B - School SOP Guidelines ( including notes on FMS SOP ) The Statement of Purpose is the single most important part

of your application that will tell the admissions committee who you are, what has influenced your career path so far, your professional interests and where you plan to go from here. Some B-school applications require an entire essay, while some forms have questions that look at these aspects. The SOP, or SOP-related questions, require deep introspection and self-analysis. Here are some tips that would help you turn out a good SOP / good answers to SOP-related questions, and will help you prepare the answers to the SOP related questions that may be part of your Personal Interview . 1. Language:The objective is not to impress the reader with your vocabulary but to communicate. The use of simple and commonly used words is recommended. Being verbose is a definite no-no. 2. Structure: Avoid long sentences. Plan the flow this is the essence of a good write-up. 3. Consistency: Be consistent when more than one essay has to be written. Show your essays to a friend/parent/teacher for a third party review - if there are inconsistencies (that you may not notice), they will be able to point it out. 4. Clarity:Even when you are not required to write why & how in response to a question, be prepared with your answers to these. This will bring a greater clarity to your essay and prepare you to answer to SOP questions in Personal Interview 5. Length:Please make judicious use of the space provided it is recommended to use at least 70-80% of the given space in answering the question. Do not use any additional space unless the form specifically allows it. 6. Honesty:Be honest in answering the questions. Do not invent examples/ instances/qualities that you do not have. The panelists are very experienced and can call a bluff when they see one. However, you can be a little innovative in presenting the situation/instance.

7. Career Goals / Milestones: Goals may be divided into short, medium or long term goals. All the intermediate steps taken to reach your goals are considered milestones. For example, keeping your strengths in mind, admission into the B-school can only be one of the most suitable means (and not a "career goal" in itself) to achieve your long term goal. Typically, what you would like to achieve towards the latter part of your career can be called long term goals. The preceding 8-10 years will qualify to be called medium term goals. What you would like to do in the next 3-5 years from now would be your short term goals. When you write what your career goals are, you may want to consider various options like corporate career, entrepreneurship, academic career, NGOs, social work, etc. However, being your own self would help; you need not follow what most/others suggest as the most appealing Career Goal. 8. SOP FMS: In addition to the standard SOP questions, FMS also asks, Why is FMS the most suitable institute for realizing your goals ?. It should be answered in a balanced manner.

Don't s : 1. 1.Avoid statements similar to those below: a. FMS is the best in the country/world. b. Career Goal is to get into FMS. c. Because I have good academics, I should join FMS. 2. Do not copy directly from their prospectus where they would have mentioned some of FMSs unique strengths. Please collect more information about FMS and use it. If you can identify a relevant and unique strength/offering at FMS and explain how this can help you in achieving your career goals, it would be a more sensible answer. 9. Ethical Questions: Don't be pompous about how practical, flexible and

realistic you are. You may share an instance when you did something where you overlooked some of your ethics, or where you were tempted to compromise for some short-term gains. However, you later realized that it was an inferior/lazier alternative and you could have done better had you walked the straight & narrow path. A good idea could be to describe how you have emerged stronger from this experience. Never ever try and portray an unethical approach as a good one on the grounds of being practical. 10. Some Specific Questions A. 'If I had the freedom, I will change the following in me': No one is perfect or has no shortcomings. Making a statement that you-are-doingwhat-you-want-to-do and you-will-do-in-future-what-you-would-like-to-do in terms of career or activity might not be sustainable in the interview. This could sometimes also be used as a check for consistency since this is closely related to a question on strengths & weaknesses. B. Learning Incidents:Be specific, describe it crisply but the focus should be on the learning and how it helped you. The incident should not necessarily be used to showcase only the positive aspects of your character but rather one where you had learnt something positive. C. Principal Interests: Our interests are those things we pay attention to because we want to know more about that activity / area / field. Hobbies are activities on which we spend our time and effort because they give us some sort of satisfaction. So, please have a clear understanding of your interest areas, when you mention them in your SOP. Be prepared to answer questions, in the interview stage, on your areas of interest. D. Strengths & Weaknesses and Achievements & Failures: One way to arrive at your strengths & weaknesses is to understand the link between these and achievements & failures. Your strengths should help in achievements while your weaknesses should be an impediment to them. Be prepared for the follow-up questions if you have identified X as your weakness, then what are you doing to improve in that area. How far have you succeeded?

It is advisable to list 2-3 strengths and 1-2 weaknesses. Also take care that the weaknesses that you write about are appropriately explained. Obviously, you can't say "My weakness is that if somebody does not agree with my point of view, I get violent or agitated." You can say "I am a little impatient with people who do not agree with my point of view." E. Examples/ Instances: All examples should be specific and relevant. Make these as crisp as possible. F. How did you tackle & achieve a difficult target:Focus should be on the reason why you decided to take up the challenge and on how you achieved the target despite obstacles. G. Are you a good team player?: Please ensure that you fully understand what makes an effective team and the example you mention should include a key role you have played in building effective team processes leading to the desired outcome. Please note that this is not the same as leadership. NOTE:

Please practice/draft your answers on a photocopy of the actual application form first. Please ensure that you get all your answers reviewed by a faculty/parent before filling in the actual application. Ensure that you take a photocopy of the filled in application form before sending it off.