How to write a brief statement of purpose or interest

The graduate selecting committees are not interested in jargon and generic statements of interest anymore. However, they are much interested in the statement of purpose that speaks to your ability to excel at the graduate program. By statement of purpose, I mean an essay that describes your ability, capacity, skills, experience, and public service interest and how this set of skills can enable you to function at your prospective graduate program. You will not be present when the committee sits to consider other applications. To that end, a statement of interest is like an autobiography about yourself that you would like to leave for the graduate selection committee to rely on in order to consider your application. In essence, it is a self-written report that should communicate your strengths to the committee.

Conduct in-depth research about the proposed program

Writing the statement of purpose starts with researching the prospective program of your interest. During the research, you will discover interesting things about the program you are interested in. These facts should be included in your first draft. In the process of applying to the Clinton School, I researched to read more about the Master of Public Service degree and courses that the school offers.

For example, once researched, I found out that the MPS degree program offers both Practicum and International Public Service Project (IPSP), hands-on field courses which allow the first year to intern and work with a non-profit organization in the United States and around the world. This information about the program and courses enabled me to draft a unique statement of interest that communicated my educational, professional experience, and cultural backgrounds to the graduate select committee.

Draft the statement of purpose

In drafting the statement of purpose, you will need information about the program and the courses that you are interested in. There are other pieces of information such as the number of students enrolled, faculty, and non-faculty members but I will recommend sticking with details of the program and its related courses. After you’ve gathered enough facts about the program, I will recommend you list the points you’ve gathered in a logical manner. The newly discovered information about the protective program, academic achievement, working experiences, and other qualifications are the most important ingredient in drafting the statement of purpose.

Proofread the statement of interest

After you’ve drafted the statement of interest, the next thing to do is to proofread the statement you’ve written. This may take several days if you want to have grammar error-free and the concrete statement that would appeal to your employers. It doesn’t matter the number of times you’ve read it. During this stage, you can request a friend or relative to proofread the statement of purpose. You can even request that they read it aloud in your present to also enable you to listen to what you’ve written.

A blend of culture

In my case, after I wrote the statement for the Clinton School, I requested Myna, my junior brother to proofread it. He was hesitant to read and critique the statement but after a couple of reads, he found out that I omitted the word “not” in one of the paragraphs, which switched the meaning. I immediately inserted the missing word after he notified me.

Sync your ideas to match your academic experience

While proofreading, it’s also imperative to add flesh to the essay you’ve written. In doing this, it’s always crucial to add additional information such as the books you’ve read in relation to the public service interest. I synthesized and linked the knowledge I received from reading public policy books including but not limited to the Bad Samaritan of Nations and Why Nations Fail. Doing this will prove to the graduate selecting committee that you are prepared for graduate studies. Below is a paragraph I pulled statement of interest I wrote in 2019.

This qoute is from one of the statements of purpose I wrote for a PhD program.

…..”teaching will help me to address development problems through scientific research.
I will conduct research into why, for example, there is a sharp decline of textile production in
Ghana and propose recommendations based on the findings of the study to the policymakers. I
have also developed a keen interest in teaching when I was in senior high school. This passion
has followed me through to my undergraduate and graduate studies. During my undergraduate
days, I was selected by my classmates to serve as a discussion leader for a number of courses.”

In summary, the statement of purpose should be brief, precise, and attractive to convince the graduate selecting committee.