Top Four Things You Must Know

A statement of intent, also called a statement of purpose, is one of the key differentiators in a college application, especially if you are looking to get into a top institution.

However, before you begin, there are four things you need to keep in mind. This will greatly ease your journey towards a successful application.

Four things to remember

• It is not going to be easy: You will need to figure out what you want to write about, what particular experience or experiences you wish to talk about to convey your candidature the best.
• This is going to take time: If you instantly know what you need to talk about, great. If not, you will need to give it a hard think. Then there is the matter of deciding how to build it into a cohesive narrative.
• It may need to be college specific: Different schools present you with different questions, in some cases one response might fit more than one question, but more often than not, your response will need to be tweaked to suit a particular college, program, or question-prompt.
• No one can write it for you:While you can take help of your friend or tutor to polish, tweak, edit, and re-write it, the ideas and the flow should largely come from you since it is a portrait of who you are.

Focus on Potential, Not Just Experience

Top universities recognize that high school applicants might not have extensive work history. They prioritize assessing your potential for success.

Key Criteria

• Authenticity and Passion: Show genuine interest in the field. A genuine voice conveying a strong interest in the chosen field of study via expriences or knoweldge can help the institution understand your spirit.
• Clear Goals and Motivation: Explain why you want to pursue this program. This should be well-articulated and developed. It need not be technical, you can lead in from a story or an experience.
• Self-awareness and Maturity: Reflect on your strengths and areas for growth. Once again, this should not be a detailed SWOT analysis, but rather a piece of introspection indicating maturity. This is where your parent, elder, tutor or counsellor could help.
• Intellectual Curiosity: Demonstrate eagerness to learn and explore.
• Fit with the Institution: Show alignment with the university's values. This will need you to look into the universities research, clubs, activities, professors you might like to work with. Time to start your research.
• Strong Communication: Write clearly and effectively. Avoid use of fancy words, cliched phrases, and over-the-top language. These are counter-productive. The focus should be on style and substance, not decoration.

How to Stand Out

• Compelling Narrative: Tell your unique story.
• Specific Examples: Showcase achievements and initiative.
• Thoughtful Reflections: Go beyond the obvious in your analysis.
• Connect to the Program: Show research and alignment with your goals.
• Enthusiasm and Potential: Convey excitement and readiness to contribute.

Key Points to Remember:

• Focus on your strengths: Highlight your academic achievements, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and personal projects that demonstrate your skills and potential.
• Be specific: Avoid generic statements and provide concrete examples to illustrate your points.
• Show, don't tell: Use vivid language and descriptive details to paint a picture of your experiences and aspirations.
• Tailor your statement: Research each university and customize your statement to show why you are a good fit for their program.
• Proofread carefully: Grammatical errors and typos can leave a negative impression. Ask someone you trust to review your statement before submitting it.

Sample Response:

• Student Name: Ellen L. Beckerman
• College: Princeton University
• Ranking: #1 in National Universities as of the time of this post.

It is a very difficult thing, to define one’s self on a piece of paper. Can anyone, through one example, reveal his essence? Whatever words I can grasp will never have the richness of the emotion they are meant to convey. On the page my words look hollow, inadequate: “beauty,” “pride,” “pain,” the words do not hold the intensity of the actual feelings. The image may be there, but the feeling, the feeling must be experienced, and in each person it will be different. And whatever two hundred words I use will be scrutinized, will be ME in your eyes. How can I show you who I am in ten minutes when it has taken me every breath of the last seventeen years to even begin to ask myself the same question?

I am the honey-colored sounds of my grandmother’s grand piano on a Saturday morning when the family has gone out for breakfast. I am the scent of burning leaves and smashed pumpkin, and I am the foggy breath off the top of the pond next door. I am the scintillation of colored city lights as the car cradles across the bridge, the skidding of windshield wipers across drizzled glass, the streaking of each light into lines of pink.

I am the smack of a spinning volleyball against sweaty forearms, the burning of elbow skin against a newly waxed gym floor. I am the clean sting of chlorine and the tickle of freshly cut grass which clings to wet feet in summertime. I am a kaleidoscope of every breath, every shadow, every tone I have ever sensed.

I went on a canoe trip and stood under a pine tree watching the rain patter against the lake and felt the warm summer wind and thought that I had found absolute peace and perfection in one droplet of water. I sang at a school talent show for the first time in my life after years of being stage-shy. The crowd was small and cozy, and the light was warm as the guitar hummed. I ignored my fear, because everything was perfect, and let myself be free and sang and sang…

I don’t know whether Ronald Reagan is good or bad. People who argue that nuclear war is bad annoy me because they assume that someone on earth thinks that nuclear war is good, and avoid the real issue, which is how to prevent nuclear war.

I don’t understand people who hate camping. I hope that I never feel that business and politics are more real than a pine forest or an open plain.

Reality and perfection are in my mind synonymous. I think that the word is perfect. Even things which I hate are perfect because hatred is no less real an emotion than love. Famine is terrible, war is terrible, murder is terrible. But to say that nothing terrible should exist is denying everything this world contains. There cannot be wonderful without terrible. Pain is just as beautiful as joy, from an objective point of view.

The exciting thing for me is that I know that there is so much more for me to learn, and that everything I embrace as truth now is a very small part of what I will eventually be able to recognize.

The terrible thing is that I know when I die I will not know a millionth of the knowledge which all people on earth collectively hold. No matter how many days I sit and read, research, engulf information, I will never be exposed to everything. And right now I want to be exposed to everything.

Deans' Comments

Philosophical, poetic young lady. The introductory paragraph is a bit histrionic; the next several reveal some beautiful appreciations and recognitions; the third from last is confusing. The last two are honest and genuine. I’d take her into my honors program.

Absolutely wonderful. Insight, depth, expressiveness, clarity—all are part and parcel of this essay. Not only do we know the writer but we can understand her. P.S. Extremely well done!