Statement of Purpose (SOP)

The Statement of Purpose is the single most important part of your application that will tell the admissions committee who you are, what has influenced your career path so far, your professional interests and where you plan to go from here.

Sample SOP

Here are some sample SOPs for your ready refernce. You can learn a lot from these sample SOPs. However; SOP of a person differ considerably from other person.

Sample SOP (Statement of Purpose) for MS in Computer Science.
Sample SOP (Statement of Purpose) for MS in Electrical Engineering.
Sample SOP (Statement of Purpose) for Mechanical Engineering.
Sample SOP (Statement of Purpose) for MIS - Management Information Systems.

What will graduate schools expect in your SOP?

Your purpose in graduate study. This means you must have thought this through before you try to answer the question.
The area of study in which you wish to specialize. This requires that you know the field well enough to make such decision.
Your future use of your graduate study. This will include your career goals and plans for your future.
Your special preparation and fitness for study in the field. This is the opportunity to relate your academic background with your extracurricular experience to show how they unite to make you a special candidate.
Any problems or inconsistencies in your records or scores such as a bad semester. Be sure to explain in a positive manner and justify the explanation. Since this is a rebuttal argument, it should be followed by a positive statement of your abilities.
Any special conditions that are not revealed elsewhere in the application such as a large (35 hour a week) work load outside of school. This too should be followed with a positive statement about yourself and your future.
You may be asked, "Why do you wish to attend this school?" This requires that you have done your research about the school and know what its special appeal is to you.
Above all this, the statement is to contain information about you as a person. They know nothing about you that you don’t tell them. You are the subject of the statement.