Statement of Purpose (SOP)

Below you will tips to help you get started with writing your stellar SOP. You can go through those
and start recollecting your ideas and memories that you would like the admission committee to
know.

**U.S**- Avoid saying that I want to stay back in the U.S. Avoid putting personal connection in that
country details in SOP.

Sop Structure

Paragraph 1 (Intro para) - Write about how you first found your bachelors subject interesting

1. When did you first find this subject interesting? (it may be more than one event / person /
project / lecture / book / etc.) Why this field -your interest in this field how it was developed
(background, discuss an incidence etc)
2. Mention and state reasons for choosing you Bachelor degree specialization. What / who
inspired you to finalize on it?

Paragraph 2 should talk about what your learnt in your (bachelors)

1. Why you as a Candidate (for Masters)? - Mention-how you have honed this interest through
and mention your learnings –
2. Explain your role in the following:
3. Academic subjects you found interesting
4. Projects-projects (or technical papers) have you worked on in this area? Clarify which of
them was a part of the curriculum.
5. Research activities
6. Seminars
7. Technical papers/ publications
8. Co -curricular activities
9. Why did you join a project/research/any other? For example - In my 5th year, owing to my
blooming interest in Artificial intelligence I decide to work under my guide, Prof. Rao.
10. What did you do during its execution such as learning software or developing people skills.
For example, while working on the project, I learnt to use ABC and also performed an
exhaustive research on alumnus's thesis in my lab.
11. What is your key take away? For example - From the project, not only did I improve my
technical knowledge on software such as A, B, C but also understood the importance of
patience and team work in research activities.

Paragraph 3 talks about (obstacles) in your journey and how you (overcame) those

1. If you have any backlogs, year gaps or poor scores you can mention those here. Remember
to add what you learnt out of the experience and how it shaped you as a better individual.
2. Mention reasons for year gap. Explain the activities you engaged in during the year gap
3. Mention the reasons for low academics. Do present the steps you took to overcome these
obstacles due to which you had low academics.
Paragraph 4 talks about your (work experience) and how it helped you realize a need (for masters)

Why work experience? Mention reasons for taking up a job after your bachelor’s .

Did you change your major? Have you started working on something different from your bachelor
specialization? If yes, mention activities supporting this change.

What have you been doing in your job (mention work relevant to your MS specialization)? How you
have grown as a professional both technically and non-technically?

Paragraph 5 talks about your reasons for Masters

What is the Course/ Program you intend to pursue for your Master’s? Also specifically mention the
specialization or area of interest you wish to pursue.Eg.- CS with specific interest in Algorithms

Why this specialization?

If you are a working professional, did you feel any skill or knowledge gap while working that you
wish to fulfil through a Masters? If yes, mention an instance. If not, why do you think this is the right
time to go for a Masters?

If you are in your under graduation, what is the Objective of pursuing your Master’s degree? You
need to mention why you are seeking Masters now. What do you wish to learn through it? Better to
include technical details here.

Paragraph 6 talks about your career goals

Mention your short term goals and how this will lead to achieving your long term goal.(Specifically
mention : Short term- immediately post MS & Long term- 7-10 years down the lane? (explain in
detail if changing fields)

Paragraph 7 talks about your dream university and reasons for seeking it

Why -------- University for --------------field

Any other aspects /uniqueness that you need to bring out about the program - course structure,
internships, pedagogy, Faculty, Research area, Specific Labs, world ranking, weather, facilities etc.
How will all this help you achieve your short term or long term goals? This is one of the most
important parts of your SOP. Do research thoroughly for this para.

Paragraph 8 concludes your overall profile and candidature

Mention a conclusion. You need to mention why you are an ideal candidate for a masters program.