A Statement of Purpose also referred to as an SOP, is a reflection of your personality that you portray in front of the admission committee (Adcom) for getting enrolled in universities abroad. It is your chance of impressing the committee by presenting your profile strongly through an essay that describes your personality traits, which are not covered in your academic documents.
What is SOP?
An SOP is a long essay required by universities abroad and nowadays some of the Indian universities during the application process. As the full form of SOP reveals, a Statement of Purpose is an essay stating the purpose of applying to a particular course in a particular university. This essay consists of a gist of who you are, who you want to become, and how ready you are to pursue a certain course in an institution.
The document seeks to understand the candidate’s life, the motivations for the chosen career path, and his/her goals. Hence, you should discuss the past incidents that have influenced your career path in a specific domain wherein you aspire to grow by joining a course/college.
Why is SOP important?
A well-written SOP is extremely critical to your admission. Needless to say, there are many aspects of a candidate’s application that are inspected before finalizing a decision. While the academic record and other exam scorecards/academic transcripts and backlog certificates are essentially objective in nature, an SOP is the only truly subjective aspect of your application.
It is the only document in your application that gives you the opportunity to prove that you have something unique that makes you stand out from the crowd. As such, it is the document of your application docket that can hugely determine your admission.
What do colleges look for in an SOP?
While drafting your SOP, you need to keep in mind that the admission committee will be reviewing thousands of applications for the same course. Thus, not only your SOP needs to be crisp and precise, but it should also highlight the uniqueness in your profile. Here are few things that the college review committee generally look for in a student’s SOP:
- Your writing capability is reflected in your SOP. Your SOP should be free from grammatical errors. The language should be lucid enough for them to comprehend yet should have a good vocabulary. Make sure not to use too many heavy words as sometimes too much of rich vocabulary makes the sentence redundant and it fails to communicate the meaning.
- What makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd? Highlight your unique side/unique personality. The Adcom should be able to recognize you an as individual through your SOP. Your interests and goals will help them know you on a personal basis.
- With your talent, previous experiences and interest, how and what can you contribute to the department and college/university, as a whole? Think of it as a two-way process. If you receive an admit, your career will get a kick-start and through your efforts and participation, the department/college can receive benefits. You need to mention how you will be able to contribute to their community, be it through sports, community services, societies or clubs, and so on.
- Being familiar with the university facilities and curriculum will help you a great deal. You need to be aware of the student programmes, faculty, internship opportunities, student facilities and societies, traditions etc that sets the university apart from others. The Adcom should be convinced that you know about the department and college/university thoroughly and thus, you are applying in it and not applying randomly.
- Your motivation or inspiration to study a selected course should clear, evident and justified. Adcom does not approve of bragging sentences in the SOP. So keep it original, real, and free from any overbearing or arrogant statements.
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