How Important Is the SoP for Graduate School?
Getting a masters degree or a PhD is for many a dream. But actually getting onto a program can be almost impossible. They are highly competitive and seek to only recruit those that they perceive as the best. You will have to put together a sizable application that will include everything from your school transcripts through to writing statement of purpose graduate school. Whether you are writing a SoP for research internship or for graduate admissions you have really got to impress the reader.
If you look at our statement of purpose graduate school sample you will see that the level of quality required of your writing is very high. You must be able to grab the attention of the reader and show them quickly and effectively that you are a perfect match to their needs. Achieving this can be very difficult which is why you need to use our advice and professional help.
What Should Be Covered When Writing Statement of Purpose Graduate School?
When you look at our statement of purpose for graduate school example you will see that there are some very specific areas that need to be covered. Writing a statement of purpose for graduate school, as well as a statement of purpose for MS in computer science, requires you to cover the things that the committee will want to know about you.
They will want to see all of the following within your statement:
- Your interest in your chosen subject area: they will want to know how you became interested in your field and what you have been doing to pursue this interest. You need to make your passion for your area come out within your writing so that it is clear that you will get through your studies.
- Your research interests: you need to highlight your specific areas of interest especially for doctorate programs. They will want to see that you have clear ideas of what you want to investigate and that it will align with their own goals and interests.
- How are you qualified to do your research: use clear examples to show the reader how well qualified you are to conduct the research that you are proposing. Give examples from work experience, past research, papers you have written, and others to show clearly that you have the skills that are required of you.
- Success: you need to show that you have been successful in your working and academic life. They want to see that you have the drive to advance yourself and to get things completed satisfactorily.
- What you want from the program: show specifically what you are looking to gain from their program. Show who you want to work with and which parts of the program interest you the most. The more specific you can be with what you say the better.
- Excellent writing skills: when you get to grad school you are going to have a huge amount of writing to do no matter what field you are in. So you need to demonstrate your ability to write well right from the start with your SoP graduate school.
What Is Required in Your Purpose Statement for Graduate School
No matter what program you are applying to you will want to carefully check just what they require from their statement of purpose. Each program is unique and so are their expectations. In general you will be expected to write a statement of 1 to 2 pages in length and format it according to their very specific requirements. Always do your homework to understand what they want and follow those instructions to the letter.
Typically your statement will follow the structure outlined here:
- Introduction: this initial section needs to show your motivation for your subject area. Show why you are interested in your subject area and why you want to study for a postgrad degree. Be clear as to the specific program you are looking to enter.
- Research: clearly show what it is that you see as your research interests and how you developed them. Show your past research experience and also what skills you have developed to be able to do your research successfully.
- Your current interests: Show where your current interests with your subject area lie and how it relates with the program you are applying to.
- How well will you fit with the program: ensure that you do your homework and identify the specific things about the program offered that you will benefit from the most. Ensure that you reflect specific of the program such as faculty members you wish to work with or specific learning that you are interested in.
- Conclusion: summarize how good a fit you will be with the program and show how it will help you to achieve your future career goals.
10 Essential Steps for Writing the Best Statement of Purpose for Graduate School
Achieving the standards shown by our example statement of purpose for graduate school or SoP for Masters in information systems do not have to be difficult if you are prepared to put in the work required. Getting an acceptance letter from your targeted graduate school will mean submitting an application that is superior to those that you will be competing against for a place. Your SoP must be attention grabbing as well as covering the areas that the committee will be looking for.
The following tips for writing a SoP for graduate school will help you to get the results that you are seeking from your application:
- Review a good statement of purpose sample for graduate school admission to get ideas. An SoP graduate school sample will show you how to structure your own and what areas need to be covered. It will also show the style of writing that needs to be employed for your own. Do not however copy any sample of statement of purpose for graduate school as it will neither reflect you, nor target the particular program to which you are applying.
- See what they really want: always carefully take time to review their website and any other information about the program so that you can identify just what they are looking for in a successful applicant. Make a list of what they expect and prioritize it to highlight what is most important to them.
- Brainstorm: use your preferred method of brainstorming to come up with information to reflect what the committee will be looking for. You will use this information to provide the content for your SoP.
