How to Write a Statement of Purpose

The essays can be arguably the most important part of your application to graduate programs. This is where you convince the admissions committee that you are ready to pursue a PhD by pointing to your research, class, and/or extracurricular experiences. There are two primary types of essays that most programs require; a "Statement of Purpose" (more focused on research components) and a "Personal Statement" (more focused on personal components). Some programs will ask for both of these essays and some programs will ask for only one that includes both research and personal components. In any case, each program should provide a more specific prompt so you can tailor the advice given here accordingly, regardless of whether they call it a "Statement of Purpose" or "Personal Statement".

This guide is meant to offer suggestions on generally important components (research-related and personal) to include and rough estimates for how long each component should be. However, the relative length of each section will depend on your personal experiences and the prompt(s) from the individual program. Ultimately, there is no one perfect essay. Everyone has their own unique story to tell and their own preferences on how to tell it.

What are your statements meant to do?

Your essays are meant to take every experience you have had and tailor it to demonstrate your preparedness and potential for success in grad school. This is accomplished by first introducing yourself and what drives you personally, followed by discussions of your research-related experiences and accomplishments, your extracurricular involvement, your potential at a specific institution, and your future goals.

What are your statements NOT meant to do?

Although the name implies this essay may focus on your personal history and background, usually the focus is intended to be on your personal academic journey.

What do I talk about in my statement?

What drives you/how you got to this point

This section should offer a short (3-4) introduction to you. For example, you can include a brief anecdote about your childhood, take the reader on an expedited journey through the thought processes that led you to the field, or offer a short description of the literal academic path that led you here. This is really an opportunity to show some of your personality and help the reader understand what drives you as a scientist.

Experiences that have refined your research skills

A PhD is a research degree, so the most important part of the statement is convincing the admissions committee that you have honed skills in undergrad to research effectively in grad school. These experiences are usually research with a professor or graduate student, an REU, or a summer internship, but they can also be research projects in classes.

Below is a rough outline of what a single paragraph describing a research-related experience could include. We think these are important questions to answer to explain what you did and illustrate how this contributed to your growth.

Description:

Length:

Brief -- 1-3 sentences

Components:

What is the context of the project?
Why is this research important?
What was the aim of the project?

Contributions:

Length:

The majority of your description.

Components:

What did YOU do for the project?
What skills/knowledge did you gain?
What was the aim of the project?

Results:

Length:

Likely the second-longest component of your description

Components:

What was the conclusion of the project? What did you find?
Did you present these results? Was there a publication?
Personal takeaway: What did you take from this project (skills, knowledge)? How did it lead to your growth as a researcher and connect to your long-term goals?

Extracurriculars that fit into your preparedness and/or motivation for going to grad school

Extracurriculars can provide wonderful opportunities to highlight leadership, organizational skills, and values. As long as you can tie these experiences back to your ability to succeed in academia, discussing them can greatly enhance your application and lead to a more complete picture of who you are. As a graduate student, you will have the opportunity to play a major role in the department culture, so connecting your experiences to what you plan to be involved with in grad school can be a bonus!

Examples of extracurriculars to include are: significant involvement in the Society of Physics Students or local astronomy organization, outreach, mentorship work, teaching (Learning Assistantships, tutoring), and relevant advocacy work.

Description:

What is the group/organization?
What was the purpose of the group/organization?

Contributions:

What is your position in the group/organization?
What have you/the group done?

Results:

What have you gained from this experience and how does this fit into you going to grad school? (i.e.: I did outreach at the observatory and now I am passionate about science communication and bringing that to this program)

Discussion of the Program You Are Applying To

The goals of this section are to show that 1) you have taken the time to do your research on the program and 2) you will fully utilize all of the resources available through the university.

Research:

Length:

~3 sentences (one per potential advisor)

Components:

Which 2-3 (ideally 3) professors would you like to work with?
What is each professor's research area?
How do your research experiences and interests connect to each research area?
Tip: Make sure each of those professors is actually still affiliated with the university (websites are not always up to date). You can check this by looking at their affiliation on recent publications, which can be accessed on arXiv or Google Scholar.

Resources:

Length:

1-2 sentences

Components:

What relevant affiliations does the program have to other universities, institutions, telescopes, super computers, etc.?
How will you utilize these resources?

Extracurriculars:

Length:

0-2 sentences

Components:

What are some organizations within the university that you may want to be involved with, such as public observing nights, outreach programs, inclusivity initiatives, etc. (this can even include teaching requirements)?
How will you contribute to these organizations?

Purpose for Grad School

This is usually the last paragraph of your application. It's a chance to summarize the characterization of yourself that you want the reader to leave with and to connect your past, present, and future to your main goal. The best personal statements also take this as an opportunity to connect back to the topics they brought up in their intro. In order to accomplish this, you should make sure you are reiterating answers to the following questions.

Why do you want to go to grad school?
Why this grad school?
What are your long term goals and how does grad school fit into those plans?
What makes you special?

General Advice

Although this page is specifically tailored to the GRFP, several of the key points are transferable as general advice for writing a personal statement.

There is no one perfect way to write personal statements!

Check out some other guides on applying to grad school:

Astrobites Guide

Medium Guide