by ROHAN GANERIWALA
SOP
– Statement of Purpose is an acronym that is commonly used in reference to a
student’s application. We jocularly remark that SOP actually stands for, “Story
of Prospective” student, but that is not far from the truth. Ideally, an SOP should
be regarded by every applicant as an opportunity to fashion a personal story that
provides crucial insight that cannot be ordinarily gleaned by studying transcripts
and letters of recommendations.
In
short, an SOP is a highly personalised narrative that attempts to give the reader
a unique glimpse into a student’s character, intellect, formative experiences
and future ambitions, both academic and professional. An interesting and
well-written SOP encourages an Admission Officer to take a closer interest in a
student, understand his motivations for applying and, if the story is
compelling and original enough, it boosts a student’s chances of admission to a
college of his /her choice. Deconstructing a typical SOP, reveals how most
students can write effective SOPs by sticking to six segments.
In
essence, it needs to be an engaging story, but invariably, the word restrictions
(it normally ranges between 500-800 words) sometimes do not allow students
sufficient “elbow room” to fashion a comprehensive life story. Writing your
story within the specified word limit is one of the most challenging tasks faced
by students. Achieving this is usually harder than it appears, but most
students can create interesting SOPs if they adhere to certain basic
rules.
Honesty,
that much-invoked term, is the most effective route to achieving this goal.
Although
it is not mandated to follow the “six segment” rule, it is highly recommended
that every student follow a chronological timeline and write in an easygoing
manner, without trying too hard to impress in terms of language or
accomplishments. More importantly, there should be no fabrication or
embellishment of facts and incidents, in an effort to portray oneself as exceptional.
The
first segment should introduce you as a person and also include some hint of
what you might write in the latter part of the SOP. Your introduction needs to
be precise and should encapsulate your character and ambitions in a few short
sentences.
It
should be borne in mind that the quality of writing or ideas expressed in the
introduction will encourage Admission Officers to delve deeper into a student’s
SOP. If the introduction sounds formulaic or lacks originality, most Admission
Officers are likely to cast it aside and return to it once they have sampled
other interesting essays.
Segment
two should provide a brief description of your academic or professional goals.
You need to explain why you have a particular goal in mind and its relevance to
you. More importantly, it would be useful to describe your long-term career goals
and the role you would like to play after acquiring sufficient experience.
Segment
three should provide a detailed character-and-goals sketch. You elaborate about
your coursework / research work / professional career. Talk about why you chose
this coursework/research work and the type of knowledge you have gained from
these courses and internships. Also mention how this coursework / research work
is essential towards achieving your career goals. Working professionals need to
describe their skill / knowledge base and their professional accomplishments.
They can also expand a bit on their worldview, especially the cultural and personal
insights they have gained during this period.
Segment
four is considered one of the most important sections of your SOP. Here you
explain why you require pursuing the specified education program. You have to
write in detail about the need to acquire advanced,
theoretical knowledge in a particular academic area in order to contribute to
the issues mentioned earlier. Also mention about how your education will be
beneficial on a broader sense for people or organizations such as, your society
at large, country, etc.
Segment five requires you to expand on how you have chosen a
particular program or college. In the course of this paragraph, you can expand
on the benefits of applying to a particular college, namely, curriculum,
research opportunities or teaching methodology. The key here is to correlate
the college and the program to your goals. This would require extensive research
of the college and undergraduate / graduate program. You also need to
demonstrate your natural inclination towards the program and how the college’s
existing student population will be benefited by your admission.

The
sixth and the final segment is the much-neglected conclusion. You should use
this as a forum to summarize your personal talents and highlight the
contributions you are likely to make, once enrolled in the program. Also,
reiterate how the program will enable you to achieve your future professional
goals.
(PFA the article on STATEMENT OF PURPOSE shared by Mr. ROHAN GANERIWALA, CO- Founder, COLLEGIFY ( A COLLEGE CONSULTING FIRM FOR STUDY ABROAD)
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