THE STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The statement of purpose is one of the most important components of your application. The following
tips can help you avoid making some common mistakes. In addition, they can also help you develop
critical thinking skills and writing techniques that will not only improve your statement, but will also
make you a better overall candidate.
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1. Where to Begin? Be Purposeful :

Remember, it’s called a “Statement of Purpose” for a reason: the aim of a Statement of Purpose is to
inform Admissions Officers at the schools you are applying to of your purpose. The statement of purpose
should therefore explain, in as clear of terms as possible, why you are applying to law, medical, or
graduate school. In this sense, your statement of purpose is not and should not be written as your life
story. This is the most common mistake, by far. Your statement should not be about your kindergarten
or high school experience, your new Nikes, your favorite Beatles song, your first kiss, or how much you
love Taco Bell. Your statement should not be about your parents, or your best friend, or anyone other
than you! It should be about you, but—and this is the key—not just any or every aspect of you. Rather, it
should really only be about one major aspect of you: your purpose! Why are you applying? What do you
want to do and be, professionally speaking, and how do you plan to get there? What inspires you to
pursue this advanced degree? What makes you passionate about learning medicine, law, comparative
literature, or sociology? Your statement of purpose should lay out a coherent and clear answer to the
question, “Why are you applying to medical, law, or graduate school?” To answer this question, you
want to be sure that you…

2. Have a Well-Developed Thesis Statement:

Your thesis statement generally comes near or at the end of the first paragraph. Your thesis announces
what you will argue for and generally provides the reader with an indication of how/why you will argue
for it. In other words, like any piece of writing, your statement of purpose should make an argument and
provide evidence to support that argument. Your thesis is a one sentence answer to the question, “Why
are you applying for Law, Medical, or Graduate school?”

3. Be Clear:

Throughout your statement, but especially in your thesis, you should strive to be as clear as possible.
There are several reasons for this, but the most important one is that medical, law, and graduate schools
want students who have the ability to communicate clearly and directly. So, how do you know if you are
being clear? First off, have other people (professors, peers, and friends) read your statement and ask
them. Second, as you revise your statement, you should ask yourself if your word choices, sentences,
and paragraphs are working in a coherent and logical fashion. You should be able to explain why all your
words and sentences are there on the page in that particular order and you should be able to explain
how they are working together. In addition to being clear, you should also strive to be concise. Avoid
overly repeating yourself.

4. Avoid Clichés and Generalizations:

Clichés (statements that everyone repeats but that have almost no specific meaning, such as “Live and
learn,” “Laughter is the best medicine,” or “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”) and
generalizations (statements that are so abstract as to have no content whatsoever, such as “Men are
from Mars, women are from Venus,” “Everyone loves Raymond,” or “Emory students are the best” ) are
worth avoiding because they work against you. That is, clichés and generalizations suggest that you tend
to rely upon the status quo (things other people say) rather than upon your own unique ideas. In this
respect, clichés and generalizations tell your readers that you aren’t really interested in thinking for
yourself, on your own terms. Thus, you want to avoid clichés and generalizations because they offer no
evidence that you are an original and creative writer who has the ability to think beyond the status quo.
Now, I’m not necessarily saying that all clichés and generalizations are “bad” or “wrong.” As with any
rule, there are always exceptions. As a general rule, however, clichés and generalizations are generally
worth avoiding because they simply cannot provide a specific, complex, and dynamic picture of you as
an independent critical thinker. Conversely, you should always strive to be an original, creative, and
critical thinker!

5. Make a PIE of Each Paragraph:

PIE stands for Point, Illustration, Explanation, which is the general structure that you want to employ in
your paragraphs. Each of your paragraphs should have ONE central point, should provide a clear
illustration or piece of evidence (or example) of that point, and should close with an explanation and
analysis that proves how your illustration demonstrates your point.

6. Show, Don’t Tell:

Declarations such as “I am smart” or “I am naturally detail-oriented” do not tell your readers anything. In
fact, such sentences do not prove even their points. They just assert without providing any evidence.
Such sentences “tell” rather than “show.” That is, they declare rather than demonstrate. These kinds of
sentences are worth avoiding because they do not provide illustrations and explanations of the points
you are trying to make. Thus, you want most of your sentences to be “show” sentences, sentences that
show and demonstrate the qualities you have cultivated, the experiences you’ve had, the things you’ve
learned, and the reasons that have inspired you to apply to law, medical, or graduate school.

