FAQs - SoP

 

Statement of Purpose (SOP) FAQs

Q. Do LORs and SOPs need to be attested?

A. Only your LORs need to be attested by your college or company. An SOP need not be attested/self-attested until and unless specified by the university. If you take a LOR from your college professor/school teacher or a Principal/Dean, then that LOR needs to be signed by the recommender along with the college/school stamp and letterhead. Similarly, for professional LORs, they need to be signed by their respective recommenders on the company’s letterhead and company stamp.

Q. How do I write a perfect graduate SOP?

A. One can only follow certain guidelines to write a good draft of SOP and the rest is up to the Adcom to review and accept your profile. However, if you are looking for just the guidelines for graduate (MS) SOPs, you may refer to Writing SOPs for MS Courses with samples.

Q. How do I polish my SOP?

A. Once you have finalised your SOP draft, give it a double-check for grammatical and formatting mistakes. Your next step should be to analyse and critique your essay. Look at your SOP through the eyes of the Adcom and see what you find lacking. For more effective inputs, you can show your drafts to your friends and family and see how they react to them. Accordingly, you can make some changes but do not overdo it or deviate from the format. Lastly, check for spacing errors and save the final SOP which you will be using for the application process.

Q. Should I explain the low grades in my statement of purpose?

A. You should avoid mentioning any low marks or shortcomings about yourself in any of the application documents, including SOP. There are very few universities that ask you about your gap year. For them, you can mention the reason for the gap between your studies. Generally, no university asks about low grades during your study period as your selection depends on various criteria like exam scores, student profile, financials, and so on. Thus, it is advised against mentioning any flaws or low marks.

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