THE ULTIMATE

SOP STARTER KIT

A Step-By-Step Guide to Outlining

the SOP that Gets You Admitted

By Jordan Dotson

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 The Ultimate SOP Starter Kit
Imagine how it will feel when you write a powerful, provocative SOP for your graduate
applications. One that you can recycle over and over again for multiple universities. Not
only will you get to show admissions committees your TRUE potential, but you'll be able
to hit "submit" with less stress than you're probably experiencing right now.

Instead, you'll sit back with a happy sigh, proud in the knowledge that professors at your
target schools will see you for the devoted scholar that you are.

Can you imagine it? That’s a very good feeling, my friend.

With a sleek, sophisticated SOP you’ll get to escape the anxiety trap most applicants fall
into, and have the freedom to get back to studying the stuff that really floats your boat.
Because that’s what it’s all about, right? Studying, researching, growing, and using your
brain to make a difference in the world.

Getting Started With Your Statement of Purpose

To help you kickstart your SOP journey, there are four important questions you need to
answer. The good news? Once you have all the details (which I’m going to give you in
this Starter Kit) these four questions will slot perfectly into a sentence-by-sentence
outline for your statement of purpose.

Question #1:
What is my hyper-focused academic goal? (What problems do you want to solve, but
need more education to do so?)

Question #2:
Why am I interested in pursuing this goal? (What was your “intellectual journey”?)

Question #3:
How will this graduate program help me reach my goal? (What is your “study plan”?)

Question #4:
What convincing proof do I have that I'm 100% ready to pursue this goal as a graduate
student?

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QUESTION

01
What Is My Academic Goal?
One of the most powerful steps you can take right now to kickstart your SOP
journey is to get clear on your academic goal—the central intellectual topic of
your candidacy. This one step will put everything…and I mean everything…into
motion.

At this point you might have a few ideas—or too many ideas—about what
you’d like to study or research. Or maybe you feel stuck because you’re
honestly willing to study anything (as long as you get accepted).

No matter where you are right now, the following exercise will help you
choose the perfect central topic for your SOP. It’s the topic your target school
genuinely hopes you’ll write about, and the topic you should be excited to
write about. You’re going to study it for the next few years after all!

Before we jump into the exercise, there’s one concept you need to
understand that will help you narrow down your academic goal quickly. Your
task is to focus your intellectual interests, so that everyone who reads your
SOP will know exactly who you are and exactly what you want to accomplish.

Categories Aren’t Goals

When I ask you what you want to study, what would you say? Artificial
Intelligence? Bioengineering?

That may be a good answer for me (because I’m a humble writer). But what if
your ideal professor asked you this question? What would you say then?

Imagine a mechanical engineering professor looks at you and asks what you
want to study, and you reply, “engineering.” What would that professor think
about you? He wouldn’t consider you the sharpest tool in the shed, would he?

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But what if you said, “I’d really love to study phase change material additives for
tunable thermal fluids… maybe gallium–indium nanoparticles? Man, that would really
help me in my career.”

Yes! The professors eyes would light up, right?

Unfortunately, the vast majority of grad school applicants never specify what they hope
to study in their SOP. Many do this because they don’t really know. Instead, they list the
names of courses that look interesting. Many make vague assertions like “I’m eager to
take Foundations of Data Science” (because they’ve read this is the right thing to do).
Such students haven’t taken the time to figure out an academic niche for themselves,
and these students typically get rejected.

But you’re not going to make that mistake. This exercise will help you narrow your goal
with laser-like focus.

Do This
1. State your academic field.

2. Choose two subfields within that field that seem most interesting (or most
relevant to your career).

3. Choose two subfields within those subfields that seem super fun.

4. For each subfield, think of 1 application or currently trending problem that

seems very cool to you. If you’re having trouble, type the subfields into Google
Scholar and see what researchers are currently working on.

5. Of these 4 applications or problems, which 2 would you most love to work on in

grad school or in your career?

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 Example:
1. State your academic field.

Computer Science

2. Choose two subfields within that field that seem most interesting or
relevant.

Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision

3. Choose two subfields within those subfields that seem fun.

AI: Natural Language Processing, Speech Processing

Computer Vision: Object Recognition, Image Restoration

4. For each subfield, think of 1 application or currently trending problem that

seems very cool to you.

NLP: Optical character recognition

Speech Processing: Emotion recognition using neural networks
Object Recognition: 3D photo-realistic simulators for robots
Image restoration: Visual perception for underwater robots!

5. Of these 4 applications or problems, which 2 would you most love to work

on in grad school or in your career?

3D photo-realistic simulators for robots or visual perception for underwater robots

Okay, now what do you want to study?

