Hi everyone,

Reasons why students do not get admissions to schools-Most times the reason is the SOP. It is not enough to have good grades or be enthusiastic about the program you apply for, you have to show that enthusiasm to the committee members of the school/program/faculty that make the decisions in written form via your SOP. The SOP is what defines who you are as an individual.

I have had the opportunity to review SOPs for people going to school abroad, and I must say it has been a headache filled job. I have had to re-write most people's SOP and I wonder what the issues and challenges they face are?

1. Most people do not even understand word count. (write 500-750 words), you see them write 1000 words and above, not paying attention to the STRICT guidelines of the school or faculty.

2. More so, given areas and points to concentrate on by the faculty, they digress and end up filling the SOP with unnecessary sentences that will not appeal to the application committee.

3. Most Applicants do not even know how to build the structure of the SOP, most times there are no links of what is written to the programs they apply for.

4. Most importantly, for every program you apply for as a potential applicant, you need to know within yourself the purpose of applying as this will guide you.

The thoughts for today:

Always remember to be decisive about the program you wish to apply for and make sure it is tied to an experience either of work or volunteering. Do not apply to study for example Nursing when you read Marketing. Please align your SOP to an experience that can be VALIDATED.