0[This is the first article of my series on SOP]
I don't need to tell you the obvious. SOP (Statement of Purpose) is important. You know that. At the graduation level, admission committees devote considerable attention toward reading the applicant's SOP, which tells them something about the applicant that the other application materials can't. SOP is essentially a letter from the student to his/her future teachers in which the student tries to establish a personal connection and the student tries to tell the decision-makers why he/she should be picked ahead of other applicants.
You probably know all this. Yet, it's disheartening and mind-boggling how many students don't care to write their own SOP. Even if they write it, they either do a cut and paste job or attempt to cobble together something workable out of ten different essays. This approach can really hurt your chances. It doesn't matter which school you're applying to (whether in India or abroad) or which discipline you belong to. For the following reasons, please write your own SOP (or Application Essay):
1) Who knows you better than yourself? If you have made up your mind to pursue higher degree, then there must be a Reason. If your reasons are just materialistic, then it's fine. But I ask you to rethink. Besides the reasons you think obvious (going abroad or earning more salary or climbing the corporate ladder), there's perhaps an underlying Reason why you chose your discipline in the first place. Identifying that Reason is the first step to SOP writing. Now, often the Reason you single out can be steeped in platitude. It needs a mentor or a skillful guide to help you dig deeper into the Reason to tear off the veneer of clichés and make that Reason relevant to you, your career, your future, and your purpose in life. Since, no one else can brainstorm the Reason for you, only you can be the discoverer and author of it.
2) Following up on the first point, your Reason puts a stamp of uniqueness to your essay and adds an element of authenticity to it. Your SOP needs to stand out in the eyes of the committee members. If you're going to outsource your SOP to someone else, then your Reason will be either cooked up or borrowed. But it can never be yours.
3) The process of identifying the Reason can be incredibly illuminating. The entire exercise can be like writing a memoir. You're trying to know yourself anew. Believe me, this can be rewarding. You may be surprised to discover that while all along you thought you wanted to be a Chemical Engineer because your dad told you so, you may have some personal (until now unknown to you) motivation. This discovery may give you a renewed purpose toward your career. Often times my students resist the Reason identification process. But once they discover it, they find it straightforward to write the actual essay.
4) Not writing your own SOP is cheating and lying. If you're willing to take a shortcut to such an essential part of the application process, then in future once in the grad school you may be tempted to take bigger risks when the going gets tough. You've heard of the advice to not start a relationship with a lie, and it applies to your future grad school too.
5) If you think writing is not what you do in your discipline, then think again. At the grad school, you will be required to write essays, reports, thesis, or academic papers. How will you undertake those tasks if you're averse to write about a subject matter that you're the expert of: You?
For many of us educated in the Indian system, writing is a daunting task. We were hardly taught in school or college how to write a paper, how to develop an argument, how to articulate our thoughts, how to open and finish an essay. Add to that the challenges of grammar and diction of the English language. But you have to start at some point. You can't dodge the challenges of writing forever. So take your time. Start in advance. Pen your own personal SOP. You can certainly take help of an editor or good coach to help you develop and polish your college essay. But please don't hire someone to write your essay entirely for you. No self-respecting college essay tutor should offer that service. And neither should you expect to.
