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Ultimate guide to writing a good SOP for Australia (with samples)

Statement of purpose is one of the most important documents that you have to write in order to get into a college. The college admission committee uses the statement of purpose to evaluate your worth, knowledge, your writing skills and how you express yourself.

This guide is intended to help you write SOP that gets you admitted to your desired college. If it doesn’t , joke’s on you (haha).

SOP document format

Use the following format when you type your document :

Font family : Times new roman

Font size : 12

Margin : 1 – inch on all sides

Line spacing : 1.5

SOP structure

4-5 paragraphs is more than enough to express yourself in a SOP. The word limit is 500 – 1000. I’ve broken down the SOP structure into 4 paragraphs.

1st paragraph

The first paragraph is like the start of your school essay. It’s all about introducing the topic and this time the topic is you. So, introduce yourself but not like a gentleman. Be as pretentious as you can be and show your lucid vocabulary and quotes you know. Show how smart you are. The English language is at your disposal.

Have a massive opening (yuck, not that) of your SOP. Open with a quote like “Knowledge is power” “I have a dream” or something of that sort.

Answer the following questions in your first paragraph in an interesting way. Get creative.

  1. Who are you?
  2. Where and when were you born?
  3. What are some interesting things about you?

It’s not mandatory to limit yourself to 1 paragraph. You can extend it to 2 paragraphs.

2nd paragraph

This paragraph is all about your experiences. No, we’re not talking about that one time you nearly died by gulping down 5 bottle of beers and 10 plates of Chicken Tikka. We’re talking about your experiences as an academic.

In this paragraph, write about what your academic qualifications are and what you’ve learnt as an academic. You can write about what you did in college and how much marks you’ve secured, etc. If you have worked somewhere in the same field as your field of study, you can include it here.

Answer the following questions in the 2nd paragraph:

  1. What are your achievements?
  2. What are your qualifications?
  3. How was your college life?
  4. Have you worked in the same related field?

3rd paragraph

This paragraph is intended for you to express why you want to pursue this course. Don’t be brutally honest and tell them that you have an innate desire to not starve because of lack of money.

Tell them how much you love this subject and how you’re familiar with the subject material.

Do a little research bro!

Get familiar with the subject material and include it in this paragraph. Show them that you care for the subject and they’d feel the same for you.

Answer the following questions in the 3rd paragraph

  • Why is this subject the right subject for you?
  • Why are you attracted to this subject?

4th paragraph

This is the ‘money’ paragraph, the pitch paragraph if you’d like to refer it that way. In this paragraph you write about how you’re eligible for the subject.

Why should they care for this SOP? Are you really eligible for the course?

Again, do your research. Learn about the university that you are applying for. Learn about it’s graduation rate, graduates, etc. and write it in this paragraph.

Answer the following question :

  1. How are you unique from the other candidates?
  2. Why should the university care for this SOP?

5th paragraph

Write what you hope to do in the future with this degree.

Answer the following questions:

  1. Where do you see yourself in 4 years from now?
  2. How is this course going to help you achieve that?

Things to consider while writing a SOP

Consider the following things while writing a good SOP:

  • Use formal language

Don’t try to be quirky or witty. Keep this as formal as your school uniform.

  • Keep it short silly

You may be hearing this for the first time. Size doesn’t matter. Don’t overwrite it. You can talk about yourself in about 500 – 1000 words easily unless you have a life like Casey Neistat.

  • Don’t be generic (like this post)

Don’t say stuff like “My name is xyz , I am n years old”. Nobody wants to hear that !

  • Flaunt your English

Use as much jargon and big words possible and show how intellectual you are. (Just like I did now by using big words like flaunt,jargon and intellectual)

  • Investigate the course that you are going for

Go bonkers! Postmortem that thing! And write about specific subjects that you really want to learn. (Learn, lol)

  • Write stories

Please don’t write Little red riding hood or some stupid thing like that. Write about how you have a love for the particular subject and things like that. Frame it like a story .

  • Be clear, precise and concise

Don’t beat around the bush. Yes, I told you to write stories earlier but that doesn’t mean you start describing things literally.

  • Mind your grammar

We live in an age where people are judged by the way they speak English. Make sure that your grammar is correct with good punctuation. Or use an extension like grammarly you are little whiny B word.

  • Have someone review it

Have a teacher or someone who is good at writing check your SOP. Or maybe you could send me your SOP so that I can check it. Send me your SOPs at youthoughIwouldseriouslyreviewyourSOP@gmail.com (LMAO)

 

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