Being able to present your accomplishments well through an effective SOP is a vital step in gaining admission in the choice of your college. The SOP must be created to reflect certain qualities of the candidates which the colleges are looking for. An excellent SOP can increase your chances of admissions highly, post the GRE exam. Hence, SOPs should be adapted to each college that the candidate is applying to. Let us look at how we can make this yet crisp:
Introduce Yourself and Mention Skills: An SOP which usually is for 500-1000 words should contain information about you and your background. Keep it brief. Highlight your achievements. Make sure you do not exceed the length limit at any cost. Mention your academic and non-academic achievements as well. Non academic ones will throw light on qualities like leadership, team work, and ability to learn and so on.
Why You Want to Pursue this Course: Define what prompted your interest in a given course. Explain in detail what aspects of the same inspire you. Add an anecdote or incident to elaborate if any. Indicate how the college can help you in achieving the same.
Project/Research/Work Details: Give information about the projects you have worked on. Explain how these have helped you in being eligible for the course applied. Link the two technically. Read up about the college and the department of the course. See how your project/research area can be linked to the same.
Be Honest: Do not mention any incorrect information on your SOP. The mistakes can be found out by the experts who are reviewing your passage. Do not brag or fake data. In case you have got low scores or grades before do not provide excuses or explanations for the same. Convey your hard work honestly, do not under play/over play your achievements.
Mention Social Work: Most universities look for well-rounded personalities, hence; indicate any work that you have done for the betterment of your city, town, community, society or environment in general. Be sure to mention only those works for which you have valid documents as proof.
Information Should be Ordered: Make sure all the information presented is logical, correct and in an orderly fashion. Language should be simple, strong and clear. There is no necessity of fancy words or indirect connotations. Write a good conclusion which summarizes your thoughts and interest to join the college in a coherent manner. Read sample SOPs for understanding how to structure them.
Get it Reviewed: If you know students who are currently pursuing similar courses as the ones you are aspiring for, get the SOP reviewed by them. Keep enough time for this as the students will be overseas and the communication and feedback may be delayed. Additionally, get the SOP reviewed by few more people you know, for any errors and to get better perspective.
