# Statement of Purpose



## balawadhi (Oct 24, 2010)

I'm applying to UCLA, Columbia, NYU, USC (and possibly others).
I am a bit worried about the statement of purpose. What are they expecting? what to include? what not to include?
Can any accepted students share one they wrote or give an idea of what they covered in their statement of purpose?

Thank you


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## Lvn (Nov 11, 2010)

Why are you special? What makes you unique? Go deep, go bat-**** crazy. 

Somewhat vague answer? Yeah. But there is no right one.


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## JacksonFilms (Nov 12, 2010)

Your paperwork for applying to graduate school will include the formal application, a resume and maybe a example of scholarly writing.  The Statement of Purpose should include your past personal experiences  _in your own words_ and clear objectives of what you would like to achieve by going to graduate school.  This writing "fills in the cracks" between the other submitted material that you might submit and gives the selection committee a better understanding of who you are as a person.  It will also serve as a road map to your education for the next 2-3 years and you should reread it once you are in school.

This should be a well crafted piece of writing and not to be taken lightly.  I spent a solid 5 weeks writing, crafting and rewriting mine and it ended up with 4-5 complete revisions.  It will change and improve over time, so make the effort to do it right.

In the end, it's a piece of the puzzle.  You want to give the committee the information they need, without a lot of rubbish, to make their decisions. 

Good Luck.

Tim
Nontraditional Films Blog

Tim Jackson
1st year MFA
School of Film
Ohio University


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## Mike_V (Nov 12, 2010)

My suggestion is to write what is true about yourself and shine it a little bit. Do not oversell yourself or they will catch you on your bs and you will pretty much destroy your chances of consideration.
I wrote my statement of purpose straight forward and honest with a tiny bit of polishing my work but I definitely did not go overboard selling myself.


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