- Outline your statement: use our graduate school statement of purpose template to arrange the information required for your writing. This will help ensure that you cover everything required and reduce the amount of rewriting that you may have to do.
- Always target the specific program: the better you reflect what the committee will be looking for the more chance you have of being selected. Using a generic and untargeted statement is not going to help you to get a place.
- Be specific: don’t make generalized or highly clichéd statements. Opening with “ever since I was young…” or making a statement such as “I love business..” is not going to impress anyone. Be specific and make everything unique to you.
- Make your opening sentence attention grabbing: the committee will read many statements so you need yours to wake them up right from that all important opening line. It must be capable of making them want to read on to discover more of what you will say. If not you risk your statement simply blending into all of the others.
- Get feedback: ask others to review what you have written and act on what they have to say. You will probably revise your statement several times so ask others what they really think of it.
- Get to the point: write in a concise manner and do not waste your words. You have only a limited amount of space so you must make every word count.
- Review your writing with care: this will be your opportunity to impress the admission officers and what should be avoidable grammatical or spelling mistakes will ruin your first impression. Proofread your writing with great care to ensure there are no mistakes before you submit your application.
Make sure to get only proficient help writing statement of purpose graduate school today!
Be Specific with Your Writing
Using generic or clichéd statements within your writing is never going to help your application to stand out. If you look at our graduate program statement of purpose sample you will see that it always avoids these forms of statements and aims to provide the reader with specific and personalized information at all times. The following table shows you some of the poor statements that many applicants will include within their statement with suggestions as to how they can be improved significantly by being more specific within your writing:
| Too general or clichéd | More specific and informative |
|---|---|
| I have always been interested in medicine since a young age. | Having been confined for several weeks following a car accident I spent my time observing and talking to the staff… |
| I hope to learn a lot from your program. | I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with your professor Smith whose work in the area of… |
| I have always been destined to be a lawyer. | The debating club at high school is where I got my first taste of winning an argument and persuading others to my point of view… |
| I am a talented leader. | I led a project to introduce a new production line into the company, the multidisciplinary team that I led brought in the line 2 weeks early and $XYZ under budget. |
| I have advanced in my career by leaps and bounds. | During my three years of working, I have been promoted 5 times from admin assistant through to the head of the department. |
Graduate School Statement of Purpose Template
The following outline can be used as a basic template to guide your writing. Remember however to always check the specific requirements of the program that you are applying to and adapt the template accordingly:
- 1st Paragraph, Introduction: Make your opening sentence attention grabbing. Explain why you are interested in this field of education.
- 2nd Paragraph: explain why you want to do research, what research experience you have and why you are good at it, show your intended future research areas.
- 3rd Paragraph: Show what makes you good at what you do. Why you are suited to work in your chosen field and in research.
- 4th Paragraph: explain what you hope to get from their program and what you bring to the program yourself.
- 5th Paragraph, Conclusion: summarize what you have covered and show how it will help you meet your future career goals. Relate back to your opening to complete the statement.
Why Work with Us to Write Your Statement of Purpose Graduate School Education?
We offer our clients the SoP editing service and writing help that you will find online. We are confident that you will be able to submit your application with confidence through the support of our experts. We work directly with you to ensure that your application is highly personalized and targeted to the specific graduate school that you are targeting.
Our SoP editing service and support with writing will always ensure that you submit a unique statement that is highly attention grabbing so that you have the best chance of being selected. With our specialized services you benefit from:
- Pricing that is hard to beat: we detail our costs clearly within the pages of our website and you will be hard pressed to find cheaper for the level of service that we offer.
- Free proofreading: you will be sure of making a good first impression as we will eliminate any issues with your writing.
- Originality: all of our writers work directly with you and write from scratch using your information. This ensures that your statement will be unique and it is supplied to you with a plagiarism report for confirmation.
- A quick turnaround: many of our clients come to us for help at the last minute. We will always ensure that your statement is ready for you within the agreed deadline for your service.
- Guaranteed satisfaction with your SoP: we provide unlimited revisions and write according to your instructions right from the start. If however we cannot supply the statement you expect we will return your money.
