Education Trends: Want to study abroad? Here’s how to write an SOP.

3 min read

Edition: January 16th, 2022
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS


SOP’s are an essential part of the application process and weigh heavily when your application is evaluated. (Image Source: catking.in)

Applying for courses abroad is a tedious process. From procuring a plethora of documents to paying the hefty fee for application, the process can be exhausting. However, the thing that bothers people most when applying for higher studies is writing their Statement of Purpose (SOP).

SOP’s are an essential part of the application process and weigh heavily when your application is evaluated.

What is a Statement of Purpose?

  • SOP is a personal statement that you have to write in order to complete your application process.
  • It is essentially an essay where you-
    1. Draw out a self-portrait
    2. List out your academic qualifications
    3. Express your motivations for pursuing the course
    4. Share any relevant experience you have
    5. Traits of your family, any details which were not in your application form.

Here are 4 points to remember while writing an SOP:

1. Tell the truth.

  • It is very easy to go overboard while describing your achievements and personality.
  • Make sure you don’t over exaggerate your achievements and qualifications as the experienced evaluators will know when you’ve done so.

2. Plan out how you want to write your SOP.

  • It helps to have a specific plan on how you’re going to write your SOP as it will avoid confusion.
  • Planning will also help you organise your SOP well so that it does not appear jumbled.
  • If your SOP is well planned, it will be easier for the recruiters to read and hence it will be evaluated more accurately.

3. Don’t get into too many details.

  • Please remember that you need to provide a brief summary of yourself and not your entire family history.
  • Provide a brief overview of your interests, experience and personality to avoid giving too many details.
  • Writing in detail will increase your word count and will cause the essay to be very lengthy and difficult to read.

4. Review before you send it.

  • Make sure to read your SOP extensively before sending it to the university or a college as you will not be able to make edits later.
  • Even the most experienced writers make mistakes, so it is important to go over your essay to weed out any mistakes.
  • Reviewing your essay will also help you improve the language that you have written your essay in.

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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)

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