7. Provide Just Enough Details :

In your statement, the goal should be to provide “just enough” details to make the document coherent
on its own, without reference to your other application materials. This is because the admissions officer
reading your statement often has 500 other applications stacked on her desk and doesn’t have the time
to look back at your MCAT, LSAT, or GRE scores, your transcripts, and your other materials. Thus, you
want your statement to be able to “stand on its own two feet.” This means that any literate person
should be able to read it and get its meaning. To achieve this, you don’t want to provide so many details
that the reader gets stuck in them, BUT you also don’t want to provide so few details that the reader has
no idea what you are talking about. Finding the right balance is the challenge. Names of institutions you
attended are recommended, but you don’t need to repeat them more than once. Likewise, you don’t
need to list every lawyer or doctor you interned with or shadowed, every class you’ve ever taken, or
every piece of writing you’ve published, but one or two names or specifications can help provide a
greater sense of particularity. The key is: you always want to be specific, but you don’t want to be so
specific that the “forest” gets lost for the “trees,” as the saying goes. You want just the right balance of
specific details with larger points.

8. Be Humble:

It’s okay and even encouraged to acknowledge that you don’t know everything. The admissions officers
know this, and you should too! Like anyone, you still have things to learn. Otherwise you wouldn’t be
applying in the first place! Thus, one goal to strive for is to demonstrate a balance of intelligence
regarding what you already know and a sense of humility regarding the limits of your knowledge. Try to
show that you care about learning new things, that you are capable of self-reflection and even self-
critique. Try to acknowledge, in other words, that you and your professional career are an ongoing
“work in progress.” Admissions committees are looking for open minds, students that are open to, and
even excited about, learning new things, revising and reshaping their ideas, and the process of
intellectual transformation. The more excitement you can convey about learning, the better!

9. Strive for Coherence and Flow :

The paragraphs after your intro and before your conclusion, often termed “body paragraphs,” should,
like your intro and conclusion, have a logical and coherent flow, both internally and externally. They
should relate to each other and to your statement’s thesis in a way that is self-evident and that shows a
clear line of development.

10. Intros and Conclusions: Hooks and/or Bookends :

You want your statement to open with a bang! You want to begin in a way that pulls your readers in and
makes them want to read more. This is called a “hook.” To develop a good hook, you’ve got to be
creative and original. Neither clichés nor generalizations will do the trick. Once you’ve finally got your
hook and a draft of the rest of your statement, another useful tool is to bring your hook back at your
conclusion, which creates what is called a “bookend.” This technique gives your statement a sense of
having come full circle, a sense that the reader has been taken on a journey, and a sense of closure.
Finally, this brings us to your conclusion. The conclusion is the last thing you leave the reader with. As
you write it, the question you should ask is: what feeling do you want your readers to leave your
statement with? What kinds of words and sentences can you use that will leave them feeling excited
about you as a potential law, medical, or graduate student? In addition, and simultaneously, be sure
that your conclusion returns to the main thesis of your statement. But you don’t want to just repeat
what you’ve already said. Rather, you should try to state your thesis in a new and different way that
takes it one step further and thereby brings your statement to new plateau.
11. Honesty Matters :

Be honest, be straightforward, be respectful; and don’t try to play tricks on your reader. From a reader’s
perspective, there is nothing worse than reading a statement of purpose and getting the sense that the
author thinks he or she is smarter than his or her reader. Treat your reader with respect and she/he will
do the same for you.

12. Don’t Dwell on the Negatives, but Accentuate the Positives:

There’s no need to shoot yourself in the foot. No need to mention that you are “bad at math” or are
“not a very good cook.” Focus upon what is most unique about you, on the special qualities you can
contribute to the law, medical, or graduate schools you are applying to. Accentuate the positives! And
just leave out what isn’t relevant.

13. Revision Is the Key to Success:

Writing a great statement takes a lot of time and work, so—above all—the rule to follow is: revise,
revise, and revise! And then revise some more!