STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

A statement of purpose, or personal statement, is a brief and focused essay about one's career
or research goals, and is frequently required for applicants to universities, graduate schools,
and professional schools. A statement of purpose (SoP) is a concise essay about one's career
goals, identified means to achieve them and accomplishments so far towards those goals. It is
a required document when applying for admission to most professional programs in the
United States. Often, SoP is used as a yardstick to assess the capabilities of a prospective
student in terms of critical thinking, analytical abilities, interests, aims and aspirations. It is a
good way for an applicant to communicate with the admissions committee. Most admissions
committees look for a short, crisp and ideologically clear SoP.
It is also known as a Graduate School Essay. Other universities sometimes call it a "Letter of
Intent", "Letter of Intention", "Statement of Intent", "Statement of Intention", "Statement of
Interest", "Goals Statement", "Personal Statement", "Personal Narrative" or "Application
Essay". The name can be just a name but often it influences content and length of the essay.
Every university has its own regulations, but most of the time it will be 1-2 pages.
PREPARING YOUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE & PERSONAL STATEMENT
Keep these in mind while writing your Statement of Purpose
Think very seriously about why you really want to go to graduate school and put it in
your statement.
Make your Statement reflect your thought about the research and writing work you
have done. It should mention what inspired you to pursue literary criticism, and the
sort of very broad trajectory youd like to pursue.
Its fine to mention professors who inspired your work and thought, and why.
Personal history is fine if it is relevant to your decision or what you intend to pursue
in school.
SEVERAL POINTS OF ADVICE FOR STATEMENTS OF PURPOSE AND
WRITING SAMPLES
Spend LOTS of time on your statement of purpose! It is one of the things in your
application that will set you off from the other applicants.
Be honest, but dont be sappy. You should really think about why you want to go to
graduate school, and why a particular program seems to be a good fit. Avoid the I
love literature, the I love to read or the I really want to teach statement at all
costs.
Be ready to outline your interests as closely as you can. Explain what you want to
work on and why a particular programs faculty is exciting to you.
Have current faculty members (especially those writing your letters of
recommendation) read your statement. This is very important. Begin working on it
early so you can revise!
Ask a anyone you trust to read it over as wellagain, give them lots of time to do
this!.
Your writing sample should be a research paper from a class you have taken here. It
should usually be from 12-25 pages long and should represent your best intellectual
work.
If it is in the field you want to pursue, all the better, but it need not be. Your English seminar

paper might be a good example of the type of work you should be submitting.
REVISE that writing sample substantially! Again, with the help of those faculties
writing letters on your behalf. You may want to ask (well in advance) what sort of
changes might move the paper towards graduate level and work on those revisions for
your applications.
WRITING A WINNING STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
I. Determine your purpose in writing the statement
Usually the purpose is to persuade the admissions or employment committee that you are an
applicant they should choose. The statement is to show that you have the ability and
motivation to succeed in your field or you may want to show the committee that, on the basis
of your experience, you are the kind of candidate who will do well in the field. Whatever the
purpose, it must be explicit to give coherence to the whole statement.
1. Pay attention to the purpose throughout the statement so that extraneous material is
left out.
2. Pay attention to the audience (committee) throughout the statement. Remember, your
audience is made up of faculty members who are experts in their field. They want to
know that you can think as much as what you think.
II. Determine the content of your statement
Be sure to answer any direct questions fully. Analyze the questions or guidance statements.
For example: "What are the strengths and weaknesses in setting and achieving goals and
working through people?" In this question there are actually six parts to be answered 1)
strengths in setting goals, 2) strengths in achieving goals, 3) strengths in working through
people, 4) weaknesses in setting goals, 5) weaknesses in achieving goals and 6) weaknesses
in working through people. Pay attention to small words. Notice: This example question says
through people not with people, if it says with people, answer that way.
Usually graduate and professional schools are interested in the following:
1. Your purpose in graduate study. This means you must have thought this through before
you try to answer the question.
2. The area of study in which you wish to specialize. This requires that you know the field
well enough to make such decision.
3. Your future use of your graduate study. This will include your career goals and plans for
your future.
4. Your special preparation and fitness for study in the field. This is the opportunity to relate
your academic background with your extracurricular experience to show how they unite to
make you a special candidate.
5. Any problems or inconsistencies in your records or scores such as a bad semester. Be sure
to explain in a positive manner and justify the explanation. Since this is a rebuttal argument,
it should be followed by a positive statement of your abilities.
6. Any special conditions that are not revealed elsewhere in the application such as a large
(35 hour a week) work load outside of school. This too should be followed with a positive
statement about yourself and your future.
7. You may be asked, "Why do you wish to attend this school?" This requires that you have
done your research about the school and know what its special appeal is to you.
8. Above all this, the statement is to contain information about you as a person. They know
nothing about you that you dont tell them. You are the subject of the statement.
III. Determine your approach and the style of the statement

There is no such thing as "the perfect way to write a statement." There is only the one that is
best for you and fits your circumstances.
There are some things the statement should not be:
a. Avoid the "what I did with my life" approach. This was fine for grade school essays
on "what I did last summer." It is not good for a personal statement.
b. Equally elementary is the approach "Ive always wanted to be a __________." This is
only appropriate if it also reflects your current career goals.
c. Also avoid a statement that indicates your interest in psychology is because of your
own personal psychotherapy or a family members psychological disturbance. While
this may have motivated many of us to go on to graduate study in psychology, this is
not what your audience is necessarily looking for in your statement.
THESE ARE SOME THINGS THE STATEMENT SHOULD DO:
1. It should be objective yet self-revelatory. Write directly and in a straightforward
manner that tells about your experience and what it means to you. Do not use
"academese" or jargon.
2. It should form conclusions that explain the value and meaning of your experiences
such as: (1) what you learned about yourself; (2) about your field; (3) about your
future goals; and (4) about your career concerns.
3. It should be specific. Document your conclusions with specific instances or draw your
conclusions as the result of individual experience. See the list of general Words to
Avoid Using without Explanation listed below.
4. It should be an example of careful persuasive writing.
CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT FORM:
1. Keep to the Page Limit Number!!! Reviewers have to read hundreds of these
applications; dont overburden them with extra pages.
2. Do not leave in typographical errors. You dont want to be taken less seriously due to
a typo, rite?
Words to avoid using without explanation
significant invaluable appealing to me
interesting exciting, excited appealing aspect
challenging enjoyable, enjoy I like it
satisfying, satisfaction I can contribute its important
rewarding valuable fascinating
gratifying helpful appreciate
meaningful useful helping people
meant a lot to me feel good I like to help
stimulating remarkable people
incredible
CHECKLIST FOR WRITING A STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Organization ...
A "hook" that demonstrates your passion for the field
Segu to your background in the field
Description of your academic background in the field
Specific classes you have taken, given by name
Specific professors you have had, especially if well-known in that field

Extracurricular activities in the field

Publications or other professional accomplishments in the field (perhaps conference
presentations or public readings)
Explanations about problems in background (if needed)
Explanation of why you have chosen the specific grad school
Mention one or two professors in that school and what you know of and appreciate
about their work
Specific features of the grad program which attract you
Get advice from several of your professors philosophical advice as well as specific
writing advice
Proofread and copyedit; ask friends to proofread and copyedit as well
Keep working on the statement of purpose, even after you have already sent it to
school(s) with earlier deadline(s)