Thread by @AaronAkpuPhilip

WRITING A WINNING STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

PART B:

In part A, we addressed questions 1-4. We will be continuing the thread by finalising Q4 before going on with Q5 and Q6.

If you missed PART A, catch up here:

https://twitter.com/AaronAkpuPhilip/status/1343137026170744832?s=20

Mentioning your limitation is a strength-based approach in SOPS. An example of how you can do this:

“𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘉𝘊 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴...

𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴”.

It is important to be clear about the skills you want to learn from undertaking your choice course.

Visit the course page on the university website and look at the modules offered under your prospective course and highlight the significance of those courses to your career path

Is there any linkage with a course you have done academically or professionally?

Another point to consider here is the quality of academics within your proposed department.

Look up the achievements of the academics.

Has any of them done something that resonates with your career? Show the linkage and state the envisaged learning you could draw from them.

Additionally, does the department have any achievements?

Show this in your SOP too.

Mention the skills you expect to learn from the course. Also mention how you will contribute to the department using the skills you have garnered over the years.

You can demonstrate this by researching if there are some research or volunteering groups within the department that need the kind of skills you have. All these will show coherence from Q1 – Q4.

5. WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN THE UNIVERSITY?

In stating why you have decided to undertake a course, it is also critical that you note why you have chosen a particular institution.

Is it because that is the only university offering your chosen course? State this clearly.

In some cases, your chosen course could be offered across different universities.

Some things you can highlight here include the world ranking of the school. A reliable ranking to refer to is the QS World Ranking (topuniversities.com/qs-world-unive…).

Also look at the "ranking by courses" or perhaps those which highlight student satisfaction, international student experiences, employability prospects etc.

Similar to the point in Q4, research about student groups or activities you can contribute to during your studies.

This also proves that you have the capacity to contribute to the growth of the school. What skills will you learn? Mention these too.

6. WHAT ARE YOUR POST-STUDY PLANS?

The significance of knowledge is so that it is applied and used for positive impact.

As part of the concluding paragraphs of your SOP, you will need to explain what you will do with the skills gained after your studies

If you are applying for a master’s degree, you might have future plans of doing a PhD, state this. If you have a research topic in mind. This is also a good place to mention it.

Are you intending to return to a previous job/country? What will you do now with the new skills that you could not do as a result of limited knowledge? State this clearly.

This will show the connection between the points you highlighted from Q1-Q5.

NOTE: You can address the questions in different paragraphs. Some SOPs will require a word count, when you are given a word count, MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT EXCEED IT (sorry I was shouting at you😄, I just needed you to get the message).

When you are not given a word count, write succinctly but elaborately so that it conveys all the points highlighted from Q1 – Q6.

I hope you find this thread helpful as you launch into your admission and scholarship process.

Regards,
AAP

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