Writing a Statement of Purpose
The Statement of Purpose is your chance to convince the
admission committee that you will gain from and contribute to its
program. It is also your chance to show off your communication
skills. Keep in mind that for many programs it is your only chance
to "speak" directly to the admission committee, and therefore, you
should be prepared to spend some time writing your
statement(s).
Statements range anywhere from 250 to 2500 words depending on
the program's guidelines. Some programs simply ask for you to
explain why you want study there. Other applications have more
specific guidelines to follow and questions to be addressed. In all
cases, follow directions. Even if you have to write five different
statements for five different programs, be sure that each statement
accurately follows the criteria defined by each program.
Although guidelines vary, most admission committees are looking
for the same information:
- What are your professional goals?
- Why do you want to study at their program?
- What professional and personal experiences have prepared you
for graduate study?
Along the way, they are also trying to discern what type of
student and colleague you will be. After all, some graduate
programs last years and it is up to admission committees to decide
which candidates have the best chance of completing their degrees,
enhancing the program, and being interesting colleagues with whom
to work. All of this is a tall order for such a short document.
Therefore, you want to craft the best and most appropriate
statement possible that will not only answer the above questions,
but make you stand out (in a good way!) from the rest of the
applicant pool.
Getting Started
It is not easy to summarize your personal and academic lives in
a page or two, let alone a few paragraphs. Where do you begin? One
way is to look over your transcripts, see what books you have
chosen to read outside of the classroom, list your employment and
volunteer record, and think about what research or artistic
projects have interested you. Look for common themes or trends that
will help you discover the underlying motivations that led you to
these choices.
Next, try to connect your personal and academic lives. Were
there any major events in your life or people who influenced the
decisions you made or the way in which you made them? What have
been your proudest accomplishments? What have been your worst
failures? What have you learned from both? A strong statement will
be able to connect your professional and personal lives in such a
way that makes it clear who you are and what you want to do.
Form and Content
Your statement's format will depend on each program's
guidelines. Some may only be a paragraph long; others may be
several pages. Be prepared to be flexible. Some statements will be
straightforward and explain clearly and succinctly your
intellectual preparation for graduate study, your career goals, and
how earning a degree from Program X will help you achieve these
goals. If you are applying to a program that will involve research,
you should focus on previous research projects and what your plans
are for research in the future. You will want to indicate not only
how their program will benefit you, but also how you will
contribute to their program or a specific professor's or lab's
ongoing research. (Note that the later is especially the case for
the sciences.)
For longer statements that ask for information regarding your
personal motivations for pursuing an advanced degree, many
successful statements establish a theme in the introduction that
can then be woven into the body and conclusion. This technique adds
cohesion to the entire statement and can make it more memorable to
admission committees. Other statements may include the above
information in the form of a story. Your narrative may elaborate on
one aspect of your resume or an event in your life that helped
shape the person you are today or led you to make your career
choice. If you choose to write a story, it should not be a
mini-autobiography, nor should it be too cutesy or untrue. Whether
or not you write a story, make sure that your statement does not
just rehash your entire resume or curriculum vitae in prose.
Admission committees already have that information from other parts
of your application.
For each statement, be sure that the information you include is
specific. General or declarative statements, such as "I have always
wanted to be a biologist" or "I have always had a passion for
French literature," are not only vague, but they are boring as
well. Demonstrate your interests with detailed examples from your
past or goals for your future. Finally, regardless of the format
and style, be sure to include specifics about the programs
themselves so that you can convince committee members that their
program is right for you.
Some Quick Tips
Do:
- Establish a professional, collegial tone
- Use a consistent theme or idea to tie your entire statement
together
- Focus on research, work, or personal experiences depending on
the questions asked
- Make sure your information all flows together in an organized
way
- Demonstrate abilities with examples (instead of just stating
them as qualities)
- Include relevant, specific information about the program to
which you are applying
- Keep it within the given word limit and formatting
guidelines
- Edit, edit, edit
Do Not:
- Write an autobiography
- Write out your resume or transcripts in prose
- Use clichés
- Base your statement on an overused quotation
- Write about someone else
- Use emphatic words without explanation
- Use uncommon words that look like they came from a
thesaurus
- Lecture your readers
- Criticize other schools' programs
- Be too dramatic
- Be too personal
- Be repetitive
- Be too general
- Beg
- Use the wrong or incorrect name of a school or program
Remember that you will need to write several drafts of each
statement to get it into polished form. Ask family, friends,
professors, and advisors to read through them. Writing a statement
takes time and you should start early so that when you send it off,
you will know it is an example of your best writing and best effort
to persuade admission committee members that you belong at their
program.