How To Write A Statement Of Purpose
SOP is an Admission Essay showing the following at least:
• Why did you choose this degree, department & country? Justify.
• What strengths do you have for the best fit for this program?
• What is unique about you?
• What was your inspiration to choose this subject?
• Your hobbies.
• Your challenging nature, your future vision/plan.
• Your research impact on society.
• Search any specific requirement in SOP from the university.
• Go to google for writing a more comprehensive SOP.
Tips and Tricks for Writing a Good SOP (Statement Of Purpose)
For almost all scholarship applications, the very 1st thing that makes an impact (alongside your grades, etc.) is of course your Statement of Purpose (a.k.a Letter of Motivation). Most students make the common mistake of copy-pasting sample SOPs from the internet, which gets rejected most of the time. According to my experience in the past year of applying for scholarships (and getting selected in a few), a good SOP has to have a general format into which you should fill in your own life story according to the words you use yourself.
Para 1: Opening
In the opening of your SOP, you start by telling your name and institute, followed by your CGPA. It is good practice to declare your class ranking (position) in this para, as it grabs the attention of the SOP reader. In the last sentence of this para, you state the purpose of writing the SOP, e.g., “I wish to apply for a Master’s program in Electrical Engineering in your reputed Institute”.
Para 2: Reason for applying and motivation
Here, you state the reason for choosing the specific field you studied in your bachelor’s. Try to make this point as strong as possible; for students passionate about Mechanical Engineering, you could say something like ” I was always fascinated by machines at home and would love to open them up; I would often clean the head of my VCR at home just for the sake of looking at the small machinery inside”. You could also state an incident that compelled you to choose a certain career path.
Para 3: Details about undergrad course and interests
Once you have stated in the previous part that you landed in XYZ university to study for a certain degree, you are now in a position to tell about the subjects in Engineering/Med school etc. which you really loved studying. If you have had any projects or have attended any seminars related to your favorite subject/field, be sure to describe them briefly here.
Para 4: Experiences
In this para, any hands-on or practical experience must be stated, such as your current/previous job(s) or internship(s). Try to tell how the experience proved beneficial to you.
Para 5: Research Interests (Optional)
A few competitive scholarships demand during the application process that you must state your research interests if admitted to the program. Universities having good scholarship packages, especially those that give you a handsome stipend per month, are expecting that you should have some clear orientation as to what you would do once you have been selected. Thus, this often forms the most important part of the SOP. Try to state briefly a research proposal that not only interests you but is also being carried out by the University itself.
Para 6: Co-curricular activities,
Such as speeches, dramatics, etc. Universities are not only looking for book worms. They want students who would contribute to life at their campus and would be able to adjust socially with people from other cultures.
Para 7: Reasons for selecting the institute
You are now to impress the reader as to why you want to study at this particular University. Don’t write the common lines: “you have an excellent staff, excellent labs etc…” you would simply bore the person reading your SOP. Instead, focus also on other attractions. Is the University in Paris? You could say that you have always wanted to see the Eifel Tower. Likewise, you should say how studying abroad would widen your horizons, etc.
Para 8: short and long term career goals
Again, it’s all about orientation and motivation! The Professors are expecting that the applicant possesses enough insight as to what to make of his career once he has his Master`s degree. Plan and think carefully, as to what you want to do right after graduating and also after 5-8 years of doing the master’s. This could be a job in a certain firm or going for a Doctorate.
Para 9: Closing
Closing should be precise and brief. You have made all your arguments previously. Simply thank the professor for his time and write something such as “looking forward to hearing from you”.
How should I write a motivation letter?
The first paragraph should clearly state the program you are applying for and what are your long-term career goals. Later in the letter, you are going to write some objectives which will help you achieve these goals. The better you connect your goals with the program, the more chances of getting picked up for the award of scholarship. In other words, after reading the letter, the reader should be able to make his/her mind that money spent on you will not go wasted and somehow will help you achieve your goals (a better career/ expanded knowledge base, etc.). Here is an example of an opening paragraph of a motivation letter.
I am applying for the XXXXXX Program at your institution. I see this program as an opportunity for me to adopt XXXXX as a career. My long-term professional goal is to establish a consultancy firm delivering solutions for decision-makers. I have a firm belief that this program will enable me to achieve my goals.
OK! Now it’s time to introduce yourself to the reader. Please bear in mind that a motivation letter is not a CV, so don’t go into details about your academics. If you are applying for a master’s degree then only mentioning your undergraduate degree would be sufficient. Similarly, in the case of a doctoral position, I would prefer to mention your master’s degree only. The purpose of this paragraph is to convince the reader that you have the prerequisite background for the advertised position. Here you can brag about your academic achievements, for example, your distinction in the class, your outstanding CGPA, or your above-average percentages. Should you explain anything about your previous degree or make any clarification regarding the scoring scheme, this is the right place to do so. Here is how I would write such a paragraph for myself.
