Section 2: Identifying and Writing About Your Motivation
2.1. Identifying and Writing About Your Motivation
Let’s review what was just introduced in the previous section. The statement of purpose (SoP) is a required part of the graduate school application. This essay typically ranges from 500-1,000 words (and in some cases, can even be up to 1,500 words), and it should address the following:
- Goal 1. Experiences: The relevant experiences you’ve had which have informed and prepared you to pursue a graduate degree.
- Goal 2. Motivation: Your purpose for wanting to pursue a graduate degree which is often related to specific research interests and/or career objectives.
- Goal 3. Fit to Program: A discussion of why a particular graduate program is right for you given your motivation (and especially your research interests and objectives).
This section will discuss options for how to engage in identifying and discussing motivation within the SoP. We will focus on the motivation section of the framework first because it is the heart of the SoP and functions as the lens through which you’ll think about your past experiences and your fit to a particular graduate program.
This section will talk about specific strategies you can use to discuss your motivation including, personal experience and/or identity, research interests, academic and/or professional objectives, and the need for continued education. The following pages include two opportunities for brainstorming and an example SoP.
