before we start writing. Most of us have never written something like this before and hence it takes a little bit of effort to get comfortable and ‘flowy’ with this sort of writing. However, you’re sort of happy by the end of it because you go through a round of introspection through this process and learn a lot about yourself — which is good,” says Garg.

For some, writing can become a mechanical process. Varsha Venkatramani, an MSc student from the University of Warwick, UK, says, “The first time I wrote an SoP, boredom hadn’t crept in just yet. My interests and objective remained unchanged, so every subsequent SoP had only minor tweaks pertaining to the particular university I was applying to. The editing was mechanical and boring. I think a lot of SoPs tend to be very generic because many applicants keep a model SoP in mind, so you may not get too much information about the applicant from the document.”

Structure

A good SOP has the following information: Your background, the reason you want to study in your chosen field, the reason you want to study in the university you are applying to, your work or research experience in your chosen field (if you have any).

Do your homework before you start writing your SoP. Read up about the colleges you are applying to. Find out about the professors and their research fields, so that you can choose the one that appeals to you the most. An arresting first paragraph will help you grab the attention of the professors/ members of the admission committee.

They’ve probably been reading hundreds or even thousands of applications every day, and they are looking for something out of the ordinary; something that does not begin saying, “My name is XYZ, and I want to study in your University because…”.

You can start your essay with a quote or anecdote that fits the context, and explains your motivation to study the programme they offer. Avoid clichéd, over-used quotes, which will make your writing read like a school essay. Keep your writing crisp, professional (not overly formal, or too casual either), and to the point.

Many students confess that writing the first paragraph can be the most difficult part of writing an SOP. Put down a few points on paper: What are you trying to say? Once you have put these points down on paper, decide the order in which you want to write about it.

Universities generally look for the following information:
- Why do you want to study the course you are applying for?
- How have you prepared to study the course/ subject?
- Once you finish studying, what do you plan to do with your knowledge? What are your future goals?
- Why do you want to study in their University?
- If you’ve had low scores in school/college, or your score has been inconsistent, you can explain it. You can also mention any challenges/problems you have faced, and how you overcame them. Be sincere. Be specific.

When you are referring to your qualities, achievements or skills, illustrate them with specific examples. For instance, don’t just say, “I have good leadership skills.” Explain with an example of an incident where you used your leadership skills, and what you have learnt from the experience.

End your SoP with a conclusion that emphasises why you want to study the subject.
Revise your SoP, and ask your friends or family to take a look at it. “I did ask family and friends to read my SoP for feedback and I looked up websites to learn about the common mistakes made by applicants. Apart from that, I believed it best to let it look like my Statement of Purpose,” says Varsha.

Garg adds that getting your SoP checked by too many people can cause problems. “I think it’s important to not get it checked by too many people because if you do so, you end up changing it so much that it barely remains your point of view. It becomes a mixture of everybody else’s interests and ambitions which might not be such a good thing,” he explains.

Always remember that your SoP is being read by the admissions committee who screen many essays.

So try to look at your essay from their perspective — remember, they don’t know you. Leave out all unnecessary information, and make sure you don’t overshoot the word limit.