What (SoP) Universities look for.......

 

What do colleges look for in an SoP?

While drafting your SoP, you need to keep in mind that the admission committee will be reviewing thousands of applications for the same course. Thus, not only your SOP needs to be crisp and precise, but it should also highlight the uniqueness in your profile. Here are a few things that the college review committee generally look for in a student’s SoP:

  • Your writing capability is reflected in your SoP. Your SOP should be free from grammatical errors. The language should be lucid enough for them to comprehend yet should have a good vocabulary. Make sure not to use too many heavy words as sometimes too much rich vocabulary makes the sentence redundant and it fails to communicate the meaning.
  • What makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd? Highlight your unique side/unique personality. The Adcom should be able to recognize you an as individual through your SOP. Your interests and goals will help them know you on a personal basis.
  • With your talent, previous experiences and interest, how and what can you contribute to the department and college/university, as a whole? Think of it as a two-way process. If you receive an admit, your career will get a kick-start and through your efforts and participation, the department/college can receive benefits. You need to mention how you will be able to contribute to their community, be it through sports, community services, societies or clubs, and so on.
  • Being familiar with the university facilities and curriculum will help you a great deal. You need to be aware of the student programmes, faculty, internship opportunities, student facilities and societies, traditions etc that sets the university apart from others. The Adcom should be convinced that you know about the department and college/university thoroughly and thus, you are applying in it and not applying randomly.
  • Your motivation or inspiration to study a selected course should be clear, evident and justified. Adcom does not approve of bragging sentences in the SOP. So keep it original, real, and free from any overbearing or arrogant statements.

How to make your SOP stand out from the Crowd?

Now that we have assessed how important your SOP is, we come to the important part – how to write an SOP that stands out amongst 1000s of applicants every year. There are obviously some basics about SOP writing, which clear what all you need to keep in mind like general word limit, format, etc.

What is important to note, is that you must, at all times, remember which course you are writing the SOP for. For example, if you are talking about studying Computer Science in a country, you must discuss all your encounters, experiences, and learnings of Computer Science. Do not miss out on anything important and do not talk about the rest of the things too much.

Specifically speaking, the SOP for an MBA application would be rather different from the SOP for a Masters course like an MS or an MSc. Similarly, the SOP for a Bachelors course would be widely different from any of the two. Here is a look at how to write a winning SOP.

How long should a statement of purpose be?

Statement of Purpose should be 1-2 pages long, ideally wrapped in 800-1000 words. However, the length of this document may vary as per university-specific requirements. Some universities have a fixed length and pattern of SOPs required, which is fixed to 500 words only, even 200 words in some cases. Most of the universities accept generic length, which is 800-1000 words, which may go beyond 1000, but not exceed 1200 words, in some cases.

It is generally easy to write a story of your life explaining the importance of each incident in shaping or moulding your character. However, when it comes to defining your SOP within the communicated word limit by some universities, the challenge is to portray your best within limited words. In such cases, it is better to mention the major achievements from every place you have been to such as school, college, office, etc.

Some abroad universities do not require SOP, they rather give you Essay Prompts along with a word limit. In order to learn the importance of word limit in an SOP, you may refer to this Importance of Word Limit in Essay.

What to Include in an SOP?

There are many elements to an SOP. Universities could ask question-based essays or simply a general statement of purpose. Until and unless categorically asked, an SOP must include your goals and the career path you have taken up so far as well as your academic progress. Other elements that are further important to the SOP are also the personal motivations that lead you to choose the university/course you have applied to as well as how you intend to use that experience to achieve that goal.

While understanding how to write an SOP, we come across various questions. To sum up your entire life and career in 100 words can be a tiresome exercise. With the word constraints rather important, what is important to understand at the onset is what to include in your SOP?

What not to include in an SOP?

Remember that there is no exhaustive list of what you can include in an SOP. What you need to remember is that in such a case, it becomes equally important to understand what you must not include in your SOP. For instance, should you talk about your family? What about your school life? Every organization I have ever worked with? All my extracurricular achievements? How to know the most important question .



Courtesy:https://studyabroad.shiksha.com/sop-statement-of-purpose-applycontent1701

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