SOP Tips Part 7

The most important part of the application form will be a blank page
headed something like "Statement of Purpose". On this page you will be
asked to explain why you want to go to graduate school, including some
idea about what sort of research you would like to conduct. You need to
take this seriously. Write about a page and a half on the subject,
single-spaced, and take it to the professors you've been getting advice
from. They will almost certainly tell you to rewrite it, and you should
definitely do so. Don't be surprised if it takes three or four tries to
get it right. If they just make a few suggestions around the edges, ask
them specifically what the best approach would be in rewriting it from
scratch.

Your statement should demonstrate that you know what research is, that
you have had at least one idea in your life, and that you have an
interesting and tractable idea about your research for the future. The
problem, of course, is that you probably have only the sketchiest idea of
what your research in graduate school will be about. That doesn't matter.
You are definitely not promising to do the research you describe in your
statement (although I am told that this is changing in some areas of the
hard sciences); you are only spelling out a single plausible scenario,
one that fairly reflects your interests. Try to be concrete, but also
include a few hedges such as "perhaps" and "these possibilities include".
Good writing counts. Project sobriety and maturity. Avoid frivolity,
boasting, and self-deprecation. Go easy on academic jargon. Minimize
adverbs. Eschew the words "interesting" and "important", which say
little. And make sure that you are not simply describing the year's most
fashionable cliche of a research project -- ask for advice about this
issue specifically. Put yourself in the shoes of the graduate admissions
committee: they're looking at literally hundreds of applications and
they're only going to take a second look at the ones that stand out. If
you follow the above advice then your application will make the first cut
and receive the serious consideration it deserves.

It is also a good idea, if you have the energy, to tailor your statement
to fit the particular departments you're applying to. You might write a
generic statement and then edit in some passages that fit each
department, for example mentioning one of the professors there whose work
is relevant to your interests, just to show that you know what you're
doing. If you have your heart set on a particular department (say because
you want to work with a particular professor whose work you admire) then
write a customized statement for that department. Find people who are
well acquainted with that department and ask their guidance. In short,
show the admissions committee that you've done your homework. It makes a
difference.

Make sure your graduate application includes the research papers you
wrote as an undergraduate, and be sure that your statement explains the
connection between these papers and the graduate research you are
envisioning.