Statement of Purpose

Many professors, department websites, applications, and current graduate students will tell you
that the statement of purpose is the most important part of the application. While the statement
of purpose is the best way for the admissions committee to gauge your writing skills, it is quite
different from the college admissions essay, or the law school personal statement. Admissions
committees will not be looking for the most well-written essay with the catchiest introduction.
What they really mean when they talk about the statement of purpose is that the research
interest match between you and the program is the most important factor for admission, and
your interests are revealed in the statement of purpose. In addition to making sure your interests
and eperiences are aligned with the program!s offerings, the statement of purpose is a way for
the admissions officers to see how you think, either by your evaluation of your prior research
eperiences and coursework, and"or by your presentations of new ideas that you wish to pursue
in graduate school and beyond.
In bullet point form, here are some tips for the personal statement.
Leave roughly 1/3 of the essay to talk about the future
In this section you can describe your interests, goals, career plans after graduate school,
and why the school you are applying to is a good choice to pursue these interests. If
there is a stringent word limit, make sure you include this part, even at the epense of
leaving out some of your past. #our history should be reflected elsewhere in the
applications, through your recommendations, cv, etc.
Don't list experiences and aards
If awards are listed elsewhere in the application $which they are according to nearly all
forms%, don!t put them here again& 'ot only is it a waste of space but it also makes you
sound arrogant. If there is something listed on your c.v. that deserves eplanation, you
can put it in here, but even then it could be better to have a letter writer mention it, if the
award is something s"he is familiar with.
!rite for each school
#our statement should read as though you wrote it specifically for the school to which
you are applying. (his may mean that you can leave ) paragraphs the same for each
school and change *ust the +th for each application. ,owever, sometimes it means
tweaking other parts of the essay as well. I did this for -. schools, and it was definitely
worth it& #ou should definitely mention specific professors you would like to work with. If
you do not do this, your application may be missed altogether $one school said they
worked this way, even though they didn!t warn applicants ahead of time&% #ou may even
mention how your interests are specifically aligned to work that some of the professors
have done. (his step should not be hard if you have already done your research on the
schools you!re applying to.
Sho" don't tell
/ometimes the best way to demonstrate your passion for or knowledge of your field is to
include an anecdote. It takes up space, but it can be engaging to the reader, and is much
more convincing than saying, 0I love reading about...0. Instead, say, 01ne night I stayed
up until 2am doing non-required reading on 333 because I was so curious as to why....0
Don't get too personal
4emember, it!s called a 0statement of purpose0, '1( a 0personal statement.0 (his is not
an essay about your emotional development. If something in your personal life is integral
to your studies, then you should include it. ,owever, most of the time, professors do not
want to read about your personal life. (he statment of purpose should read more like a
professional document. ,owever, there are eceptions to this5
D# mention/explain rough areas
If there is a specific reason you had a semester where your 67A was a 8.9 or your math
64: section was a )89, then very briefly mention it in the statement. ,owever, if there is
a separate optional essay for this sort of thing, include it there and don!t mention it in the
statement. If there is a reason you should mention it somewhere, because otherwise
professors will not give you the benefit of the doubt. ,owever, be as quick as possible
and do not make ecuses for yourself.
$se professional language
;onvey passion, but avoid using 0passion,0 0love,0 and similar words to describe your
research. Also avoid superlatives. <on!t say, 0this is the best program for me0 unless
you!re absolutely sure it is. Instead, say, 0ideal program,0 which may be true of more than
one school. <o not use colloquial language in your statement.
%void cliches Many students will say, 0I!ve always wanted to be a
psychologist"scientist"writer"historian,0 or, 0ever since I went to the === museum when I
was five, I knew I wanted to ===.0 (hese stories will make the committee members! eyes
roll and they don!t do anything to eplain your current knowledge, ideas, and goals. It is
ok to start off with a 0boring0 introduction in order to avoid these openings. If you start
with a meaningful anecdote that demonstrates your intellectual development, that is a
great idea, but avoid throw-away sentences.
&e concise Many applications will have a page or word limit which is usually about -
page single-spaced or 8 pages double-spaced. Adhere to these guidelines, unless they
sound unreasonable, in which case you should call the department to ask whether the
guideline is strict. $1ne of my applications called for a )99 word limit, which is quite short&
When I called about it, they said there was no actual limit.% :ven if an application does
not have a word limit, you should cut unecessary information and verbiage wherever
possible. A committee member is more likely to read your essay thoroughly if it is no
more than 8-> pages long.
