Writing a statement of purpose is a challenge for many students, but it should not be approached in a stressful manner. Once you have your structure down, you can start working. Achieving high scores is important for students, but the admissions committee also wants to know about why you decided to choose this career. There is more to a person than just test results. This is an opportunity to share a bit about yourself and your interest in the medical field. Here are some of the best tips when you are writing your statement of purpose. Engage your audience This is important because you want to grab the attention of the reader early on in your statement. Let’s say, you are trying to figure out, how to apply for soap residency. You know the course is about completing patient charts and this is vital, because it allows the next healthcare provider to continue. Make it known that you understand the importance and that your soap residency is of great importance to you. Be as human and real as you can be when starting your statement of purpose and allow the reader to connect with you. Best qualities Highlight your best qualities without sounding arrogant. Of course, you should be proud of all your achievements, but it is very important that you do it in a way that shows confidence, but not boasting. Always keep in mind that the person reading your statement of purpose is an actual human being and not a robot or computer. Once you get that, you will be able to write more politely without hiding any of your amazing qualities. Real life examples There must have been a time and place when you could show these great qualities. If one of your best qualities is that you are always willing to help others, write about an event where you could show that side of yourself. This makes your statement of purpose more believable, because you are taking the reader through a journey. Real life experiences are a great way to include a bit of yourself into your sop. Be different You are not like anyone else applying for medical school and you should not try to be. Forget about everything you have learned about what the perfect candidate should be. You are the perfect candidate and your life lessons matter. Your journey is unique only to you and you should reflect that in your sop. Let’s stick with our example of applying for soap programs. Do not feel like you have to mention a situation where you presented the required skills in a perfect manner. Maybe you learned some skills by mistake or even by error. Be true and honest to who you are and it will be greatly accepted. Language skills Writing a well structures sop is important, but you have to make sure that your language skills are great. There is no room for spelling mistakes and grammar errors at this level. Proof read your work as many times as you can and have someone else look at it before submitting. There are even some great tools online which can help correct some grammar and spelling mistakes. This is the one opportunity you have to impress the admissions board and you do not want your application thrown out because of a grammar mistake. Ask for help Never be afraid to ask for help if you find yourself overthinking and stressing about a situation. There is always someone out there who knows more than you and there is nothing wrong with that. If you need help, ask for it. You can go to teachers or students who have studied the same course as you are interested in. They may give you advice that you never even thought about. You have to be wise as to which information you want to use and which does not suite your personality. At the end of the day, the committee wants to get to know you, so always keep it authentic. Conclusion This is of course a very important part of the application process and you have probably been preparing for a long time. You have to believe that you have done enough when submitting your application. Do not do a post-mortem and start analysing your sop after you have sent it in. Let it be and if you were meant to be accepted, you will. I see many students stressing after submitting applications to study, because they start talking to friends who also applied. Do not do this, because your friend might say something that you did not add to your application and that can be torturous. Your application is going to be different than anyone else’s, but that is not a negative thing. Good luck with your application and remember, you are worth that acceptance letter. Source
