As the name signifies, the Statement of Purpose is your personal statement about who you are, what has influenced your career path so far, your professional interests and where you plan to go from here. It need not be a bald statement of facts; several successful SoPs address these questions through anecdotes, stories or by describing their hero.
B-Schools in India have different ways in which they ask applicants to write SoPs. e.g FMS until recently used to just have one question – “What are your career goals and how can FMS help you to fulfill them?”. Other B-schools ask you to give your responses to several different topics. Out of these IIFT deserves a special mention as it probably has the most of these. Starting from – “What are your broad career objectives?“ to “How has your family structure changed and what has been its impact on you?”
We’re going to discuss the most common topics on which you may have to write and what you should keep in mind.
1. Why MBA?
Nearly all applications will feature a question that asks about your reasons for wanting to obtain an MBA at this stage of your career. Some will explicitly ask you to tie these reasons into your background and your goals. Even for schools that don’t offer this specific direction, you should plan on such a discussion of past and future, as it provides essential context for your application.
“Why MBA?” is often the first question asked and without a doubt the most important essay you will write. It includes essential information about whether you’re qualified, whether you’re prepared, and where you’re headed. The other essays fill in details about these fundamental points, but a strong answer about, for example, how you overcame a failure will not revive a candidacy that failed based on a lack of career focus.
Every answer should contain the following elements, unless the application has separate questions addressing them individually:
§ Your long- and short-term goals.
§ Your relevant past experience.
§ An assessment of your strengths and the gaps in your experience/education.
§ How an MBA program will bridge your past and future and fill in those gaps.
§ Why this particular MBA program is a good match for your needs.
Occasionally there will be overlap with other answers, and you will have to use your judgment on the extent to which you should reiterate important ideas. For example, some schools will ask about your goals in separate questions. In that case, the bulk of your discussion should fall under the goals question, but you will have to bring over key points from that answer to establish context for your reasons for obtaining an MBA.
There are no groundbreaking reasons for pursuing an MBA. This is not a place to aim for bold originality. Rather, you should focus on articulating detailed reasons that are specific to your situation. Moreover, there is plenty of room to distinguish yourself when discussing past experience and future goals; the reasons themselves, however, come from a more limited set. That said, you should not try to drop buzzwords for their own sake. Make sure you tie your specific objectives to other aspects of your application.
