How to write Strong SOP for MS - Tips, Format, Example

How to write a good Statement of Purpose

There is a very specific goal of writing an SOP. An SOP must be written in a way that should have the caliber to convince the faculty and the selection committee. Your SOP must portrait solid achievements behind you. These achievements should reflect and convince the reader- faculty or the selection committee that your graduation was very successful. To understand and write better, you can break an SOP into four parts,s followed by one after the other.

To make it more powerful, you can also check the departmental website to find out if you must include some specific or additional information.

Step 1: Introduce yourself, your interests, and your motivations.

First thing first, you introduce yourself in the best manner possible. The tone of the inro must be polite and easy to understand. You can further include that one thing that motivated or inspired you to build an interest in the particular program was. You must write so that they can see what sparked your desire for opting master in the particular domain. The more you will be short, and to the point, the more SOP looks clean and impactful. You need not write a whole autobiography.

Step 2: Summarize your Academics.

Start with your schooling and incidents or events that motivated you to build a great interest in the program you are applying for. Include your achievement of high school and intermediate standards. After this, you can write the research you have conducted, the project’s title, what your responsibilities were, etc., of your graduation. Give a little glimpse of the academic success of your under graduation. Try to sound discipline or as technical as possible because your target readers are university faculty and professors.

if you have completed any research paper or thesis project, don’t forget to mention it. Along with this, you can also include any achievement which you have done scholarly apart from your curriculum requirements.

Now, you can mention any internship you have been a part of if you have any job or work experience, especially if you had any kind of responsibility in an area similar to what you wish to study in your masters.

Step 3: Discuss your current status in terms of academics and education.

If you are someone who has been into a job after graduation and now wants to pursue his/her master’s, you have to be clear and specific about it in your SOP. You must mention the current position, responsibility, prior experience, and expertise in your current job/work. You can also tell a real story (if it is there) regarding how you got the motivation to pursue a master’s even after a good job.

Step 4: Elaborate on your academic interests

In this part of your SOP, you can indicate to the reader the sole purpose, and you’re ‘What?’ regarding studies in your graduate school. This will help your reader to get convinced with the details you have provided. They will also get an indication that you are well prepared for the university’s discipline and you are engaged with the research themes going on currently.

Focus on indicating your field of interest. Here you can describe a question, a problem, or theme you would like to address. The reader knows a question arises from contemporary research, which means you have been into proper research. This paragraph must be an ample paragraph.

Take benefits of the resources already present on the website. You can research the university’s website about the department you want to go into. You must know things like a professor of the department, labs, research theme, etc., beforehand. This will give an extra edge to your SOP.

In the end, your statement must sound very positive. Your conclusion must convince the reader how excited and ready you and for the challenges ahead.

Apart from this structure, here are few essential tips for you:

1. The admission committee reads between the lines: competence, self-motivation, potential as a graduate student.

2. the SOP must be in active voice, and whatever is written must have a positive perspective.

3. If possible, use as many examples as you can to demonstrate everything. You have to prove the qualities you have been talking about yourself.

4. if you have faced anything like poverty, illness, or excessive work which affected your grades in your academics, you have to mention it very clearly at any cost. Write these things in a very affirmative manner, which will show your perseverance despite these obstacles.

5. After writing the whole SOP, read it thoroughly. Everything written in the SOP must be linked with continuity and focus.

6. Unless the specific program demands you have to be concise, an SOP should say everything it needs to with brevity. An ideal length of the SOP must be approximately 500 to 1000 well-selected words.