Ramani K. Raman

[ Home ] [ Research ] [ Grad ] [ Fun Physics ] [ Timepass ]

What Is This SoP?

The Statement of Purpose (abbreviated as SoP from here on and elsewhere in these pages) is  a piece of document that is intended to briefly encapsulate your background, your intentions behind seeking graduate studies and your long term ambitions and goals. Each university may ask you to stress on slightly different aspects. But overall, the SoP is a document highlighting your ideas and reasons for applying. 

Why are you applying to this university? Why do you want to do a MS/PhD in XYZ field? On what grounds do you state that you are well qualified for this course? What do you intend to do once you complete the course? These are the kind of questions to which the admissions committee will seek answers in your SoP. 

The SoP is a case of "Persuasive Writing". You are writing to convince the reader that you fulfill all the requirements he/she is looking for in a prospective candidate. You need to highlight your positive points without sounding like a braggart. At the same time, mere stating of achievements and experiences is not sufficient. You need to demonstrate interest, initiative, proactiveness, and other facets of your personality. The SoP is much more than just resume in a prose form. The SoP is a window into your personality. You differ from every other candidate who will be applying for the same course - it is your job to identify your uniqueness, and put it across in a fashion that will captivate the reader to you and give him reasons to accept you.

Hence, writing the SoP is hard work and can take several weeks. Writing a good SoP demands that you sit down to introspect about what you want from your life. What is your personality? What is your unique trait? Through the SoP, you are essentially advertising yourself. Hence, drafting a good SoP requires time and effort - it is a process of continuous drafting, redrafting and refinement. Most SoPs go through about 4 to 5 revisions. So it pays to form a clear cut strategy to adopt while composing this essay.

[ Next ]

[ Intro To SoP ] [ Composing ] [ Refining ] [ Comparing ] [ Analyzing ] [ Refining ] [ Other Resources ]