📄 Application Essays, 🎥 YouTube
What a Good SOP Looks Like: Watch Before You Write (SOP Series 2)
Updated 2026/10/16
Jason’s Memo
A good SOP connects your past, your future and the school, and uses a story with real depth to explain your “why.”
- Sort out your resume first: Organize the experiences related to what you’re applying for before writing the SOP. It makes it easier to tell what belongs in the SOP.
- Answer the core questions: What skills you’re missing, how studying abroad fills that gap, and why this particular school can help you reach your goal.
- Leave some room to grow: Don’t just write “to further improve myself.” Name the skills you want to develop in the program and how they connect to your goal.
This post is the second chapter of my “application essays” (in Chinese) series. I’ll share how to use storytelling to show who you are in your SOP, and break down how an SOP is structured and the role it plays in your application.
In “Chapter 1” (in Chinese), I shared the essay tips that got me into Columbia’s MBA, including the difference between an SOP and a PS, four things to sort out before writing an SOP, and the three core parts of an SOP!
What Essays Do in a Study-Abroad Application
This is the second chapter of the SOP series. I’ll share how to use storytelling to show who you are in your SOP, and break down how an SOP is structured and the role it plays in your application.
At its heart, an SOP explains your motivation, your skills and your career goals. It tells the admissions committee: “I’m passionate about this field, I have the relevant abilities, and this is my plan for the next five or ten years.”
An SOP is more than a document. It’s how you show you’re genuine and passionate. Before getting into storytelling, we need to understand the role an SOP and other essays play in a study-abroad application:
- The formula for a resume is: your contributions + your past experience = the school’s bar
- Its purpose is to show whether your abilities and preparation meet the school’s admission bar
- The formula for an essay is: your goal – you = the school
- Its purpose is to show that the gap between you and your goal is exactly what the school can provide, to explain clearly why you want to study abroad and why this school, and to show your fit with the school
The Order to Prepare Your SOP
An SOP usually shouldn’t be too long. Admissions officers often have only about 30 seconds to evaluate one, so your content needs to be concise, strong and clearly structured. Before you start writing, I recommend preparing in this order:
- Sort out your resume (CV/Resume) first
Organize the academic, work, extracurricular, leadership and volunteer experiences most related to what you’re applying for, including awards and certificates. This lays the groundwork for your SOP. - Then write the SOP
Describe your past experience, career goals and personal story, and make your fit with the school stand out.
This order helps you tell which content belongs in the SOP and which fits better in other materials, such as recommendation letters or the short-answer fields in the application system, so you don’t repeat yourself.
Keep in mind that an SOP is not an extension of your CV.
Your CV describes your past, while your SOP needs to connect your “past,” your “future” and the “school.” Choose experiences with depth and tell your story precisely, so the school has enough information to judge whether you’re the right student for the program. That’s why I recommend focusing on the depth of your experience rather than its breadth. (Of course, if your range of experience is truly remarkable compared with other applicants, it’s worth mentioning.)
What Your SOP Needs to Cover
An SOP with depth should clearly answer these questions:
- Across your past experiences, why did you make the choices you made?
- Which experiences confirmed your passion for the field?
- Why do you need to study abroad? Is it because of your career goals?
- What skills have you found you’re missing, and how will studying abroad fill those gaps?
- Why can this particular school help you reach your goal?
- What can you contribute to the school, the classroom or the community?
When you write, clear logic and honest expression matter most. Keeping your writing simple and sincere, and moving the admissions committee with a story that goes deep, usually works better than piling up achievements or using overly complicated language.
Authenticity Matters More Than Perfection: Your “Why” Counts
Many people writing an SOP chase a kind of “standardized perfection,” thinking that listing more achievements or repeating keywords like “leadership” will earn extra points.
In reality, there’s no fixed scoring standard for an SOP.
Instead of reaching for difficult vocabulary, express yourself in a genuine, convincing way so readers can feel your values and goals. The most helpful thing you can do while writing is dig into your “why”: your goals and motivation for applying. That becomes the guide for your SOP and gives the whole essay a clear direction.
Brainstorming and Finding Ideas
I’ve laid out an SOP structure above, but students often come to me for help because they’re stuck on the structure and have no ideas at all.
If you get stuck while writing, try the “word vomit” method: open a blank document and write whatever comes to mind, without trying to make every sentence perfect. Once you have enough material, organize those ideas into the SOP structure. It takes the pressure off and makes the process much easier.
Leave Some Room to Grow
In the middle paragraphs of an SOP, applicants often try to show off their best experiences. But you want to avoid making the reader wonder, “You’re already excellent, so why do you need more education?”
Finding the right balance is especially important here: show that you’re an ideal candidate, and also show that you want to keep learning and growing.
For example, instead of saying vaguely “I’m applying to this program to further improve myself,” explain the specific skills or areas of expertise you want to develop in the program, and how those courses or resources relate to your goals and your reasons for studying, so your goal is more convincing and focused!
I hope this helps. If you’re interested in growing efficiently, careers at multinational companies or studying abroad, you can subscribe on YouTube (in Chinese) and leave a comment telling me what topics you’d like to hear about next! See you next time!
Jason’s Takeaway
Admissions officers often spend only 30 seconds on an SOP. I recommend focusing on the depth of your experience and using a true story to explain your “why.”
Jason, admitted to Columbia Business School’s MBA at 22 and founder of OfferLand.cc
Next step: When you get stuck, try word vomit: open a blank document, write whatever comes to mind, then organize it into the SOP structure.
好的留學文書該長這樣！下筆前先看這部影片｜SOP 教學系列（二）