Specific Guide to an Effective Statement of Purpose for College Applications

A Statement of Purpose (SOP) required for MS, MA or MBA is probably the most difficult part of the entire application process. (SOP may also be called an Application Essay, Objectives for Graduation Study, Personal Background, Cover Letter or some comparable title).

In the last admission season, one of the students, who took our counselling came to us with her draft of Statement of Purpose. Here’s how it began:

I am applying to the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing at the University of Iowa because I believe my writing will blossom at your program since it is a place where I will be challenged and I can hone my writing skills.

All of the facts and specifics here are obvious and needless to mention.

The admissions committee knows you are applying for their MFA program since all the candidates in their ‘stack’ of applications are doing the same. The admissions committee also knows your writing skills will ‘blossom’ there since they have a strong program (everyone wishes to believe so)-doesn’t serve the purpose of ‘stroking’. Of course you will be challenged – all undergrads going on to a grad program will be challenged – that’s the whole purpose of a postgrad degree. Lastly, the new grad student will ‘hone [her] writing skills’ – isn’t that the purpose of an MFA?

Assuming a general SOP word limit to be 300 words, this opening would have used up 15% of space, without conveying anything substantial. In fact, not only is it a waste of precious words, conveying nothing of relevance – it’s boring! Imagine who’s reading this and where: five professors ‘locked’ in a room with 500 applications. Do you think this opening paragraph will command their attention? Will they read the rest of the SOP with a sense of positive curiosity? Will they remember anything about this letter? You be the judge.

Now read what we suggested to put student as the opening for a Master’s program in Library Science. Yes, something so routine and as clockwork as Library Science can be applied to in a way that the reader will be ‘hooked’.

When I was eleven, my great-grand aunt Gretchen passed away and left me something that changed my life: a library of five thousand twenty six books. Some of my best days were spent arranging and reading her books. Since then, I have wanted to be a librarian.

So, it is clear, direct and all of 45 words. It crisply conveys the applicant’s lifelong (early nurtured) passion not just for books, but also for ‘taking care of books’. When the committee starts to discuss their ‘best picks’, don’t you think they will remember this applicant as ‘the young man/woman who had her own library at eleven”? Of course they will! Perhaps, having his or her very own library has been a cherished fantasy to each of readers too!

Suppose our student had written the following as an opening paragraph instead:

I am honoured to apply for the Master of Library Science program at the University of Iowa because as long as I can remember I have had a love affair with books. Since I was eleven I have known I wanted to be a librarian.

That is 45 words too. Do you think the admissions committee will remember this application among 500 applications they are surfing through? Probably more than half the applications, will open with something very similar. Many will say they ‘have a love affair with books’, are ‘avid readers themselves’ and the likes – these phrases sound passionate only until you have read it a couple of hundred times.

All of us have had some event or some experience in life, which drives us toward the discipline(s) we want to choose to study. One just has to dig deep. Another applicant wanted to get a master’s degree in speech therapy. When asked why, she said she had taken a class on it during her graduation and really loved it. But on being pressed, she did find a personal cord to speech therapy and the reason why she chose to be in this field for the rest of her life. Her brother had speech problems and since a very young age she has been understanding his communication and doing her best to make his expression effective – it comes naturally to her! This upon giving it a serious thought was a discovery to the applicant herself. She had come a long way since her brother’s speech problems. But one can’t deny – The subconscious is a guiding angel! There it was, Shweta had her hook!

Don’t settle for “I love this field”. Why do I love it? What makes me decide I want to do this for the rest of my life (which is a long time)? Why does it bring me a sense of fulfilment? What is your truth? Reach out to your parents for childhood connections that you don’t recall anymore. Reach out to your friends who have been around since forever now and notice things that you may miss about yourself.

Try to paint a picture though the description you give. Don’t just say, “I used to work on an assembly line in a television factory and one day I decided that I had to get out of there, so I went to college to save my own life.” How about – “One Thursday, I had soldered the 112th green wire on the same place on the 112th TV remote, and I realized the solder fumes were rotting my brain. I decided college would be my salvation.” Both 35 words – which narration do you think will keep the admission committee intrigued?

Tell stories (concisely). Use vivid language. Engage all the senses of the reader. Your description must be such that it transports the reader to the scene you are describing. Apart from a visual description, describing the scent and the feel of the scene, engages the reader through all perceptions – we tend to forget this! Liven up a moment in the lives of those five professors trapped with those 500 applications. Maybe 600. Maybe more.

Often, grad schools will ask you to address other or similar qualities that have been listed above. Just use common sense in focusing on each. Don’t address them in the same order as the grad school has listed. Combine them; rearrange them; do whatever you need to do to show yourself as an imaginative person.

If you have a problematic phase in your academic career, make sure you address it, accept to it, and reassure the admissions committee by letting them know how you overcame the issue and how these challenges taught you vital lessons you will hold on to for a lifetime. For example, let’s say that you got all C’s one semester. Take a (brief) paragraph to explain that you had some emotional setback that semester but then demonstrate how your grades have been on an upslope since then, and that you now have a 9.0 (high) grade-point average in the discipline. If you spin this well, your story will enhance the admissions committee’s image of you as someone with the abilities to ‘take on challenges’ and ‘to finish on time’.

About mentioning professors who currently are associated with the grad school you are applying to, you wish to work with them and their work has been an inspiration (truly) – it’s a great idea. It portrays you as someone who has ‘done their homework’ and is genuinely interested in the field, enough to have kept abreast latest advances. Don’t just ‘drop’ their names and say something flowery to stick it up to them (anyone with a good internet connection can do that). Say something about their work, what exactly impressed you and got you reading more about it – something that shows how much you appreciate it and can be make a valuable contribution to the same. Don’t necessarily pick up the most famous professor (it is likely that other candidates will end up doing the same). Pick someone, perhaps lesser known, who truly inspired you and the passion shows in your writing naturally.

Taking multiple opinions (preferably of people in your field, professionals or teachers), proof reading several times and copyediting for consistency, accuracy and style – go without saying.

Typographical errors, misplaced commas, unconnected paragraphs are a strict NO. Keep it simple, fluent and vivid without being too expressive, using flowery language to show-off your English language skills. Be careful. Be a perfectionist.

To close, your statement of purpose is the most important part of your application, singularly. However, other parts of your application including test scores, transcripts and letters of recommendation, mainly, do weigh substantially.

Your accomplishments, fondest hopes, dreams, values, challenges – will speak for themselves, only if you let them!

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