Common Mistakes While Writing an SOP

An SOP or a statement of purpose is a standard document required for admission to universities and colleges all over the world. In essence, a statement of purpose is an essay written by an applicant explaining why they are applying for a particular program, at a specific university. State of purpose can be defined as an interview taken without the person being present in front of the interviewer. SOP plays a significant role in determining whether an applicant gets accepted to or rejected from a university program.

SOPs can be quite simple to write if you have a properly laid out plan and allow yourself sufficient time to craft your essay. SOPs are required for admissions and for visa applications. Both these SOPs have their own purposes and importance. In any case, students cannot afford to make some mistakes in writing their SOPs. Let’s have a quick look at what mistakes one needs to avoid in this important document.

Not Adhering to the Word Limit

Word Limits for SOPs can easily be found on the application guidelines of any online/ offline admission portal. One of the simplest yet gravest errors an applicant can make is falling short of the minimum word limit or exceeding the maximum word limit. Most universities specify a word limit of 1-2 pages for the statement of purpose essays. 500 to 600 words are generally accepted word limits by the universities. If the applicant has numerous achievements and relevant details, they can go up to 800 words. You should remember your SOP is the first interaction the admissions counsellor of a university has with you. In order to ensure that you do not go over the word limit given it is advisable to include only essential points in a concise manner. Disregarding the university guidelines tend to create a negative impression even before the SOP is read.

Being too Informal

Although universities encourage students to be their real selves while writing the SOP, applicants should remember an SOP is their formal representation to an institute. Students should therefore be very careful about using slangs, colloquies or informal language in general.

Excessive Emphasis on Personal Details

Many times applicants feel that all their family achievements, their personal background, or success stories of parents or siblings can influence the decision-maker. They try to emphasize a lot on these details and actually it turns out to be counterproductive.

Also in SOP, all the personal achievements and biodata details are required in short as in your application form they are already mentioned in detail. In the same application package, you do not need to put the same information at multiple places in too much detail. In SOP, personal details must be mentioned crisply and concisely. Providing academic background related to the opted higher course and the related projects, internships, or community/professional work done in the area must be included.

Using Academic Language instead of Colloquial Language

In an SOP it is of utmost importance that colloquial (Non-Academic) and slang words should never be used. Words like a guy for a male, cheers in place of thankyou, or knackered for totally exhausted are not permitted in an SOP. Especially when you are writing an SOP for admission you need to use professional language.

‘When I was talking about it” can be replaced with ‘while I was communicating with or about’; ‘it is quite common’ can be replaced with ‘typically’. This will show your ability to communicate in academic language and also to write your assignments once you are granted admission to a particular institution and course.

Not Including University Prompts

Each university has different specifications with regard to what an applicant should include in their statement of purpose essay. Some programs offer full liberty to students about what they should write in their SOP. However, several institutes have specific instructions regarding what should be included in the essay. Therefore it is essential that an applicant reads the university prompts thoroughly before writing the SOP. Some common questions most universities expect students to address in their SOPs include:

• What interests them about a particular university and program?
• What academic and real-world experiences have they had in this field to date?
• What are their future career plans?

Not Being Specific

It is a common practice to apply to multiple institutes while applying for college. One of the biggest mistakes a student can make is submitting the same essay to all the universities that they are applying to. Since every university has its own set of specifications and requirements for SOPs. Hence an essay written for one university might prove to be ineffectual for the admissions team of another university. Students should therefore be careful to write separate essays for each university they are applying to and tailor their essay to the specifications mentioned by the institute.

Plagiarising and Making False Claims

It can be tempting to just copy an essay off the internet and get over the responsibility of having to write a whole essay from scratch. However, universities use highly sophisticated plagiarism checking software to detect dishonesty of any kind and often disqualify candidates submitting plagiarised SOP. It is simply not worth risking your chances of getting accepted into the college/ university of your dreams on such a triviality.

Some students also hire third parties to write their essays for them. Experienced reviewers can easily spot such SOPs which are not written by the applicant. Lastly, it is advisable to not make false claims of achievements or skills in your SOP. Only write about accomplishments and abilities which can be verified in some manner. Therefore, the best policy is to remain honest and write an original SOP and put in your best effort.

Use of Difficult Words

In the zeal to show their academic vocabulary sometimes the applicants get carried away and feel that if they will be using difficult words it will make their written document more powerful and impressive. It is a myth. While reading your application, the selection committee members have to sit with a dictionary that clearly indicates that you would not be able to communicate easily and comfortably with others as others won’t be able to understand you.

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” That’s absolutely true in writing SOP.

Providing unnecessary information

It happens sometimes that applicants start writing their SOPs without proper research and planning. They do not realize that the information they are providing in the SOP is unwarranted. Students write a lot about their professor and what all they did was to motivate and guide the student. The selection committee members take that information as if the candidate was compelled to opt for the said course and rejected their application. In view of this you need to remain careful while adding details and information taking its relevance and interpretation in consideration.

Ill-structured SOP

SOP is a document that can be written in 100 different styles but in every style, there needs to be coherence and cohesion. The information must be like flowing water and should not have too many times slipping into flashback or future.

There are various ways of structuring an SOP. One can start from the schooling and progress in a traditional way up to the opted course. In another structuring, you can start with the opted course and provide information in descending order. If you feel like starting with schooling ascending to the opted course and then write about the current education then a link is required between the schooling and the opted course.

SOP that swirls into many tenses comes out as a very confusing document and cannot deliver the desired result.

Wordy Statements

The crisp and concise expression has to match in any language and especially in English it represents the most articulate version of any type of writing. Beating around the bush and not being able to state the facts clearly in a precise and accurate manner leads to wordy statements. This reflects that the applicant lacks content and just completed the number of words required.

Try to avoid wordy statements like ‘All the work is done which were done by me under the supervision of my professor, taught me a lot about Electrical Engineering’ can be simply written as ‘Guided work done under my professor brushed my skills in Electrical Engineering’ or taught me a lot about the subject. These are a few examples to avoid impressions of word eating exercises to maintain word limits.

Weak Introduction and Conclusion

Before starting to write your SOP, think from the perspective of the person who will read your essay. Is the opening sentence going to pique their interest or make them yawn at the sight of another boring essay? Remember, morning shows the day and how you begin your SOP decides whether the reviewer will bother to read it at all. There is no need for over the top claims or quotations from your favourite movie. A simple paragraph introducing yourself and stating what program you are applying to should do the trick.

How you end your essay is just as important as how you begin it. An abrupt ending can spoil an otherwise perfectly good essay. A safe choice is to end your SOP by reiterating your genuine interest in the program and your determination to excel in it.

Leaving Things for The Last Minute

SOPs can seem to be a huge challenge and it may seem easier to just leave it lying around for the week before your application deadline. However, procrastinating with your statement of purpose essay can do serious harm to your chances of getting accepted. Rather, it is wise to come up with a time-efficient plan.

You should begin by jotting down your achievements, your motivations for wanting to study a particular subject and a particular college, your career vision for yourself etc. Next, start writing the essay. Allow yourself sufficient time to rewrite it if necessary. Finally, proofread the finished essay and you can heave a sigh of relief because you have just completed a mammoth task, you just completed your SOP!

Emphasis on Future dreams

It is a fact that your higher education is going to fulfill some future dreams and your short term and long term vision needs to be a part of the document. Part means only a part and not the only substance or subject matter of the document.

Sometimes writing too much about future vision and dreams seems to be a choice to show enthusiasm. All that can be done and achieved through the proposed study is impressive, but the most stunning future plans also need to be written in a brief and cannot take more than a couple of lines in the document.