5 Pitfalls to Avoid to Succeed with your Writing a Statement of Purpose for Grad School

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Application for graduate school is a tedious process for most students. It entails extensive writing which scares most applicants. However, quite a handful of applicants have their applications accepted.

Writing a statement of purpose for grad school is a critical process in the application process. A well-written account of a mission could enhance the likelihood of attaining an admission slot. The following pitfalls could reduce the possibility of gaining admission to graduate school.

Pitfalls to avoid when writing Statement of Purpose for Grad School

1. Beating Around the Bush

Most applicants make the mistake of meandering around the bush. They hardly go straight to the point as to why they are preparing their statement of intent grad school. A reader should be able to tell the type of document they are reading right from the introduction.

Admission officers do not have the whole time going through a monologue of your life plans. Make it short and exciting to read. Get straight to the point and make the task of admission officers simple.

Preferably, before you start typing out your thoughts, develop a clear outline. Develop a skeleton structure of your life experiences that you deem necessary for the application process. Further, edit your final essay to ensure only essential details feature in the final draft.

2. Unnecessary complaints about your school, country or life

No one enjoys the company of a whining creature. I guess you also avoid whiners as much as possible. Why would one portray themselves as whiners to the admission officers?

Admission officers lament about the rising number of applicants who badmouth their family or country. The officers are not interested in the quality of infrastructure in your country. No, they are not your local politicians.

One can portray the adversities in their counties without complaining. There can be something positive regarding the challenges facing your country. Speak some life into the problems bedeviling your nation, family if you have to mention them.

3. Boasting about your achievements

How does it feel sitting around individuals who blow their own trumpet? The experience could be disgusting. We deliver that experience to admission officers whenever we choose to boast about our achievements.

It is remarkable pointing out a few achievements in your life. However, do not toot it too loud since there could be bigger brains on campus. Avoid boasting of your accomplishments, as it may not sound well with the admission committee.

4. Confusing the admission officers

Most applicants make the mistake of confusing the admission officers. They get rejections for simple reasons such as sending contradicting information to the admission officers. For instance, the content of the statement of purpose should have a striking connection with the professional goal statement.

Most applicants who write confusing letters are not honest with themselves. They hardly remember the details in each application document. It would be best for the applicants to ensure they are truthful to avoid forgetting tiny details that could depict them as confused.

Most Common Mistake when writing a Statement of Purpose for Grad School

5. Failure to research adequately

It would be shame applying to a university you know nothing about in the first place. Place yourself in the shoes of admission officers and note that, some applicants hardly have the finer details of the institution they are applying. An easy job for them, they would automatically turn down such applications.

Research adequately about the university you intend to join. Be familiar with their faculties, student communities, campuses, and courses offered. Such knowledge depicts the desired level of seriousness from the pool of applicants.

Final thoughts on things to avoid in statement of purpose writing

Applying for graduate school could be a life and death situation. Most applicants do make the applications with the seriousness they deserve. A prudent prospective candidate would take their time and ensure every document in the application process is a masterpiece.

Most applicants use the same document to make applicants to various graduate schools. Such a mistake could be suicidal. Avoid being lazy and tailor documents to suits each graduate school. That would enhance the likelihood of bagging admission to almost every graduate school.

Also Read: Making School More Comfortable For You

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