An SOP or a statement of purpose is a piece of document unique to your application, written with the sole purpose of giving the selection body a glimpse of your timeline as a person.
In spite of being a personal statement, there are certain structural blocks that hold right for most SOPs and we at Golden Draft are here to acquaint you with them.
Your SOP can be divided into three sections – an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
- Introduction: Consider your SOP equivalent to an elevator pitch. The selection committee spends an average of 15-20 minutes per application and your essay is expected to grasp their attention right from the very beginning. The introduction must be as catchy as possible. Give them a visual description of your central theme. Refrain from using generalised and vague terms; be specific with answering the ‘whys’ related to your application. Slide in an eagle’s eye perspective of why you want to pursue this specific course and why the university you’re applying to is the best suited for the same.
- Body: The main body of your SOP will include all your experiences and achievements in depth. It is an unwise decision to compile more than 3-4 achievements as that can lead to superficial dissection of everything instead of being able to describe the few selected ones at length. The projects and experiences you share in this application should reflect your competitive spirit and ability to adapt fluently. Speaking through practical work is an impressive way to mention your interpersonal skills without having to enumerate them one by one.
For example: Instead of telling the committee about how hardworking and responsible you are, talk about the time you lead a team of 30 students in organizing an inter-college art festival.
This is the time to add all those skills you mastered while maintaining your academic records. In case the activities you took up during your college years do not align with the master’s degree you’re applying for, you can elaborate on the skills and values you learned during that tenure which will now prove beneficial in the course you intend to take.
When it comes to describing the projects you handled, try to answer the following questions –
- What was the project? What was your role/responsibility?
- What was the outcome?
- What did you take away from that experience?
While framing the body of your SOP, it is necessary to ensure that every paragraph makes a point in direct link to your purpose.
The flow of the document should be maintained and enlisting everything chronologically helps with that.
- Conclusion: Finally, the application can be concluded with a couple of lines on why you think this particular university is the right fit for you and how your journey as a person has shaped you to be the correct candidate for it.
A winning SOP manages to fit all this information within a limit of 600-800 words.
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