What not to include in your Statement of Purpose (SOP)

A Statement of Purpose, or SOP, as it is commonly referred to, is easily the most important 1000 words that stand between your application and admission to that dream program. As important as it may be to know what you should include in your SOP, it is equally, or perhaps more important, to understand what not to include in this crucial document.

What is an SOP?

A Statement of Purpose, or SOP, as it is commonly referred to, is easily the most important 1000 words that stand between your application and admission to that dream program. As important as it may be to know what you should include in your SOP, it is equally, or perhaps more important, to understand what is not included in an SOP document.

Remember not to include what is not true in case of SOP, as the admission committee may want to verify all that you write, and ask probing questions. This is especially true in the case of a statement of purpose for masters, where you need to list down all your relevant experiences. While you may think that mentioning fake credentials can help your candidature, they can actually land your application in jeopardy.

It is not rare that universities come across a lengthy statement of purpose that is rejected, despite being descriptive and thoroughly proofread. The primary reason why universities turn down such seemingly excellent SOPs is too much unnecessary information. For instance, just because you find it significant to mention something about your family, it does not mean you ramble on about your family only. This is not because a candidate is not aware of what to include. Rather, what they fail to understand is what not to include.

Before including anything the SOP, you must ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is it relevant to the field/course/program that I am applying for?
2. Will this experience showcase me in good light or help improve my chances of selection?
3. Is this something that the admissions committee wants to know about me, or would be impressed by?
4. Is there anything about my profile, background or experiences that I should elaborate on?
5. Is there anything important about my profile that I could not properly convey or elaborate in my resume?

Remember that the admission committee only has a few minutes allotted to evaluate each applicant’s profile. As such, your SOP should be more substance than style. Hence it is advisable to start strong, and give the university enough reasons to select you for the program.

What not to include in your Statement of Purpose

1. All your accomplishments:

Yes, we understand that you were an ace in your academics and a star hockey, tennis and volleyball player. We also understand that you were the lead vocalist of your college band and have at least 50 medals and endless recommendations from your teachers and other prominent people in your life. However, while your SOP can be a brag sheet, it should be a brag sheet with a substance. You need to pick and choose what to include and what to discard. Pick a theme and highlight the accomplishments that are most relevant to your candidacy. Remember, your resume is the place for listing down your accomplishments; SOP is all about what shaped you into the person you are. 

2. Your Family History:

We say, do not waste too many precious words to describe your maternal and paternal family to the admission committee. They have no consideration if your forefathers descended from royalty (until that has something to do with the personality that you wish to highlight). Rather, the committee is interested in understanding you as a person, period. Don’t go on and on about how hardworking your father is or how devoted your mother is. A small sentence, if absolutely necessary, should be enough to enclose your family overview. To recapitulate, no family histories, please!

3. Financial Details:

Often, universities require separate documentation for your financial status/data. When it comes to scholarships, most universities would ask the candidates to provide a separate essay for the same. Hence, including details about your financial status and requirements is not necessary for your SOP. So, avoid getting into lengthy details about finances (unless money has truly shaped your personality).

4. Details about your Academic Projects/Jobs:

Yes, it is important to include your academic projects, in addition to overall performance. What, however, you should avoid is explaining in detail about your project and what you did. The same applies to your work experience in SOP. It is important to make references in SOP, perhaps an illustration to the incident, and then talk about what you learned from it. Remember, it is always important to make your SOP narrative. Focus on your key learning and how they made you into what you are. Leave the lengthy detailing to your resume.

Additional Points to Consider

Now that you know about what is not included in the SOP, let us look at some additional tips to make your SOP even better.

• Do not include any irrelevant information that is not even remotely connected to your admission. The SOP is not a brag-sheet, and all of your achievements and awards from your school years need not be included. Include only your relevant achievements from the past five years.
• Do not use a casual or overly flowery tone. The SOP is a formal document and must be treated as such. Hence, rather than showing your creativity, ensure that the relevant points are conveyed properly in the SOP.
• Try to avoid generic observations and over-explaining concepts. Remember that the Ad Com comprises of experts in the field of your specialization. As such, they are already aware of the present conditions, advancements, applications and possibilities of that field. Hence, only mention the things that are important for you to convey, and are not covered in detail in your resume, such as your goals, contributions/role in tasks/projects, information about knowledge-gaps, gap-years, reasons for change in stream, previous rejections and purpose of applying for the course.
• Find out how long should a Statement of purpose be from the university website and do not exceed the limit. Even if no word limit is given, try not to exceed two pages.
• Do not write vague statements that may confuse the admissions committee. Additionally, make sure that your SOP is not identical to your CV, i.e., the same information and details are not repeated. While you can mention the same extracurricular activities added in the SOP in CV, make sure that your motivations, goals and reasons for joining the program are detailed well.
• Avoid using clichés or overly dramatic language. This is especially true to postgraduate candidates who are applying for technical courses abroad.
• Avoid flattery or over-complementing the university. They already know why they are good. However, if there is something that is genuinely good about the university, you can mention it in brief.
• Do not sound like a dreamer who is lost in his/her dreams. A university looks for realistic and pragmatic candidates who can do justice to the course.
• Do not provide any false information. If you are unable to justify it, you stand a chance of getting blacklisted.