"I’m really interested in 3D photo-realistic simulators and visual perception for underwater
robots, but I’d also be excited to explore optical character recognition or speech processing.
This is why I’m so excited about studying at Marvel University, where Dr. Stark is doing
fascinating things using RCNN in the two-stage detection method for deep sea glide robots,
and where Dr. Banner recently demystified bilingual OCR systems for English and Ladakhi
script using a new approach of segmentation and splitting the characters.”

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Doesn’t that sound like a focused student to you?

Now you know what we mean by an “academic goal.” It’s the deep, nitty gritty of your
field that really interests you. It’s the topic that lights you up. It’s the “dream scenario”
for your graduate studies, and (bonus points) it should give you insight as you start
comparing different graduate programs and determining which are most suitable for
you.

How to Put This Into Action

Congratulations! Now we’re making progress. In a Word/Google doc or notebook, I

want you to work through the exercise. Think about what you really need to know to
progress further in your career, and maybe take some time to do a little research on
Google Scholar. 30 minutes will go a long way here. When you complete Step 5, write
out your own academic goal in a single declarative sentence. Then, save it. This is going
to be your guiding light as you build your outline.

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QUESTION

02
Why am I interested in pursuing this
goal?
Once you’ve determined your academic goal, something starts to shift. Your
whole grad school journey becomes more real, and things begin moving
forward quickly. It’s magical.

Now, it’s time to find the intro paragraph to your SOP: your frame narrative.
Think of this as “the story of how I came to develop my academic goal.” It may
come to you in ten minutes, or it may take an afternoon of musing; but don’t
let yourself get stuck here. Your task is to think of an experience from your life
that illustrates why this academic goal is real and relevant for you. It will show
admissions committees that you’re a unique human being who’s eager to
create an impact with your scholarly pursuits. More importantly - it will make
you memorable.

The Two Types of Frame Narratives

Ah Ha Moments
For many successful applicants, the frame narrative of the SOP will illustrate a
moment where they said one of two things:

“Crap, there’s so much more I need to learn before I can achieve my goal.”

These applicants are usually professionally oriented. Often, they’ve had a

great internship and a few years of professional experience. Now they want to
“level up” in their career, but realize they need to learn a lot more about Data
Analytics, Mechanical Failure, or Brain-Computer Interfaces first.

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 "Wow, this is the most fascinating thing ever, and I can’t wait to learn all about it.”

These applicants are often still seniors in undergrad who’ve had awesome “lightbulb”
moments. Often, they’ve participated in research and discovered some new question
that fascinates them, but which isn’t directly related to their previous experience. This is
like a lightning in a bottle. These are the moments where truly impactful scholars are
born.

Intellectual Journeys

Other successful applicants tell stories that occur over wide swaths of time. But make
no mistake, these aren’t meandering, unfocused biographies. They’re not dull lists of
the classes you took in undergrad. These are intellectual journeys.

These frame narratives might describe how your freshman Pre-Med major led you to
discover protein editing and caused you to change your major (lightbulb!). Then, how
through protein editing, you discovered your new academic goal in AI-driven in-silico
design (double lightbulb!).

These stories will describe a series of moments of inspiration, each of which were
absolutely essential to the formation of your current academic goal. I repeat:
absolutely essential. These are NOT chronological lists of every research project
you’ve ever worked on. They only describe the shimmering moments when something
changed in your life.

Brief Examples:

1. "While working as a financial analyst, where I optimized $35 million of annual cloud-
computing spend, I realized I could never truly shape corporate strategy in the automotive
industry without a more nuanced education in dimensionality reduction and classification
machine-learning models."

2. "Though I began my career as a Pre-Med, after assisting Dr. Xavier's studies on central
nervous system diseases, I discovered a greater purpose in research that develops
treatments or models their pathology to validate new drug candidates."

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 Avoid Childhood Stories Like the Plague!

Childhood stories. They’re the bane of every admissions reader’s existence. Let’s
make this a hard and fast rule. I want you to repeat this out loud:

“I will not write an introduction that tells how I’ve always been interested in
technology, computers, or science.”

Unfortunately, many applicants persist in writing these unfocused, irrelevant

frame narratives. You will not. Instead, you’re only going to write the recent story
of how you came to discover your academic goal. (Think: within the last two
years.)

How to Put This Into Action

Go back to your notebook and take 10 minutes to jot down some brainstorm ideas
about your frame narrative. For most people, this comes quickly. But if doesn’t, don’t
worry! Keep at it. Don’t think of it as trying to conjure a fancy story out of thin air. That’s
not it at all. Think of it as a short explanation of how you became who you are today.

Once you’ve got a solid idea, run it through the following checklist to make sure it has
all of the elements necessary to tell a provocative intellectual story.

Does this story revolve around an “Ah ha!” moment, or series of moments, where I
realized I want or need to learn more?
Does this story involve me asking questions and moving toward my academic goal?
Does this story show me striving, struggling, or wanting to be better?
Does this story show me in a positive light?
Is this story directly and inextricably related to my “academic goal?”

