The DOs and DON’Ts of your SOP
What is an SOP?
An SOP or Statement of Purpose is your reflection to the admission committee. It is the most critical piece or at times your key to get through your dream college. Hence, this is one of the most important deciding factors.
It’s not just an essay, with some important events, however, it’s your story where you should knit all the major events of your life together to do justice with your decision of taking up a graduate program. (Read the last line, again!!). An SOP speaks on your behalf; hence it has to be the best.

Amalgamate Potential with Passion:
For the admission committee, it is important to provide clarity and the SOP should show that you are driven. Here are some of the major things that should be included in your SOP.
• Intro
• Why this program and University?
• What prior experience you have? If not, how did you decide to take this program up?
• Why do you think you are an ideal candidate for this program?
• How is it going to help you in your career?
• How this country would help you in your program and your career growth?
• Your Cocurricular activities and community services
• Conclusion
The final version should show your passion and potential for the course.

Walking an extra mile:
Here we will try to talk about how to make your SOP unique?? One word - “RESEARCH”
We have to keep on researching as much we can;
• about the college
• about the university
• about the course
• What clubs can you join that is either in line with your co-currics or the graduate program
• Using numbers and stats adds an impact
You have to let them know, what excited you to take this program up at this college. This reflects your eagerness to learn and know more. It would also make your SOP stand-out.

Proper Proof-reading and edits
The task doesn’t end here. A continuous proof-reading based on the edits has to be done, judiciously. The verbiage, the grammar and the spell check all should be on-point.


The Don’ts Of an SOP
The last-minute drive:
One of the most important aspects is to not create the SOP in a hurry or at the last minute. It has the potential to lack structure, proper intro, on-point conclusion, and professional verbiage. Rather plan your SOP. Typically, a good SOP should take around 10 days – 2 weeks. Break down the days into different segments and work on those segments.
Day 1 – Day 3 -> Jot down the points that you will be elaborating on
Day 4 – Day 6 -> The first-cut should be in place
Day 7 – Day 10 -> Work on the unique points
Day 11 – Day 14 -> Final Cut with all the modifications
What should go hand-in-hand from Day 1 – Day 14? Research and edit/Proof-reading. Give time to yourself while you create this.

Feeble Story:
As discussed, multiple times, by now you are clear that your SOP is not an essay, it’s your story. You can’t afford to have a weak story. Each event should tie-up with another so that we can bring structure to the SOP. A lot of irrelevant information sometimes makes the SOP weak and haphazard. Too much flattery or making the SOP excessively sassy will lead to a negative impression in general. Keep it crisp and to-the-point.
Exceeding the word limit:
One of the last things that you should keep in mind while writing your SOP is never to exceed the word limit. The admission committee has set some standards and we need to follow that. In a lot of cases, folks try to go over-board and exceed the word limit. We can’t afford to do that. Hence, you need to keep a tab on the word limit too.
Finally, you can always take additional help while building this, but “always write the first cut yourself”. One can build only on that, because it is only you who can explain yourself the best.




If you think you need help in this journey, reach out to us! VictaPrep is an education consulting firm and our motto is guiding applicants with personalized solutions. It is a team of professionals, who come from a humble background, and yet have successfully taken the same journey as you aspire today!