12 Tips For Writing High Impact Statement of Purpose

A statement of purpose (SOP) or college admission essay plays an important role in the graduate school admission process.

It indirectly speaks about you – who you are, what have you accomplished, how you will contribute to the development of the university, and many more.

An SOP must be crafted to explain some important questions that any graduate admission committee will be looking for in every candidate who applies for college/graduated school admission.

• Here are some sample SOPs to get you going.

Statement of Purpose – A Complete Guide contains tips from a computer science assistant professor.

And here are a few more tips that can be included in your SOP that will likely make your application standout from the rest of the students who apply for college admission.

1. Clearly state your area(s) of interest
2. Opportunity to your state educational and research accomplishments
3. Relate your accomplishments to a planned research interest in a graduate program.
4. Include awards, certifications, paper publications, etc.
5. Outline any teaching and work experience
6. Teaching experience(s) will help you get a TA position
7. List leadership roles from previous work and school related activities
8. List volunteer work
9. Focus on the positive side of your accomplishments
10. Tailor on the specific program; mention faculty with whom you would like to study with
11. Use correct paragraph construction, spelling, and grammar to demonstrate writing ability
12. Length: brief but informative, and stay within any stated page limits  (max of 2 pages).

Recommendation letters also play a major role in the admission process.

Here are some of tips on writing recommendation letters and some sample recommendation letters.