{"id":51446,"date":"2021-03-30T06:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=51446"},"modified":"2021-03-30T04:45:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T11:45:51","slug":"3-must-have-elements-of-a-good-statement-of-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/3-must-have-elements-of-a-good-statement-of-purpose\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Must-Have Elements of a Good Statement of Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kp15446gcoz47p1vpn9ol6gj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Three-Must-Have-Elements-of-a-Good-Statement-of-Purpose.jpg\" alt=\"Three Must-Have Elements of a Good Statement of Purpose\" class=\"wp-image-70429\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>What are the essential, absolutely must-have components of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/how-to-write-a-goal-statement-for-graduate-school\/\">a strong statement of purpose or goals essay<\/a>?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Very simply, you\u2019ll need to include your MAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Accepted, MAP has a double meaning for individuals writing statements of purpose and goals essays. It stands for&nbsp;<strong>Motivation, Aspiration<\/strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Perspiration<\/strong>, and illustrates the road you will follow when writing your essays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s why the MAP is critical to the components of a statement of purpose. The adcom wants to see&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/4-ways-show-you-will-contribute-future\/\">the connections you make between where you\u2019ve been, where you are now, and where you\u2019re headed<\/a>. (We make a distinction between a statement of purpose and a personal statement as far as the MAP is concerned. In a personal statement, your readers will want to know your current location and how you got there, but clear plans for the future are secondary and usually not required.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MAP the parts of your personal statement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Let\u2019s start with the M\u2013Motivation:<\/strong>&nbsp;What makes you tick? Why have you made the decisions you have made? Why do you want to go into your chosen field?<br><br>Example:<br><br>You\u2019re passionate about feeding children in poverty-stricken families or communities with food insecurity. While growing up, one of your best friends was a recent immigrant from Swaziland, and told you horrific stories of seeing friends and family die of starvation. From spending time with his family, you learned to appreciate the blessing of having a full belly, and you began to learn about poverty and hunger that was happening closer to home, in neighborhoods not far from your own. Throughout high school, you volunteered in a soup kitchen, and realized that this was a population and a cause that you wanted to continue to work with in the future.<br><br><\/li><li><strong>Next, the A\u2013Aspiration:<\/strong>&nbsp;Where are you headed? What do you aspire to achieve after you complete your degree, both in the short-term and the long term?<br><br>Example:<br><br>You want to feed the world. You know it\u2019s a lofty aspiration, but you\u2019ve already seen the benefits of baby steps through volunteering at a local soup kitchen. You\u2019ve admired good leadership, and seen the damage that results when poor leadership takes control. Most importantly,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/add-detail-social-enterprisecommunity-service-goals\/\">you have ideas \u2013 big ideas, real ideas<\/a>. You want to enter the not-for-profit space and learn how to help a wider group of needy people gain access to healthful food in a sustainable way. You\u2019ve worked hard to make connections with leaders in organizations that do exactly this, and you plan to bring your skills and ideas to such a place after you earn your degree.<br><br><\/li><li><strong>Finally, the P\u2013Perspiration:<\/strong>&nbsp;When in the past&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/what-is-an-accomplishment-in-admissions\/\">have you sweated to achieve<\/a>, really had skin in the game? When have you dedicated yourself to a cause or goal? When have you worked hard to make an impact and contribute?<br><br>Example:<br><br>You\u2019ve volunteered for four years at your local soup kitchen, and also as a paid intern one summer in their office. You\u2019ve seen how food insecurity and lack of access to resources weakens an already fragile family structure, making children less able to learn in school and parents less able to make better choices for themselves and their families. You kept working on a fundraising campaign for the soup kitchen even while you were recovering from a painful injury, out of your dedication to helping the people that you met along the way. You\u2019ve suggested ways to lower overhead and recruited more volunteers to help out, including bringing in someone to present workshops on job-hunting and interviewing skills. You\u2019ve made a difference.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-map-in-your-statement-of-purpose\">MAP in your statement of purpose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These examples of MAP may relate more to a goals essay than to the parts of a personal statement. However, these three elements should also be part of a statement of purpose for grad or other academic program. For example, when describing your motivation, show how your research interest developed, and why it is important to you. For your aspiration, sketch out what you plan to do, including both your current research goals as well as your longer-term career goals. Show your perspiration through your previous academic, research, and professional experiences, explaining how they have prepared you for graduate study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even in the era of app-based directional guidance, don\u2019t begin to write your statement of purpose or MBA goals essay without this all-important MAP.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-s-next\">What\u2019s next?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why not check to make sure your MAP will lead you to the destination you seek? <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/services?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=map_advice&amp;utm_source=blog\" target=\"_blank\">Working with an Accepted consultant<\/a>\u00a0will ensure that you have all the essential\u00a0elements for a winning application.\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/services\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to get started.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services?utm_campaign=Blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_bio_gen&amp;utm_source=blog\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kp15446gcoz47p1vpn9ol6gj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/accepted_admissions_consulting.jpg\" alt=\"Accepted\" class=\"wp-image-64552\" width=\"47\" height=\"32\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>For 25 years, Accepted has helped applicants gain acceptance to top undergraduate and graduate programs. Our expert team of admissions consultants features former admissions directors, PhDs, and professional writers who have advised clients to acceptance at top programs worldwide including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/services\"><strong>Want an admissions expert\u00a0to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/58291\/f2606217-625b-4d34-8132-8b085897c5c7?__hstc=76425034.168288ac69c5c2cbe81451270cdfd970.1611857174497.1616702022917.1617102718487.105&amp;__hssc=76425034.8.1617102718487&amp;__hsfp=1891906564\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/58291\/f2606217-625b-4d34-8132-8b085897c5c7.png\" alt=\"Download Leadership in Admissions today!\" width=\"525\" height=\"187\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/reports.accepted.com\/guide\/from-example-to-exemplary-guide\" target=\"_blank\">From Example to Exemplary<\/a>, a free guide to writing outstanding admissions essays<br>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/stand-out-a-critical-goal-for-your-application\/\">Stand Out! A Critical Goal for Your Application<\/a>, a podcast episode<br>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/how-to-write-a-goal-statement-for-graduate-school\/\">How to Write a Goal Statement for Graduate School<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/essential-components-of-mba-personal-statement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">This article<\/a>\u00a0originally appeared on\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.accepted.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">blog.accepted.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where to apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.accepted.com\/mba\/services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">help you get accepted<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the essential, absolutely must-have components of&nbsp;a strong statement of purpose or goals essay?&nbsp; Very simply, you\u2019ll need to include your MAP. At Accepted, MAP has a double meaning&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113,243],"tags":[87,273,1283],"class_list":["post-51446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-blog","tag-personal-statement","tag-statement-of-purpose","tag-writing-the-mba-application-essay","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51447,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51446\/revisions\/51447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}