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Examples of well-written statements of purpose

Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:12 pm
by hki
Hi! I'm from a country were there is no tradition of writing statements of purpose. I'd really like to have a look at some good examples -- for reference purpose. But the ones I've come across online (e.g. https://web.stanford.edu/~paulcon/ill-c ... anford.pdf) are not quite convincing in my opinion (to put it mildly).

Could you share some well-written sample statements where I can get an idea of what one is supposed to look like?

Re: Examples of well-written statements of purpose

Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:50 pm
by blackmaverick176
I agree that the SOP you've linked is probably not a good reference -- it comes off as overly profound and a bit dramatic, which I imagine was met with more than a few eye rolls by admission committees. Then again, the author did get into Stanford so I guess it wasn't bad enough to sink his application.

I found these samples to be quite helpful when I was writing my own statement:
https://samms.osu.edu/sites/samms.osu.e ... _Guide.pdf

I also found it helpful to have my mentors give me feedback on my SOP. This might be more difficult in your case since perhaps your mentors/professors aren't as familiar with them, but I imagine they still have written something like it (e.g. research/teaching statements) and will be able to offer some advice.