SOP stands for your ‘Statement of Purpose’ you write while you apply for an international academic qualification. There are different names to the document as per different countries in the world. The most common terms are SOP, Motivation letter and Vision Statement. For many students, especially who do not have a strong command of the English language, writing a SOP can be tricky and exhausting process. In this blog, we are going to touch upon the basic components of SOP.

Here is what the founder of Edussphere Consultancy says – “Your SOP is the highway to your dreams from the real hassle of academia and a successful professional career.”

What is SOP? Your SOP is a document that introduces you as a person and a prospective student to the admission authority. It consists of the student’s entire academic journey, his or her future prospects, goals and aspirations for choosing a particular programme and the foreign country. It provides insights in the student’s life that further helps the authorities to assess a student and his or her potential. It is important to write this essay as it helps aids the admission committee in comprehending why the individual is a fitting candidate and the distinctive qualities or experiences they contribute. 

Must remember: A well-written SOP can influence and even convince the authorities to grant you admission (and maybe scholarships in some universities) in your dream university. While, an inadequate SOP will create a negative impact on the chances of approval.

Other than SOP, there is CV which is an introduction to you without meeting the admission authorities. However, the CV is a very brief document. It does not give much idea of the personality, rather it lists only academic achievements and work experience. Therefore, drafting a strong SOP creates heavy impression. With the combination of both CV and SOP with other documents, it consists of the majority part of the decision.

What does the SOP consist of? It starts with a brief introduction about the student, his/her family and the idea of how you think you deserve admission to your preferred program at your target university.

For the second paragraph, you can choose to mention some of the academic history to allow the authorities to understand where you come from. You can include the reasons for opting for the respective career. In other words, they understand to check whether your academic history is sufficient for you to be able to pursue the next step in education, especially on the foreign land.

The third paragraph talks about your work experience, how work/industry/volunteering experiences have mould you to be ready enough for taking the next step towards the building of your professional career. Usually, these can be broken down into two different paragraphs. However, if you are a fresher, you can briefly write all above parameters into one.

At this stage, it is must to utilize the fourth paragraph to clearly state the reasons for choosing the university, programme and country. It is must that there is practical reasoning in this paragraph rather than directly and indirectly buttering the admission committee. Moreover, it is vital to describe how you can benefit the student community and to the university.

Finally, towards the end, your SOP should have a proper conclusion. This brings up the parts and sub-divisions of the SOP together. It can be a summarized version of all the aspects vital to why you deserve admission at your prospective university and how you can contribute to the university student’s population.

Other Important Areas: Ideally, this document is about 500-700 words and not more than two pages. This document must be coherent in conveying the information. It should be persuasive and appealing to the authorities. Only when the authorities believe in the student’s abilities and consider him or her to be an asset to the institution, you may have a favourable decision. The content should be smartly briefed while not ignoring any important information. Redundancy has to be minimised at any cost. Improper flow within the document takes away the essence of your purpose. Lastly, make sure not to add any false information in the SOP that one cannot prove. In the process, when an interview is followed after submitting the documents. All the aspects in the essay can be cross-checked. If failed to establish the trust, then there are high chances of not acquiring the offer letter. Social desirability to present oneself in the limelight should be kept aside and only factual data must be added.

Beyond writing the SOP, it is the student’s responsibility to make the document plagiarism-free. Often people copy templates and carry out minor edits putting little or no effort at all. These works fall under the copied category. No similar people have exact same aspirations. With plagiarism tracking software, it is now much easier to get the application automatically rejected. So, make sure your SOP is original and reflects authenticity. Once the SOP is fully drafted, it must be run through several proof-read checks to find for any errors including plagiarism so as to avoid any unintentional plagiarism or unwanted rejection of your application.

Concluding this blog, crafting a persuasive SOP demands thoughtful deliberation and meticulous attention to detail. The document should exhibit a well-organised structure, conciseness, and customization to meet the particular prerequisites of the institution.

When you have the zeal to strive for overseas education, it is our responsibility at Edussphere Consultancy to find you the best options that suits within your budget and your writing needs. We are hoping to hear from you now!