Guidelines for Making Statement of Purpose ( SOP ) for Study Abroad in Canada – Australia – USA – UK – Germany – France – Ireland – Finland – New Zealand – Netherland – Singapore 

Writing an SOP isn’t Rocket Science. Learn how to write an effective one!

A Statement of Purpose (SOP) is an integral part of a student’s admission application to a university.

Read these 9 Tips & Start Writing Compelling SOPs that get you offers! Writing an SOP need not give you (or your students) sleepless nights. Just follow these tips & write exceptional SOPs that do justice to your profile!

Tip No. 1: Visualize & Plan

 As with any other task, you need to visualize how your SOP will look, and plan on getting the main elements together to form a coherent story. So think about highlights from your academics, extracurricular & co-curricular activities, work experience, family background, and hobbies that you can include in your Statement of Purpose.

Tip No. 2: Choose a Hero Element (or two)

 Select one or two events or highlights from your studies or career that make your SOP stand out. These could be a brilliant academic record from Year 10, Year 12, or Bachelor’s education, or a work project that won you accolades. The highlights selected should be relevant to the program you’re applying for and should boost your candidature in a prominent manner.

Tip No. 3: Stay within the (Word) Limits

 It is always a good idea to know the word limit (if any) and follow it while writing your SOP. If a word limit is not mentioned, try to keep your SOP to around 1000 words. Brevity is a skill & what better way to display it than by writing your personal statement concisely.

Tip No. 4: Don’t Plagiarize

 The temptation to lift a passage or two from the internet or from your friend’s SOP is real, but you must resist it. Write your SOP in your own words to make it sound authentic, and run it through an online plagiarism check tool (such as Grammarly) to ensure that it passes muster.

Tip No. 5: Include Relevant Details Only

 While it is good to touch upon some personal details such as your family background & upbringing, you should limit these to a few lines & quickly move on to the more relevant parts of your academic & professional journey. An SOP should also provide justification for your study abroad decision (why you’ve chosen a particular country, university & program) & explain how a particular program will help you further your career goals.

Tip No. 6: Project a Genuine & Likeable Persona

 The admissions committee members like to see a positive, enthusiastic & authentic tone in every applicant’s statement of purpose. Try & project a positive outlook on past life events (including successes & failures). Show that you are optimistic about the study experience to be provided by the university you’ve applied to & hopeful for a career progression in the right direction.

Tip No. 7: Provide Supporting Examples

 To make your SOP more believable & effective, include one or two supporting examples for each major assertion that you’ve made regarding your qualities or skills. E.g., if you’ve claimed that you’ve been an outstanding student academically, your performance in school/ university exams must back it up.

Tip No. 8: Proofread Your Work

 As with any other written work, checking your SOP for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors & typos are a must. Do proofread your SOP to remove errors that may make the admissions team turn up their noses.

Tip No. 9: Get Your SOP Reviewed

 As a final step before submitting your SOP, get a professional SOP editor or writer to review it so that any errors that may have crept in unnoticed are removed and your SOP is ready to go out and impress the admissions committee!

With these 9 Golden Tips in hand, we’re sure you’ll find SOP writing to be a piece of cake.

Make your Statement of Purpose ( SOP ) using these broad points. Use your own language

Paragraph 1: Introduction

In 100 words or less, tell us about you and your family. 

Consider these questions in your response:

• Are you married or single?
• If you are married, when did you marry?
• What do your parents do? Details of your siblings. 
• Do you have family living in your Selected Country? If so, what do they do?

If you have dependents (spouse and children), please provide their names, date-of-birth and if they plan to accompany you, join you later, or remain in their home country whilst you study in your Selected Country.

Paragraph 2: Your course

In 300 words or less, tell us the name of your course and why you have applied for this program.

Consider these questions in your response: How will this program benefit your future? How is this program related to previous studies? If this program is not related to previous studies, why have you decided to change your career path? What do you know about this program( write your program code and course details)? What do you like about the program structure? Are you aware of the full cost of this program?

Record brief details of your education history – from Year 10 and 12 equivalent qualifications to your highest qualification. Mention your percentage, Board and month, and year of passing. Is there any gap in your studies? If yes, mention the reason.

** If your Academic background is poor , include the points mention in the topic at the end .

Mention your IELTS or PTE score overall and each.

Write achievements if any. If you are working, mention your work experience with the following details:

name of company and location, Date of Joining, designation, date of leaving. 

Mention where are you working currently, Date of Joining, and designation.

