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What is a statement of purpose?
Statement of Purpose or more precisely SOP is an essay throwing light on your education and professional life, interests, hobbies, and different experiences. The prospective students who want admission to any university show their candidature through SOP by highlighting their strengths, achievements, and willingness to study in that particular university. So, SOP can crack the deal for you if it is well-written and impressive.
Why it is important for the admission process in Universities?
Most Universities demand a statement of purpose from students as a document to see who they are actually giving admission to. Truthfully, you all submit your scorecards, certificates, etc but these things fail to represent your actual personality. SOP, on the other hand, provides a detailed interpretation of who you are and why you aspire to study at their university. So, admission authorities consider SOP as important in deciding whether they should offer you admission or not.
Format of SOP
An SOP can be influential only if it portrays your personality correctly, and your aspirations and expectations in most realistic way. So, for that, you need to follow proper format and arrange your thoughts in such a manner, that it coerces the authorities in your favour. The format is:
Paragraph 1 - Introduction of the academic field you are interested in studying.
Paragraph 2 - Description of your academic background and professional experiences (if any).
Paragraph 3 - Clear reasons for selecting this particular course.
Paragraph 4 - Features and specifications university which attract and compelled you for choosing this university over others.
Paragraph 5 - Your career goals and how this course is going to endeavor them.
Paragraph 6 - Write a concluding statement and sum up what you have written so far.
Tips and tricks to write an effective statement
Next step is to follow the following tips and tricks while writing a persuasive statement of purpose. Your first draft SOP will be worst but keep on improving it by getting critics to review it.
Be specific as much as you can
Write sentences concisely i.e. specific information about your personality and experiences. Express them very nicely and use impressive words.
Unveil true facts about yourself
Writing SOP to impress the admission officers does not mean you have to cite false facts. Instead, unveil true facts about your journey and experiences and tell them how you faced hardships in your life. Trust me,m it going to be more appealing than good but false facts.
Don’t elaborate too much
Some students do the mistake of writing too much about one event. That looks boring as well as irritating which might lead to rejection of your application. So, at any cost, avoid over-elaboration of things.
Illuminate your passion and potential
Every sentence in your SOP should reveal how passionate and enthusiastic you are to learn that subject. Also, enlighten the authorities your potential through minimum words so that it doesn’t look like you are just praising yourself repeatedly.
Grammatical corrections
Try to write all sentences in an active voice instead of passive. While reading your SOP, it should feel like you are conversing with them, so employ formal but conversational tone. Check out all the grammatical errors through online software for grammar.