I earned MS (Computer Science) Degree from XXXX in 2009. The Master’s degree required me to complete 26 credit hours of taught courses and 6 credit hours of thesis work. I had the honor to be the top-most student of my class. I earned a CGPA of 3.93/4.0 with the weighted percentage of 91. The Master’s degree provided me with an insight to evolving technologies such as semantic web, knowledge representation using ontologies and agile development methodology. I also realized that the diverse nature of modern-day’s data and its exponentially growing size require new technologies other than traditional database management systems. That is why I choose to work on a technique to transform existing relational database systems into ontology and then synchronize changes between a source schema and output ontology, as my thesis project.
If you notice carefully, the last sentence of the above paragraph was about my master thesis. Yes, you got it right! It is time to talk about your project now. A good way is to introduce it in the above paragraph and then explain it a little in the coming one. After introducing your project in the preceding paragraph, explain it a bit in the succeeding one. This especially is a good idea if your graduate or master’s project is/was somehow related to the program you are applying for. It helps convince the reader that you have an added advantage. In this paragraph, you can also talk about the good outcomes of your project –the awards or publications etc. This paragraph actually gives you an opportunity to brag about your achievements. So, for example time!
While working on my thesis project with Dr. XXX, I developed XXXX- a plugin for widely-used ontology editor XXX. I also published my work in an international journal and conference. I presented my papers in local conferences during my study and one of my papers won the best student paper award in 8th XXX held at XXXX in 2008.
(Notice that to keep the paragraph short and more readable, I did not provide the journal and conference details. The reader, if interested, can always find this information from my CV)
After this, depending upon your individual profile, you may consider including a brief paragraph about your employment record. Bear in mind that the purpose of this paragraph is not to provide your employment history rather to reflect your diverse portfolio. Succinctly mention the skills you acquired during your professional career, for example, mention team spirit, leadership skills, etc. If you are a student coming straight out of school, you can come up with your involvement in co-curricular activities, volunteer work, achievements in sports, etc. Here goes my insight.
After completing my MS degree, I had an opportunity to work as a XXX scientist in a well-reputed organization. This job provided me with an opportunity to travel to the USA and Australia. These international tours widened my knowledge base and provided me with an opportunity to work with renowned experts of this field. These international training also enabled me to work in a multicultural environment. During this time, I have been involved in establishing an XXXX facility from scratch. This process has allowed me to develop managerial traits and leadership skills.
The last paragraph should clearly outline your motives to join a particular program. It is the most important paragraph of your motivation letter and you should try to answer the question “why do you want to join this program?” Try to come up with as many reasons as possible. Your curious nature, an innate researcher inside you, your passion for the field, better career prospects, traveling and seeing the world, learning new languages, experiencing cultural diversity are to name a few of the motives. Still can’t find a motive to write about, consider what Noel Coward once said, “If you must have motivation, think of your paycheck on Friday.” Yes! It is perfectly fine to say that this master’s degree will help you score a good job. But again, the contents of this paragraph are very personal and depend on the individual. Keep in mind that this reason must support the long-term career goals you mentioned in the first paragraph, remember!
There are four key reasons I want to be part of this doctoral program. First, a joint degree from two universities and traveling for the study will widen my exposure and extend my knowledge base. Second, given the fact that exponential growth in size of data and its diverse nature, XXX has become a need of time, and pursuing a career in this domain offers bright career prospects in the future. Third, I have already studied semantics and their translation into models in my MS; therefore, this surely would help me a lot in pursuing this degree. And lastly, I wish to be a part of the team which is striving for innovation and development of a novel technology.
In the end, thank the reader and offer if he/she needs any further information, you are willing to provide it. Once you had the first draft of the letter, run a spelling and grammar check on it. Do not trust solely on the spelling and grammar check from your word processing software. Revise the draft, try to make sentences simpler, more readable, and more convincing. Once satisfied with your efforts, I would recommend asking a friend (preferably a native speaker or language expert) for feedback on your letter.
Important Notes
- Please do not copy-paste motivation letters from the internet, or just don’t copy a friend’s motivation letter. A letter that worked for someone doesn’t guarantee acceptance for you as well.
- Invest some time in writing a letter for yourself. If you are not motivated enough to write a letter of your own then how could you be motivated to be part of a program. A point to ponder!!
- Do not send a generic motivation letter to every program you apply to. Do some research about the scholarship opportunity, university, project, and program, and then customize your letter accordingly.
- Almost every program receives hundreds of applications and evaluators don’t have time to read everything written in a letter therefore, follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple and Short).
- A motivation letter is not your CV so refrain from listing all the schools you have been attending and the courses you have taken (that’s what transcripts are for). I would recommend that the letter should not exceed a single A4 size page. So, that is how I wrote my motivation letter, and it worked for me, Bazingaaaaaaa! Good luck with everything and enjoy writing about your motivations.