If you answer “yes” to all the above questions, then, my friend, you’re on your way to a
rock star SOP.

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QUESTION

03
How will this graduate program help
me reach my goal?
One thing that’s just as important as dreaming up your big academic goal is to
look at your target universities and ask: How am I actually going to achieve
that goal?

Which classes am I going to take?

Which professors am I going to work with?
Which specialization or concentration will I choose?
Which internships or co-ops will be useful?
Are there any obstacles at this university? Anything that’s not ideal?
Can I study my academic goal in a thesis or capstone project?

It’s massively important for a good SOP to answer these questions. Why?
Because good applicants know these answers. In fact, this is often the biggest
difference between a “great” and an “average” applicant. Plunk either of them
into an M.S. program and they’ll both work hard and move on to great
careers. But when they submit their SOPs, it’s the focused, detailed, and
thorough applicant who shines a little brighter.

Be shiny, friend. Plan out your next few semesters of coursework and clarify
your purpose even further.

PhD Applicants
If you’re a research-enamored overachiever, then your “study” plan will be
quite a bit different than a master’s students. But you already know this. You
need to describe 2-3 potential PIs at your target university - the professors
whose research you’d really love to join.

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Again…you know this already. But you’ve still got some important considerations. Don’t
make the mistake of just listing professors and their research specialties. This is the
bare minimum expected of potential applicants. Spend enough time on Reddit and
you’ll find multiple posts from admissions coordinators begging students to write more
about their research goals.

As you outline your own potential PIs, make sure you answer these questions for at
least 2 professors.

Which 1-2 aspects of the professor’s research do you find most fascinating? Why?
Which novel techniques or research questions did the professor pursue that align
with your academic goal? How?

This is NOT about listing the names of papers that the professor published. It’s about
showing your genuine interest in their work. If you don’t actually have a real interest, if
you’re grasping for straws and just hoping you’ll get lucky, then you probably need to
think about why you’re applying to this school in the first place. But if you take the time
to think through these questions patiently, you’ll reap big rewards.

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How to Put This Into Action

It’s research time, friend. Sit down at your computer for 30-60 minutes and jot down
answers to these questions. You will be AMAZED by how much clarity comes from
diving into each of them.

For each one, think about your “Why.” If you’re a master’s applicant and you’ve written
down the name of a professor you want to work with, ask yourself why. Why is this
professor so interesting to you? Write it out. Don’t skimp on details. When you choose
the classes you want to take, ask yourself why. Write it out in a sentence. If your target
program offers a selection of specializations, choose the one you want, and write down
why. This is important. Writing out your reasons makes them real.

In fact, I believe this is the single most important part of the SOP. By writing out a
“study plan” for your target university, you’ll prepare yourself to explain to the
admissions committee exactly why they’re the perfect “fit” for you (and why you’re the
perfect fit for them).

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QUESTION

04
What convincing proof do I have that
I'm 100% ready to pursue this goal as
a graduate student?
The final piece in your SOP puzzle is proving to the admissions committee that
you’re a smart cookie. Luckily, that’ll be easy, right? You know how hard you’ve
worked. You know you’re capable of succeeding in grad school. Now, we just
have to make sure your reader knows too.

When answering this question, think of it as a highlight reel. It’s NOT an

expansive and detailed list of everything you’ve ever accomplished. That’s
what the resume/CV is for! Instead, this is your Greatest Hits album. It’s a
description of your most unique accomplishments - the accolades that prove
you’re better in comparison to other applicants.

What Should I Include?

Feel free to pick and choose from any of the items on the page below. Discard
the ones that aren’t relevant for you and focus on the ones that really make
you shine. Sometimes a good SOP will only have 2 of these “highlights.” But if
they’re unique and impressive, they’ll work.

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 GRADE POINT AWARDS AND
AVERAGE HONORS

What was your undergrad GPA? Your Did you receive any official awards which
major GPA? Were they impressive? prove how disciplined a student you are?
Good, let’s mention those. They show Phi Beta Kappa? The Stark University
that you worked harder than your peers. Leadership Award in Genomics?

GRAD-LEVEL RESEARCH
COURSEWORK EXPERIENCES

Did you take any relevant graduate Did you do any research or independent
classes? Did you make As? Awesome. studies relevant to your academic goal?
DEFINITELY mention that. Beautiful - you’ll want a 1-2 sentence
description.

INTERNSHIPS /
CAREER EXPERIENCES

Have you had any relevant internships or job responsibilities which were related to
your goal? How were they different than the experiences other applicants have? How
have they prepared you for this next step?

TECHNICAL /
LABORATORY SKILLS

Are you a full-stack developer? A wizard with Python, Ruby, and Shell? Are you experienced
with cell and tissue cultures? Electrophoresis? Or, perhaps you speak a foreign language
that will help you in your research?