Paragraph 3: About your university/college

In 300 words or less, tell us why you have chosen ______________________.(Your university/college ) 

Consider these questions in your response:

• What research have you done that has led you to choose (name of your university/college)?
• Why have you chosen _____________ _______over other university/college?
• Which other university/college did you apply/consider.
• Prepare a table for the comparison of the name of the University, fees structure, no. of campuses, Scholarship and rank of the university (the Universities of the same country)                                          ( Always compare with the universities/college with the same course  by keeping in mind that your chosen university/college is the best out of them)
• What do you know about (name of your university/college)?
• Mention 10 to 15 subjects of your course in your university/college

Paragraph 4: Why this country ( Australia / Canada / USA / New Zealand / UK / Ireland / Germany / Spain / Italy or any other countries) ?

In 300 words or less, tell us why you have chosen to study in your Selected Country.

Consider these questions in your response:

• How will studying in your Selected Country benefit your future?
• Why have you particularly chosen to study in____________________ (name of the city)?
• What research have you done into other countries that have led you to choose your Selected Country as your preferred study destination?
• If any benefits regarding Post Study Work Visa, Internship, Crime rate, and TPS (For Australia only)

Paragraph 5: Why not India ( Home Country )?

In 200 words or less, tell us why you don’t want to study in India ( Home Country )?

Consider these questions in your response:

• If your program is offered in India ( Home Country ), why don’t you want to study it there?
• How is the education system in your Selected Country different from that in your HOME country and how will this benefit you?

Paragraph 6: Immigration History :

• Prepare a table if you traveled to any other countries. Mention the following details.
• Name of the country, traveling from date, traveling to date, the purpose of traveling, and visa type. 

Paragraph 7: Future plans after completing studies in your Selected Country

What are your future plans after you complete this program?

Consider these questions in your response:

• What job do you expect to get once you complete this program?
• Where do you intend to work once you have completed this program?
• Do you have an offer of a job when you return to your home country? If not, how do you intend to look for a job once you return? Write website links that you can use for searching for a job. Mention the destinations that you can achieve after completion of your course and the name of companies in India.
• What expectations do you have about your expected future salary once you have your Selected Country’s qualification?
• What salary will you get with your Selected Country’s qualification on your return to India ( HOME Country )                                     

Paragraph 8: Fund details:

•  Mention your fund details with Bank name, amount of loan, the value of movable and immovable assets in INR, and the name of the Fund sponsorer. (No need for valuation report)

Paragraph 9: Incentive to return to India :

• Mention the salary difference which you will get with your current qualification in India and after completion of the course abroad. 
• With these differences, you can show the cost-benefit analysis. Show your expense for your course can compensate in a short time of 1 year only.

**How to explain low GPA(Poor Academic Record)   in Personal Statement?

1. 1. Personal Problems.
   2. Good Grades in Major Subjects.
   3. Financial Problems.
   4. Relevant Work Experience.
   5. Word of Caution.

• Personal Problems

A very common reason that can justify your bad performance in one semester can be

• • personal health or unfortunate personal reasons.
  • For one semester only, not the entire education

• Good Grades in Major Subjects

If you have a low overall GPA but have

• • excellent grades in your major subjects or
  • The field towards your passion in the particular subject area.

• Financial Problems

  • You had to study and work at the same time to make ends meet.
  • In trying to do so, you were not able to entirely focus on your studies
  • And this would go in your favor. Write in 2 to 3 lines only.

• Relevant Work Experience

  • Your relevant work experience (internships, etc.),
  • workshops or
  • certifications,
  • extra courses that you took,
  • And excellent scores in standardized testing like GRE, GMAT, etc.

• If not any of the above reasons

  • Your grades don’t translate your potential and abilities and that you are motivated in your field of study.
  • Mention these things in a few lines in your letter of reference.

• Strong Recommendations

  • Add two recommendation letters.
  • Ask someone authoritative to write you a stellar reference letter.
  • Ideally, this can either be a Ph.D. professor or a senior manager at your company.

Click here and fill up the details for the preparation of your statement of purpose(SOP)

Sprinkle your SoP with these 5 elements👇

1. Start with an anecdote🗣

• • 2-3 lines about the moment you decided to pursue field X seriously.

2. Don’t talk negatively about yourself❌
3. Quantify your achievements💯

• • Use numbers, percentages, and statistics to show concrete contributions.

4. Specify the gaps you envision addressing.

• • Also, elaborate on what you hope to learn & imbibe.

5. Relate to the long-term vision of the program✈️

• • Prove how you identify with their philosophy

Watch the Video on How To Write A Perfect Statement of Purpose (SOP / Admissions Essay) explain by ChetChat MasterClass

Team Kumar Direct wishes you all the best for your applications for the upcoming intakes.