Statement of Purpose Examples was born out of my own application process. As I put together my applications for graduate school I quickly started to realize that I was going to need an excellent SOP if I wanted to get in to my first choice program. I read every available book on writing a Statement of Purpose, Letter of Intent, Personal Statement, etc., that I could find. Some of the books were well written, others were not. I was especially frustrated by a lack of online information.
I was eventually accepted to my first choice school with full funding, something I still consider to be a miracle considering how many applications my program receives every year. As I started talking to my new colleagues about our various paths to graduate school, something began to dawn on me. Despite what many “Get Into Graduate School” books will tell you, there is no right way to write your Statement of Purpose. Some of us wrote extremely personal essays that bordered on creative writing, while others never used the word “I” once and instead focused on presenting compelling research questions. One of us even admitted to having submitted an essay with a small typo.
What you will find here is a collection of real-life essays that will help you to understand the remarkable breadth of the genre. No two essays found on this site are quite alike, but all were successful. In putting together this collection I decided on one simple criteria: Did the essay gain admission to a graduate program? If so, I counted it as a successful statement. In order to aid you in your research I have listed at the bottom of the essays the size and type of program being applied to, if that information was available.
Hopefully you will find all of this helpful. If you do, and your applications prove successful, we would be forever grateful if you would come back and pay us a visit. You can submit your successful Statement of Purpose here and help other future-scholars in their academic pursuits. Until then, best of luck, and happy applying!