Some guidelines for writing an SOP (Statement of Purpose)
Writing a statement of purpose, especially for admission into foreign universities for advanced courses, is no child’s play. The SOP lays out your academic background, your interests, your personality and your future plans so proceed with the SOP with due diligence to address all points that the person evaluating it is likely to look for. You may follow these guidelines:
- Choose a course and university with care. Do not leave it to the consultant or the SOP writer to check the university and course curriculum. Download all details of the course. Search for and find data about standing of the college/university and find out reasons why it is the best choice.
- SOPs should be typed double spaced with adequate margins all around the page. Do not choose fancy fonts or borders.
- Structure your SOP into various sections such as academics, projects done, work experience, extra-curricular activities, community service, leadership qualities, reason for choosing the course, university and country, and your career goals.
- Maintain coherence and flow
- Be very particular about language, grammar and spelling. Keep sentences short and simple. If this is difficult for you then jot down points and then get your SOP written by an expert.
- Be careful about choice of fonts. Serif or sans serif font like Times New Roman or Helvetica should do. Headings and sub-headings should be bold and font size should be larger.
- Prepare a first draft. Study and examine it objectively, from the eyes of the person who will read it and decide about your admission. Get your friend to read it and evaluate it. Rework until your SOP is acceptable.
- Stick to essentials. Do not include too many insignificant details which are of no importance to the evaluating person. Try to keep the word count to 1000 or less.