SOP GUIDELINES

Before you meet them the B-School has tons of quantitative data about you -your test scores,
your academic profile, work experience etc. SOP is the first opportunity for them to assess you
qualitatively - i.e. your personality. In fact, a lot of institutes/courses don't conduct interviews and
solely rely on SOP to assess the candidate's personality (e.g. MS courses in US). In a way, your
SOP is your only opportunity to convince the university/college that you are more than your
scores. An SOP is formally defined as a 300-1000 word document that throws light on the
candidate's life, the motivations for the chosen career path and his/her goals.

I like to look at the SOP as 'your love letter to the college where you need to convince them you
were born to gain an admit to their college and you desperately want to join them.'
SOP is used to judge you on qualitative parameters​

SOP: A document that throws light on the candidate's life, the motivations for the chosen career
path and his/her goals.
Informal definition: your love letter to the college where you need to convince them you were
born to gain an admit to their college and you desperately want to join them.'​

Generally, a B-School will define the word limit and leave it at that..leaving some students
wondering what exactly should be included.. do not worry, for help is at hand. This video will tell
you what exactly should be included. I believe that a SOP should necessarily cover the following
4 themes. A SOP may include some extra elements too but one must not compromise on these
4 themes​

a. Overview of your academic & work achievements/experiences

b. Your short & long term career goals
c. Why do you want to apply to this particular program & university
d. key life experiences that demonstrate key skills/traits that will help you perform well on the
course

SOP needs an introduction & a conclusion

On Introduction: It is not necessary that your SOP starts with a quote if you indeed decide to
start with a quote, ensure that it resonates with the rest of the SOP. An SOP is a reflection of
your life, so please do not start with any quote that you have just googled and liked:) Since the
introduction should be compelling and interesting you need to get the admission officer read the
entire SOP- you can start with

1) Personal anecdotes
2) Some important event/trend in your area of specialization/interest

SOP Introduction
-not necessary that your SOP starts with a quote
- Quote should resonate with SOP
- SOP can start with personal anecdotes, important events in areas of interest

Theme #1: Overview of your academic & work achievements/experiences - You need not
mention all the details of your academic and professional life (remember the admission
committee already has access to the requisite data). Use the opportunity to talk about the
highlights of college & work- were you the prefect? Did you participate in debates? What did you
learn? How did it shape your personality​

These are more relevant to the SOP than mentioning scores in each exam starting high school.
Similarly, do not make the SOP sound like the job profile of your position - instead focus on
particularly challenging tasks/achievements/ learnings at work.​

Theme #2: Your short term & long term career goals - No SOP is complete unless specific
career goals are mentioned. The SOP should clearly portray the career path you envision for
yourself. In totality, the SOP should convince the panel of the strong linkage between your
profile, your career goals, and the program applied for. In other words, the program should act
as a bridge between your present position and future (career goal).

Theme #3: Fitment with the particular program & university

A well-written SOP will clearly communicate to the admission committee that the program
applied for is the most relevant fit for you to achieve your stated career goal. Typically, towards
the end of the SOP, you also need to explain why you are desirous of joining College X and not
Y. A lot of students write generic statements like.. world-class infrastructure, esteemed faculty,
reputed alumni etc.. This only goes to prove your lack of research. A lot of candidates wonder
why the university wants to hear candidates singing praises of the university itself (yes, that will
inevitably happen) but the idea is to get the candidate to understand the culture & the offering of
the university. You can differentiate your SOP from others by getting as specific as possible.
Maybe you are curious about a particular course/ student body-maybe you are in awe of a
professor who is a legend in his area of expertise. Maybe you are attracted to the
entrepreneurship support system /or maybe your dream college is the mecca for your career
profile.

Theme #4: key life experiences that demonstrate key skills/traits that will help you
perform well on the course: Perhaps, the most important content decision you need to make
is to decide which key life experiences to highlight in the SOP. Do you want to talk about your
experience of organizing a college festival? or explaining how you won a key account for your
organization? or your volunteering experience? It is critical that the incident brings out the
skills/traits that will help you perform well during the course. E.g. For MBA, events that talk
about your ability to work in teams are strongly recommended. For MS courses, events that
bring to fore your technical wizardry may be appreciated. For MBA, communication skills, critical
thinking, problem solving etc, customer focus, creativity are sought after skills - incidents that
highlight your mastery of these skills are appreciated.
Pro-tip: Visit the website and read the values/culture/dean's speech. Most B-Schools will have
"core values" that they want to inculcate.. If you incorporate these values in your SOPs through
your life experiences, you have significantly increased the odds of success.