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How to Put This Into Action

In your doc or notebook, I want you to write one sentence at the top of the page. It will
look like this:

“The following list proves that [insert your name here] is 100% ready to succeed in [insert
your academic goal].”

Example:

“The following list proves that Jordan is 100% ready to succeed in researching 3D photo-
realistic simulators and visual perception for underwater robots.”

Next, take 10-20 minutes to write out your bullet points of evidence. Make sure that
each point really is convincing. If your GPA is kind of average, don’t mention it. If your
volunteer work has nothing to do with your academic goal, forget it!

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 THE OUTLINE
Now that you’ve answered the 4 important questions, it’s time to arrange them
into a suitable outline. This template is designed to help you do just that.

Section 1: Introductory Frame Narrative (1-2 paragraphs)

1. My intellectual journey. This is the story of how I came to develop my
academic goal. It will describe either an “ah ha” moment or a series of specific,
inspirational moments that changed the direction of my life and convinced me to
pursue graduate studies. (Question #2)

2. My academic goal. I’ll end this section by stating exactly what I hope to
accomplish in graduate school. (Question #1)

Section 2: Why This Program (1-2 paragraphs)

3. My study plan. This is my proof that the university is the perfect place for me
to achieve my academic goal. It explains the courses and concentrations in which I
hope to enroll. It explains which professors I want to work with, and why. It might
even explain how this program is different from similar programs at other
universities, and thus, presents a unique opportunity for me. (Question #3)

Section 3: Why I’m (Overly) Qualified (1-2 paragraphs)

4. My greatest hits list. In this section, I’ll provide convincing proof that I’m 100%
ready to pursue my goal as a graduate student. I might mention my excellent
undergrad grades, my research skills, awards I’ve won, or unique professional
experiences. If something seems like it’s not compelling proof (“is working as a
campus tour guide relevant to business analytics?”) then I won’t write about it.
(Question #4)

Section 4: Closing Frame Narrative (1 paragraph)

5. The end of my academic journey. In this section, I’ll briefly refer back to the
story I told in the introduction. I’ll reaffirm, very specifically, my academic goal. If
the SOP prompt asks me for my career goals, I’ll mention those here. Either way,
this is the logical conclusion of my journey. I’ll end by promising the university
that I’m thankful for the opportunity, and 100% ready to work hard and achieve
my goal.

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 Congratulations!
Now you’re on your way, my friend. Once you’ve answered all 4 questions, and
organized them into a logical, flowing outline, it’s time to start writing. Luckily, at this
point, the writing will be easy!

When you know where your SOP starts, how it progress, and where it ends, the task of
connecting the dots is simple. You won’t have to scratch your head wondering what to
write next. You won’t have to stare raccoon-eyed at your laptop, wondering what the
university expects you to say. You’ve got your roadmap right there in front of you. All
you’ve got to do is follow it.

The Power of a Well-Organized Outline

The best thing about having a solid outline, and an organized SOP, is that it will save
you TONS of time as you submit to multiple universities. Your answers to Questions #1,
2, and 4 won’t ever change. Sections 1, 3, and 4 of your outline will stay almost entirely
the same.

Thus, when recycling your SOP for different schools, you’ll only have to outline new
answers for Question #3: “What’s your study plan?” This gets easier the more you do it.

If you’ve got six schools that require an 800-word SOP, you only need to write 1 or 2
new paragraphs for each. Even if you’re applying to one of those finicky programs that
don’t ask for an SOP, but require you write 3-4 short responses, you’re in luck. Typically,
those short responses feature prompts like this:

Describe your short-term and long-term goals. How will our degree program help you
achieve these goals? (200 words)

Please discuss past achievements that will help you succeed in this program. (200 words)

Perfect! These prompts just ask you to describe your “academic goal” and your
“greatest hits” list. All you need to do is copy-paste and tweak the sentences to make
sure they’re smooth. In fact, I’ve NEVER seen a short-response application where this
wasn’t possible.

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 Your Journey Starts Here

The fact is, if you want a logical (but very

persuasive) SOP that saves you time,
anxiety, and headaches without
sacrificing admissions potential — this
starter kit is all you need.

In fact, this SOP template is the single

most powerful way I’ve found to
persuade admissions committees that
your past experiences have prepared
you to be a truly successful grad student
in the future.

It’s worked for hundreds and hundreds of applicants, in virtually every academic field,
at every “brand name” university you can think of.

Even as you prepare for interviews, your SOP will serve as the backbone of your
candidacy that allows you to speak honestly and confidently about who you are, and
what you’re capable of achieving.

In short, it’s an amazing time to be a graduate applicant.

Stick with me and I’ll show you what it takes to move from feeling overwhelmed and
frustrated with your applications, to becoming a grad student happily focused on the
academic projects that truly light you up!

Jordan
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