Writing Tips:

Starting the essay Preliminary Research Background issues Writing the Essay Editing and Rewriting Polishing the essay The 'In their shoes' check Showing your stuff around The final printout Writing Guides New

What the site contains:

What is a Statement of Purpose? What do colleges look for in an SoP? How do I start writing mine? How do I polish my SoP? Can I see some sample SoPs? What about recommendation letters? Can you help me with Scholarship SoPs? New What other resources can I tap?

STARTING THE ESSAY - PRELIMINARY RESEARCH

Give your Statement of Purpose an Edge at EssayEdge.com!

Write out your resume. It is best to get this out of the way so that your SoP is not a repetition of the information in the resume. It should instead, use the resume as a reference and highlight the learnings you have received during some key points in your career. There are a number of sites that help you to write a suitable resume for your college applications. You could also browse your local bookstore for resume-writing aids.

Research the universities you are considering applying to. Find out the strengths and weaknesses of each. Good sources for this exercise are - university and department web sites and brochures, home pages of students, your seniors or friends who are studying at that university or in the same field elsewhere, your college professors, friends in the same field. If it is possible for you to access the university's web site, find out which professors work in areas that interest you and write to them about your plans. Some professors respond, some don't - but you have nothing to lose at this stage. In fact, you could gain a better idea about the areas of research emphasized upon by that particular department. After finding out some details about your potential universities, decide whether you still wish to apply there.While you should start work on this as early as possible, recognize that it is a long process and will continue through the various stages of writing your SoP. At the same time, you will have to draw the line at background research sometime as you are working on a timetable.

Visit some web sites that talk about how to write your essay. A search for 'college admission essays' on Yahoo will yield some sites. Check out the sample essays. If you do not have easy access to the Internet, go to your local bookstore and browse through a few books. In India, 'The Princeton Review: The Student Access Guide to College Admissions' is good and easily available. Read their section on application essays. Remember that the essays you read are usually the best the authors could find. You are not expected to write as well; most people who get admission to top schools do not.