Strategies to Structure a Smart & Sensible SOP (Statement of Purpose)

Strategies to Structure a Smart & Sensible SOP (Statement of Purpose)

SOP (Statement of Purpose) is the aspiration of one’s inspiration, enthusiasm, perseverance, and potential. It reflects the altitude of one’s aptitude and attitude. The reflection should be positive enough to create an effective profile and platform of his/her passion and interest. SOP is the most important steps in the admission process of the universities for higher education which radically represents a candidate’s academic and personal ability. SOP contributes a lot to get a positive reply from the admission committee. It should sustain the brightness of anyone which is able to have the rapport with professors and fellow grad students and to finish the graduate degree in a timely fashion so that he/she can be a potential and ideal representative of the grad school in the future. So, SOP is to be structured strategically in a very smart and sensible way to open the threshold of a brightened future.

Start with an innate introduction

• The SOP should be started with an innate, specific, unique introduction where the inborn interests with sparkling desires for higher studies are to be reflected. The platform of the introduction should be designed maintaining a concise & specific structure.
• One should make the SOP unique in a holistic manner and so an innate introduction is needed to sustain the attention of the reader convincingly.
• The writer of SOP can write the introduction by being a writer of memory and real-life story with a view to creating an affinity for the write-up (SOP). The affinity should be relevant and strong enough to take the reader towards the end with ecstatic enthusiasm. One can so relate the purposes with the chronicles of his/ her real life to make the SOP unique and luminous.
• The introduction needs to sustain an illumination of the passion for the specific and relevant areas keenly. The reflection of the real-life story may be mingled with the chronicle where the origin of passion to work on the specific fields is illuminated.   
• The illumination should brighten the path from present day to the future so that the readers can sense the potential of the candidate to represent their institution as a bright person.

 

Summarize the academic background

• The summary of academic background is to be written after the introduction.
• If anyone is applying for graduate studies then he/she needs to summarize the remarks about the undergraduate studies and degrees achieved, research conducted, projects designed.
• The summary is to be written technically or in the way to focus the specific discipline to make it read by the professors.
• One should mention briefly about the important research papers or thesis project he/she has completed and anything scholarly beyond curricular requirements which aid as a positive point.
• The studies, work experiences, training or research experiences relevant and similar to the fields on which one wishes to study, are to be inscribed as the art of proper articulation to keep their attention ascending.  
• One should specify the subjects and courses according to the grades obtained, interest and ecstatic enthusiasm.
• One needs to mention the notable academic achievements from past to present to get potential positive points.

 

Elaborate, explore and elucidate the academic interests

• The area of one’s interests is to be indicated. This should be an ample paragraph.
• Ideally, one should pose a question, define a problem, or indicate a theme that he/she would like to address, and questions that arise from contemporary research.
• One needs to look on the web for information about departments he/she is interested in, including professors and their research.
• One should explore the professors working on his/her own research/work interests.
• The statement should be ended in a positive manner, indicating the enthusiasm, excitement, and readiness for the challenges ahead of the applicants.

 

Reflect the reasons of being passionate in the relevant fields 

• The areas of interest are to be mentioned along with the causes and reasons.
• This paragraph should be written on the basis of the stipulated professor’s research interest with whom one’s interests match literally.
• One can explain the reason on the basis of future urge to prove himself fit for the position.
• The extra-curricular activities regarding the same fields are also to be focused.
• The new ideas, future plans about the interests should be discussed with the inborn enthusiasm which aids to reflect the reason of being passionate.

 

Reflect the result of research, work/research interest 

• The notable result of relevant research or work interest is to be highlighted.
• The output from any published paper should be summarized.
• Academic presentations, publications are to be presented as a synopsis as the reflection of the result of the passion for the desired works.  
• Projects, academic achievements in the same fields, the strength of skills gleaned are also to be mentioned.  

 

Elucidate the reason to choose the university/institution

• This paragraph is one of the driving forces of SOP to make the reader more attentive going towards a positive end with a positive decision. 
• Firstly, one needs to understand what universities expect in the SOP. They expect the answers to the following questions: –
• Why are you willing to study in that University?
• Why do you want to study the course you are opting for?
• Do you have any experience in that field before applying?
• What are your plans after you get the degree from that University?
• One needs to prepare the questions to be answered in the SOP in a proactive manner to convince the reader uniquely.
• This section of SOP should contain the professor name with whom one wishes to work with or under whom one desires to do any research. The professor will be then notified to evaluate the profile of the applicant specifically. If the purposes mentioned received positively, then it will increase the probability of getting admission invitation letter.
• The will-force to study in that university is to be clarified with proper reason and passion.
• The course for which anyone applies should be related to the academic background on the basis of proper relevancy.
• The aim in life along with future plan should be indicated on the basis of the degrees for which one applies e.g.: M.Sc., Ph.D.

 

Get advised by professors

• One should go for the professors of his own university of undergraduate study to get advised by his/her advisors, supervisors, professors to make the SOP smarter and sensible.
• One can go to the professors with whom he/she has work experiences and good relationship or from whom he/she has collected the letter of recommendation so that they can directly correct the SOP and suggest anything important to mention.

 

Conclude with confident remarks

• One should conclude with a very confident remark which makes the reader believe in one’s worth and potential.
• The conclusion should summarize the whole SOP in a very concise manner.
• It should aspire the readers e.g.: members of the admission committee, professors, and others so that they feel inspired to take the applicant as their future representative and graduate student.  

 

Proofread the whole SOP  

• The SOP should avoid all kind of spelling and grammatical mistakes and one can use Grammarly to check the mistakes and structures.  
• It is very important to remove any kind of irrelevant information in the SOP. In academic SOP one should avoid any kind of achievements in any sports or cultural activities though of cours, they are appreciable by the readers.

 

Be conscientious & courageous

• One should trigger the testimony of truth from the introduction to the conclusion in an SOP regarding each and every fact mentioned in the SOP which can be easily clarified.
• Any kind of confusion in any information should be strictly avoided.
• The SOP should reflect the politeness and potential personality of the applicant brightly.
• The SOP should avoid any kind of inferiority-complex or superiority-complex to shine one’s own personality.
• In the SOP, motivation and confidence should be filled to the brim.

 

Essential tips from Berkeley (University of California, Berkeley) Graduate Admission Committee

1. What the admissions committee will read between the lines: self-motivation, competence, potential as a graduate student.

2. Emphasize everything from a positive perspective and write in an active, not a passive voice.

3. Demonstrate everything by example; don’t say directly that you’re a persistent person, show it.

4. If there is something important that happened to you that affected your grades, such as poverty, illness, or excessive work, state it. Write it affirmatively, showing your perseverance despite obstacles. You can elaborate more on your personal statement.

5. Make sure everything is linked to continuity and focus.

6. Unless the specific program says otherwise, be concise; an ideal essay should say everything it needs to with brevity. Approximately 500 to 1000 well-selected words (1-2 single spaced pages in 12 point font) is better than more words with less clarity and poor organization. 

The Statement of Purpose (SOP) is the platform to present one’s own self before the evaluators with efficacy. It is so efficient that it may support the academic results are also supported by it on the basis of the fact whether the readers in the selection committee are positively convinced. The SOP should sustain and nurture all the positive vibes constructing the full essay on the basis of the sensible strategies. One should so maintain proper steps and strategies mentioned to structure a smart and sensible SOP to get succeeded in the path of higher education.