Every SOP should provide an overview of your academic & work history. No SOP is complete
without a detailed mention of career goals. You need to demonstrate fitment with the course &
B-School. It pays to talk about skills that will help you do well during the MBA course.​

Do remember to ensure the SOP is written in paragraphs and sounds like a coherent story.
Introductions are essentials but SOPs need not always start with a quote.​

power laws for the perfect SOP

Let's face it-THE admission team has hundreds of SOPs to read during the admission cycle.
Hundreds of passionate candidates (with the help of tens of consultants) burn the midnight oil to
get that perfect essay in place of the end result ? Hundreds of essays that are so similar that the
admission team is moved to tears (of boredom). You face an uphill task - how to ensure that
your SOP stands out from the competition. Fear not, the power laws will ensure your SOP is
long remembered after it has been read. Ignore them at your peril.​

Your challenge: Ensure your SOP stands out​

Power Law #1: Show, don't tell.

SOP is meant to be a "personal statement and not a collection of generic statements about you,
the course, and the university. One of the better ways to ensure your SOP is personal is to
adopt a rule used in film-making- 'Show, don't tell'. What it essentially means is instead of using
adjectives/generic statements, you will use personal stories/anecdotes that
demonstrate/exemplify the quality. E.g. Instead of saying, I am a multi-tasker and I am sure my
multi-tasking skills will really benefit me during the 2 years of MBA...say this​

During August last year, as the cultural secretary of the college, I was heading a team of 6 to put
up a AAAA event. I was also participating in a paper presentation competition in a team of 3.
Since the technical paper on XXX was due in Sept, our team of 3 used to spend hours doing our
research and writing. My efforts paid off when the event went smoothly and our team stood 3rd
in the paper presentation. My parents were happy that I got A grade in my Oct semester exams.
Though the 3 months were very hectic. I thoroughly enjoyed managing the event, the paper
presentation and my academics.​

The key difference between the 2 answers is that in the first answer, you are telling them that
you can multitask but in the second one, using personal stories, you are showing them that you
did multitask in the past.​

Let me recommend a litmus test to check if your SOP is "personal enough" -Suppose somebody
just copies a group of 3-4 sentences from your SOP and uses it in his/her SOP. Ask yourself,
will it fit well in their SOP-if the answer is yes, sorry- you are writing generic statements and not
stories. Look at the above multi-tasking story. Can somebody lift it? No, because only you had
this unique experience.​

The incidental benefit of writing stories is that you will be forced to compose your original SOP
as soon as you don't copy from easily available SOP templates your SOP starts bearing your
personality.

Power Law #2: Use simple, conversational language.

Keep it structured: A logical structure of the SOP is extremely important since it signals to the
panel how structured you are in your thinking. A good way is to ensure that each paragraph
revolves around one theme and there is a natural progression from one paragraph to another.

Keep it Simple:A lot of SOPs sound like you are showing off your recently acquired vocabulary.
While there is nothing wrong with using words/phrases that are appropriate, you need not worry
about consciously using "big words" to impress the panel. Remember to be yourself if the
language sounds fake (since you used the thesaurus to replace half the words), you might want
to reconsider rewriting the SOP. Litmus test: read the SOP to your best friend. If they wonder
who wrote this, you are way off the mark.​

Keep it conversational: We also need to ensure that we maintain a consistent tone throughout
the SOP. A lot of students make the mistake of sounding too formal (looks like a govt memo Jor
sounding too casual in the SOP(casual dinner conversation with friends). These extremes are
best avoided. Imagine you are talking to the dean of the college - that exact tone is to be
maintained while writing the SOP. Again, this style suits best when you use the 'show, don't tell
method.​

Keep it error-free: Misspelled words, incorrect word usage and grammatical errors create a poor
impression. In this day & age, it is relatively easy to ensure that your document is error-free..