SoP

The Statement of Purpose (or SoP) is an important component of the admissions process for American Master’s or PhD programmes. Since Indian Bachelor’s degrees take three years’ to complete, (hence, 12+3 = 15 years of education), we recommend that you complete 16 years of formal education to be competitive and eligible to apply to most US institutions.

The SoP is also a fairly difficult piece of writing to do at short notice. On the whole, an effective SoP requires a mix of self-reflection, succinct writing and subtle marketing.

Here’s what you can do to make your SoP stand out:

Basic Purpose

Begin with the end in mind. Your first paragraph is the most important: writing and rewriting it will polish it well. Communicate the basic purpose for which you are applying for a Master’s or PhD degree. A sincere, succinct and original first sentence or two is ideal. Cover the key reasons why you want to go to a graduate programme within the first paragraph. Develop your core ‘USP’ (Unique Selling Proposition) and eliminate every word and phrase that does not communicate purpose. Delete, revise and rewrite it all over again until it is accurate yet effective.

Analyse what motivated you. Now, move on to the motivations behind your purpose. Graduate school can be an intense experience, and more so at the PhD level. Faculty members on admissions committees are interested in the ‘why’ behind your ‘what’.

Rather than chronological descriptions of what you did in the recent past, dive into your thought-process and share what you learned. Ensure that each paragraph contains one or two key ideas developed coherently and logically that thematically progress to the next.

Your Motivation

Link your motivation to apply for a Master’s or PhD to your experiences at work or doing research. What did you learn while working or doing further research that prompted you to desire further education? American universities value students who have a real-world perspective, so if you have some years of work experience, do not hesitate to show what you learned while working.

Your contacts, software and soft people-skills, all would have developed in some ways while at work or doing research. Discuss these in terms of your learning and motivations. Perhaps you realised that you could use a Master’s or PhD to meet your medium-term and long-term goals — so discuss what triggered it. Reflect. Critique yourself. Share what you learned and how each step catalysed the next. Share your story.

Good Fit

Demonstrate ‘fit’. After discussing your motivations behind why you did what you did, you need to wind up. Begin the transition to the end of the SoP by making a case for why you are a good ‘fit’ for the programme. Be as specific as you can be here. If you’re applying for a Master’s programme, discuss the laboratory or research groups that you would be able to contribute to; if you’re a PhD applicant, name the faculty members whose work and research intersects with yours.

Perhaps your skills complement that of a professor with whom you want to work. Perhaps there’s a library, a research centre or some industry-university programme you are very interested in and could use for your career. Perhaps your prior training fits well with more advanced parts of the course curriculum – whatever it is, demonstrate how your being admitted would add value to the graduate student community. Specificity of ‘fit’ can be demonstrated by identifying and closely studying what you need and what the university you are applying to, can offer – thereby offering a unique synergy that will result in a win-win situation.