SOPbasics

AStatementofPurpose[SOP]isyourpersonalstatementdetailinganswerstoquestionsonsome
ormanyofthefollowing:
you,yourbackgroundandpersonality
thereasonorreasonsformakingaparticularcareerchoice
yourhobbies
Yourshorttermandlongtermcareergoals
Socialinitiativestakenbyyou
Leadershipqualitiesdemonstratedbyyou
Howyouhavedealtwithfailure
Exampleofteamworkattheworkplace
Strengthsandweaknesses
Ethicaldilemmasfacedbyyou

TheimportanceofanSOPintheadmissionprocess
The various questions in an application packet seek to understand the aspirant's personality that is invariably
etched clearly via the answers to the various questions regarding career goals, strengths and weaknesses,
dealingwithfailure,ethicaldilemmasetc.Theseanswersenabletheadmissionspaneltodeterminewhether
he/sheisagoodfitfortheBschool/universityornot.Therefore,anSOPcanmakeormaryouradmittotheB
schoolofyourchoice.

SomepointstobekeptinmindwhilewritinganSOP

A] ORIGINALITY

Theanswershavetoreflectthedistinctive'you'alltheway.So,beoriginal.CopyPasteexerciseswill do

moreharmthangoodasoneshoesizedoesnotfitall,especiallyintermsofpersonality.

B] RELEVANCE

Readthequestionverycarefullybeforeyoustartframingyouressay.Considerthequestion:

"Pleasedetailyourlongtermcareergoals.Whyhaveyouclassifiedthemaslongterm?Doyouforesee

anychangeinthesegoalsinthefuture?"

Now,youmustbecarefulincraftingareplytoeachquestioninaconvincingmanner.Concentratingonlyon

thefirstsegmentwillmaketheessaylopsidedandputofftheadmissionspanel.

C] CONCISENESS

Everyword,everysentenceshouldbepresentintheessayforapurpose.Ramblingandundirectedthoughts

areanonoasyouressaywillbegivenacoupleofminuteswithinwhichthepanelmemberhastolocate

somethingmemorableanddistinctive.

D] IMAGERY
Imagery means using words that enable pictures to form in the minds of the reader. For example, the
phrase'turningpoint'isbetterthanwriting'Thecourseofmylifechangeddecisivelyatthatpointbecause
itsucceedsingivingrisetoapictureinthemindofthereader.

E]

F]

H]

SIMPLICITY
Using too much jargon [specialized terms and expressions intelligible only to a select group], clichs or
longwindedsentencesobscurethepointyouwanttoconvey.

Aprofessionaltoneandelementsofstandardusage
Thereisaworldofdifferenceinthewaywespeakandthewaywewrite.Youshouldavoidinformalstyle
orslangwhilepenningtheacademicessay.Keepingthestandardelementsofusageinmindwillgoalong
wayinensuringanadmit.Refertothepointsregarding'avoidingcommonerrorsinEnglishusage'inthe
Essaysegment.

REVISIONANDEDITING
Reviseandedit whatyouhave written so that theintroductionremains striking;the body of theessay
has coherent paragraphs with a smooth logical flow and spelling/usage errors are minimized. All this
takestime,sobeginwritingtheSOPwellinadvance.

Howtoprepare
1]Thinkdeeplyaboutmattersconcerningyou,yourchoicesandaspectsofpersonality.
2]Adoptprewritingstrategiesandjotdownthoughtsastheyoccur
3]Preparearoughdraftandproofreaditforerrorlocation.
4]Startwellinadvance.

QuestionscommonlypartofanSOPare:

Career:

A]Whatareyourbroadcareerobjectives?

Shortterm[postMBAto3/5years]andlongtermgoals[>5years]
Bespecificandnotwritesomevague,longwindedstatements
Adheretothewordlimit

B]Whatdoyouthinkareyourimportantstrengthsinthecontextofyourapplication?

Letthelanguagebesimpleanddirect.
Strengths are in terms of your personality some examples that you could state : perseverance;
focus;neversaydieattitude,optimismetc.
Weaknesses,too,areintermsofpersonalitysomeexamplescouldbeimpatience;beingangered
easily;excessivecomplaisanceetc.
Donotuseabsolutetermslikenevergetangryalwaystellthetruthetcbecauserememberyou
areahumanbeingandnotwithoutfoibles!

ManagementRelated

Ifyouarewritingaboutinstancesofleadershipandteambuildingskills,allocatewordlimitequally
foreachifawordlimitisstated.Don'tmakeitlopsided.
While writing about what you do in your leisure time, please detail what you derive from each
activity,forexample,ifyouwriteREADING,detailwhichtype,specificgenreandwhatyouderive
lifelessons,boosttoimagination,etc.Genericinformationwillnothavemuchofanimpact.
ForthequestionWhatdoyouexpecttolearnfromyourfellowparticipants?,pleasewriteclearly
thegainsw.r.texperience,knowledge,insightetc.GothroughthespecificBschoolsitefortheclass
compositiontogetageneralideaaboutdiversity.
Extracurricular activities should enumerate something recent (of college days or the workplace)
andsubstantialinnature.