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An Effective Statement Of Purpose
Perfect Statement Of Purpose (SOP) – Writing SOP Tips & Format, do’s & Don’ts
SOP referred to as a Statement of purpose is a long description and Bridge between your past experience & future that you are going to build by this programme specifically at this University. The SOP is used by the admission counsellors to decide that you are right fit for the programme. The art of writing an effective SOP is very crucial while applying for a particular course in a particular university. In this guide, we will orient you to make a great and successful SOP.
SOP is a kind of essay but should not be more than two pages. Universities have separate format or word limits to write SOP for a specific program. Humanities program SOP should be more descriptive than STEP programs. An effective SOP helps the admission committee to understand the motive of the student and help the admission process easier.
Most students ignore the importance of an effective SOP and they miss the chance. Your SOP is a deciding factor whether you will get the admission or not.
Let’s learn how to make an effective SOP in a simple way.
Skeleton of SOP
An effective SOP is a composition of 6 steps which are connected in a thread. The structure of these steps is named the skeleton of SOP.
1. A Philosophical Paragraph2. Introduction
3. Why This Course?
4. Why Abroad & Why This Country?
5. Why This University?
6. Future Goal
Let’s break it and understand all steps in detail.
1. A philosophical paragraph
It is your first impression, make it count. Most of the students avoid this paragraph while you can earn a few brownie points by drafting it. In this case, you have to mention the importance of the particular course that you’re opting in a “creative way”. Along with that, you need to demonstrate the alignment of your thought process with the course you have chosen.
2. Introduction
Introductory part should be short and vivid. You need to mention unique selling points and major accomplishments that will distinguish yourself from others. Apart from the traditional introduction, mention your personal & professional achievements. Mention about your desire that made you to take this decision of selecting a particular course. Tell about your skills, it will spark and make your profile strong. Also, connect your previous achievements with your future interest and try to give examples while demonstrating yourself E.g. If you are from the IT background then you can mention your interest towards math and show your expertise in Java, C++, Python and more what were your likeable subjects during the engineering. Elaborate your academic interest. If you have any work experience before joining the graduate school then, mention precisely about your role, responsibilities, what you learn. Your writing communication will help the admission committee to know about your motive in graduate school. To give it a personal touch, tell about your family, parents and the people who have a prominent role in your life.
3. Why this course?
This part is the heart of your SOP. So make sure you connect all your dots. Connect your past education, current experience, the reason for choosing the course and your future goal in a sequence. Make it more convincing and establish the authenticity in this connection.
Let’s understand this with a simple example. Suppose a student has done his bachelor’s degree in computer science and working in an IT company as a developer since 2015. And over the time he wants to make a shift towards the project management team and wants to be a team manager. Here is where the need for studying masters in project management comes in. This is how you should connect your past education to current experience, and course to a future goal.
4. Why abroad & why this country?
Instead of mentioning, the beauty of the country, their political environment and climate, write all the benefits you might get during the study. Don’t go for random answers. Be precise & accurate.
E.g. If you get an internship in France, for more than two months, then you will be paid by the company. French government covers all your social security which means you will get discounts on your housing, travelling and medical.
So these are the real benefits that you should mention in this paragraph.
5. Why this university?
Don’t mistake to talk about the campus, Labourites and infrastructure. Instead, mention the ranking of the university, alumni network and placement opportunities. Here you need to gather all the information about the university and on that basis, explain why it is best suitable for you.
6. Future Goal
Here a student makes a mistake by mentioning that he wants to come back to India and start to work for MNC. These are the traditional answers and it doesn’t create a significant impact.
Just show a strong road map. E.g. Student should mention that he wants to continue with the same IT company with the project management team or he can mention that he wants to work as a project manager across the globe wherever he finds the opportunity in any of the IT companies. Be specific to your job plan.
That’s not all
After writing all the paragraph descriptive and well-structured make sure it should be grammatically correct as your writing capability is reflected in SOP. Read it at least 3 times before submitting. Your SOP should be sound and focused. It should go in a flow from point to point. Additionally, you should show that you know how to write in a way that is descriptive but concise.
Just finish your SOP by requesting a line to consider your profile to your selected university.
Lastly, to conclude your statement, you must declare your intentions of abiding by the rules & regulations laid down by the authorities.