Writing an effective and useful statement of purpose (SOP) for doing Master’s in the USA is an important step every students needs to accomplish. One needs to make it customize, unique and useful for admission purpose. An outstanding and impressive SOP can make a big difference in your admission as 95% of the SOPs end up making a place in the waste box. An SOP with grammatical error can be a disaster.

The best way to stand out in the lot and convince the admission panel is to talk research. One needs to highlight one’s area of interest and how one’s research, ideas and vision can contribute in future about the development of a trend that would be adopted going forward. One needs to show how one can capitalize on those ideas and benefit the larger mass with one’s relentless contribution to the field one is interested to do the Master’s.

Through an SOP a students is expected to show clarity of thought to think hard about a real problem, and show the reasoning skills and intuition for identifying tricky or interesting problems. A student needs to capture clearly his thought through a research area, and some ideas and real thoughts about problems he/she wants to tackle.

While writing so one needs to remember that the ideas need not be as true as the sun and the moon or the thoughts may not be realistic for current research. What matters is that the students have to show their logical reasoning and their passion for research at the same time. It is mandatory for the students to convince the admission panel through SOP about their credibility as right candidates for the institute.

There are students who write their SOP on their own and there are some who get it done by others. If a student belongs to the latter group then the following tips may be helpful:

• Know your interest and research area.

• Read research papers on your interest.

• Read more research papers (follow conference, know about leading professors etc).

• Do you have a new idea after reading several papers? Then your statement of purpose should be about the new research idea.

Through a statement of purpose one needs to show that one has an aptitude for the subject one has chosen, and has a background that fits for the subject and level one is applying for. The statement of purpose should also give a good indication of the type of person you are.

It is of utmost of importance, through a SOP, to analyze your experiences than the experiences themselves. For that purpose you don’t need to invent exciting experiences. All you need to do is to show that you have introspected about the events in your own life, and know how these experiences have shaped your character. You should cover something of your educational experience and interest in the subject. You might choose to write about a particular project, internship, book, etc. that reveals your passion for your area of study.

An SOP is not an exercise in creative writing – stylistic tricks such as direct speech or dramatic openings annoy the reader. The admissions committee will want to see that you can put your ideas forward in a logical manner without wasting words. They have many applications to go through and appreciate short, well-expressed essays. Avoid literary ornamentations in composing your SOP and keep it concise and to the point; be astute to choose the words and make it simple and effective.