"www-personal.umich.edu"?mooreks"sop.html
Economics (STATEMENT OF PURPOSE SAMPLE 1)
The Economics Student
In this essay I am going to concentrate mostly on the incentives that stimulate me to
pursue further studying, and reflect the motives for my choice of Princeton University as
well as state my future career objectives.
I have chosen to work in the area of international microeconomics because it has such a
demand for new ideas. At the same time it requires a good mathematical background and
has obvious implications in real life.
y education suits this field very well, I have aster of !cience with "onors in the field of
applied mathematics and physics and a aster of Arts in economics with a speciali#ation in
international economics. I already have e$tensive research e$perience both in applied
sciences and economics, know basic economic models and have strong background both in
abstract modeling and data manipulation. All this probably makes me an economist, but
my objective is to become a good one.
I have been taught by very good lecturers. After course I took with Professor %ranson I
decided that there is nothing more interesting than international economics. Professor A
made issues of monetary economics and government policy fascinating. &ectures delivered
by Professor % attracted me to labor market problems. I enjoyed listening to them and
want to teach my mind to operate in a similar manner '' attention is paid to every
individual fact and each formal problem solved reflects a real economic situation.
(hile writing my master)s thesis I had a chance to see that a simple look at a graph can be
more useful than application of sophisticated economic techniques. *ne of the reasons I
want to study further is to reach at least the same level of intuitiveness and panoramic
view of the subject as my teachers have.
y aster of Arts degree was in the field of "ealth +conomics, which I am very interested
in. It was mostly empirical dissertation. y dissertation was titled ,.., and I worked under
the guidance of Professor -. .he greatest part of my work was devoted to macroeconomic
cross'country econometric /panel data0 analysis. .he task was complicated by the
necessity to work with omitted variables and low quality data as well as the low reliability
of data for developing countries and countries in transition.
(e also made efforts to build a model that e$plains the impact of macroeconomic
parameters on health deterioration and the probability of death. y master)s thesis has
been presented at the ,1ussian +conomic And Political Institutions In .ransition,
conference and currently we are preparing it for publication.
At this time I am also doing empirical research devoted to inflation and monetary policy. I
feel cautious specifying which area of economics interests me most for further study, but I
do not think that this is a drawback. I find economics particularly attractive for the fact
that it is broad, and has not yet been split into a set of narrow sub'branches '' economists
all speak almost the same language. I also think that in the face of comple$ity we face in
this discipline, it would ineffective to speciali#e too narrowly.
.his year I reali#ed as I had not before that I wish to continue my studies. %eing a
teaching assistant in Professor A)s acroeconomics and Advanced acroeconomics classes,
I understood a lot of effort must be applied for a good student to turn into a good teacher.
I feel that a similar gap lies between a good student and a good researcher.
I am a hard'working and determined person, and I am ready for a new leap in my
economics career. I will work hard in hope that the quantity of the effort I put in will
result in high quality knowledge. .he fact is that the best possible supervisors and a highly
competitive atmosphere are necessary for this quality. .he only reasonable decision for
me was to aim for such a place. All this gives me the motivation to apply to Princeton
University.
www.achieverspoint.com
Statement of Purpose (Sample 2)
My purpose for applying to graduate school is to both expand on my existing
knowledge and to create additional opportunities for myself in the future. I believe
that graduate school will prepare me for a successful and challenging career in the
aerospace industry.
Even though I have chosen dynamics as my feld of specialization, I am keeping my
mind open to other areas of aerospace so that I do not limit myself. I am currently
working at !" in an academic part time position and I believe that this frst hand
experience will clarify my future educational needs and directions.
#hile attending $%"&, I have had a number of part time positions, which included
being a computer consultant, &uto%&' operator, and a lab for the (on)'estructive
Evaluation "aboratory at $%"&. My diverse work experiences have given me a better
understanding of what opportunities are available to me. *here is so much that I
would want to learn and under) stand. I have always been fascinated with the space
program, and some day,I want to be instrumental in operating in the space program.
I have wanted to be an engineer ever since my father shared with me some of his
published engineering ariticles. I have always been a hard worker and have shown
that I can handle a diverse work load incoporating work and college intocollege into
my schedule.
I believe that $%"& can provide me with the tools to succeed in the aerospace
industry. I have en+oyed attending $%"& as an undergraduate student and would
en+oy being a graduate student here as well.
www.audiy.com,guidefle,guide--.htm