So one of the (supposedly) most important parts of the grad school application packet is the statement of purpose. The SOP is basically an essay explaining how awesome you are and why the university should accept you as a grad student.
Interestingly, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech do not list the statement of purpose as a required part of the application. UC Irvine says that it’s part of a complete application, but doesn’t describe it at all. Lehigh has this to say about the statement:
(It is) a brief statement of career and research objectives. Essays should articulate clearly your experience and goals. Half a page to two pages is sufficient.
UC Berkeley’s iSchool has quite a bit more to say about the statement of purpose:
The Statement of Purpose provides the application reviewers with information about your professional goals, your intended areas of study within a given academic program, and your reasons for applying to this specific program of study. It becomes a crucial element in the admissions decision process since it conveys to the faculty reviewers how well-prepared you are to undertake graduate study in information management and systems; what you intend to do with the degree; and what specializations you wish to pursue within the Master’s program.
Your written statement should succinctly explain your reasons for applying to the iSchool, briefly review your relevant academic preparation and work experience, and describe your future professional goals once the degree is acquired. The focus should be on your preparation, experience, and aims rather than a discussion of the trends or the importance of information management and systems in general. The most successful statements are 1-2 pages in length and focus on the strengths and experiences of the applicant, providing the reviewers with evidence and justification for admitting those applicants who are qualified and well-suited for the iSchool.
Ph.D. applicants will need to also make clear their research interests and agenda, as well as which iSchool faculty they are interested in researching with specifically.
So far, I’ve written a very rough draft of the statement of purpose. I intend to clean it up quite a bit, as well as drafting a different one for each school I apply to. Given the lack of requirement/description from three of the five schools, I question how important the statement of purpose really is. I’ll still work hard in it though, since it’s one of the few parts of the application that is completely within my control (unlike transcripts, which I can’t really change anymore…).