Brainstorm particular factors that led to your decision to pursue graduate study. Make these as interesting as possible, but truthful and believable. For instance, maybe your interest in studying Italian grew out of that time you got stranded at the airport in Rome for 24 hours. Or maybe you decided to study entomology because you can remember your grandparents telling stories about how devastating the boll weevil infestations were.

Your undergraduate thesis, senior project, or other major research work. Time interning in a lab, with a cultural foundation, etc. Any publications you have produced or contributed to. Major presentations, talks, posters, or exhibits you have been involved in.

Do your research. Study the webpages of the department you are interested in applying to as well as its faculty members. Their research interests don’t have to be exactly the same as yours, but they should be related.

You can pose interests as a question. This makes your writing engaging, and shows your ability to formulate research questions. For instance, you might write something like “the question I keep turning to in my research is: How did gender-based concerns shape the epistolary novel and related genres in eighteenth-century France?”

For instance, write something more than “I gained significant experience as an intern in a chemical engineering lab that I will apply to my graduate study. ” Instead, try something like “While interning at the UC Berkeley Chemical Engineering Lab, I discovered a new method for crystallizing citric acid. In my article published in the New England Journal of Chemistry, I explained how this can potentially transform the industrial production of this compound. I intend to pursue research on these applications during my graduate study. ” Don’t be afraid to use the technical lingo of your field. Remember you are writing to your peers who want to know you are knowledgeable.

This means don’t settle for something like “As an undergraduate, I excelled academically. ” Instead, show specific evidence of your accomplishments: “A $2000 grant from the Louisiana Historical Society to fund my research on material culture in Antebellum African American daily life. The senior thesis I wrote reporting my findings earned the LSU Library Undergraduate Research Award. ”

If you don’t yet have anyone specific in mind, that’s ok. Instead, you can mention the department’s or university’s strengths and how you would benefit from them: “As a practicing translator, I would enthusiastically contribute to UD’s Center for Intercultural Communications. ” Be honest in talking about your interests, and don’t feel as though you can only discuss working with big names. Keep in mind that sometimes the most famous professors in a department might not work with many graduate students.

For instance, you might say “After completing my undergraduate degree, I spent two years as an assistant to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an experience that will inform my graduate studies in public administration. ” If you have an academic issue to address, try something like “After selecting my senior research topic, my sense of focus was heightened. My GPA increased significantly, and I received a High Pass on my senior thesis. ”

If the application specifically asks you to write a statement that is less than 500 words or more than 1000, however, follow the directions.

Mark any problem spots as you read your statement of purpose outloud, then revise them.

If they have any suggestions to improve your statement, revise it and ask them to read it again.

Don’t rely on your word processor’s spelling and grammar check tools, since they might not catch everything.

If you have multiple applications, make sure that you’ve matched the right statement of purpose with the right application. You don’t want to send in a statement of purpose that mentions the wrong school!