Guidelines to Write Your Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose is an important document and should be carefully worded. A statement of purpose, like any other academic document, has a structure, and its objective is to demonstrate why you are the ideal candidate for a specific course, as well as why this particular course is the ideal one for you.

An Ideal Statement of Purpose will Generally Follow the Undermentioned Format:

Introduction: Start the introduction with a strong, intriguing opening that explains why you want to pursue a particular course. Summarize why you picked this area of study. Describe what inspired you and what keeps you committed to this area of study. You are expected to talk about specific situations that motivated them, rather than writing about generic situations. It is important for every student to remember that the introduction gives readers the first impression of their SOP.
Academic background: Provide important details about your academic background. Begin this paragraph with your college or school name, its location, enrollment year, year of completion, name of the course, and subjects covered. You can specify the topics in which you believe you have a good understanding. Include important projects you've worked on, as well as a brief description of them. You can also write about any relevant internships, workshops, and trainings undertaken.
Professional experience (if any): Provide any relevant professional experience that you have in this paragraph. Begin the paragraph with the details of present organization like name, location, followed by the date you joined, designation, and a brief explanation of your job role. Further, you can write about any projects undertaken during the tenure period. Later, in the same format, you can also write about your other past employment experiences.
Why masters and why now: In this paragraph, explain why you wish to take this specific course. Specify the syllabus of the course and explain the skills you want to build. Elaborate on how this particular course will assist you to achieve your goals and benefit your future plans. You are also required to write about “why do you think this is the right time to pursue masters”. Later, write about your short-term and long-term goals after masters.
Career goals: This section of the SOP is considered to be the most important part and the admission panel tends to focus more on this section. It is important to note that this section is required to be divided into two parts: short-term goals, and long-term goals.

Short-term goals: In this section, you are required to provide information about your goals after finishing your course. Here, you must define the job role you are interested in, as well as the firms in which you would want to work.
Long-term goals: In this section, you should explain your goals after 10-15 years of finishing the course. Explain how pursuing this course will help you attain your long-term goals. Also, specify how your short-term goals will help you achieve your long-term goals.

Why this university: In this paragraph, you should explain to the academic committee why you are an ideal candidate for the university. You could also include certain specific details like the names of faculty members, course content, research projects, and university-specific activities that will give you an advantage in building your profile. Doing proper research by visiting the university website and talking to alumni will give you authentic information about the college.
Extracurricular activities: In this paragraph, mention about your extra curriculars like participation in an event, sport activities, NGO activities, club events, etc. Describe how these extracurricular activities have benefitted you, and the skills they have inculcated in you. You can also mention about how you will contribute at extracurricular activities in the university.
Conclusion: In the conclusion paragraph, you should sound focused and convince the admission committee that you are competent enough to achieve in your area of interest and that you will give your best to bring a worthy difference in your respective industry. At last, you need to explain them why you are the suitable candidate and why they need to give you the admission.

Note: Make sure that the word limit of your statement of purpose is between 800-1000 words.