Does the insane level of English matter in SOPs when applying for universities?

[lolcocks]

Hello,

I am currently in the process of writing my SOP for universities and I have been looking at a few sample SOPs from other students. And the level of English is way too high, to the point where I am ashamed of my 7.5 IELTS score.

I mean, take a look at these four sentences:

The milieu of a competitive peer group combined with the urge to excel academically instilled the virtues of hard work and determination. The only venture I wished to dedicate my academic capital was automobile engineering. The rigorous academic regimen and unceasing academic mentoring of BVBCET demanded the best that was in me. I was able to cast my inquisitiveness in this inimitable mould.

I cannot form a sentence structure like this, it's insane.


I Googled few of the lines from other SOPs and turns out they were pulled from templates here and there, but is this was universities are looking for?

Should I just do what others have done? Or should I write it in my own words, doesn't matter if the words are not as heavy as what people have written?

 

[sam.devilz19]

If I were you, I would rather use understandable language. More difficult the language you use, higher are the chances that visa officer might think it's templated, something you'd wanna avoid.

 

[Janin_nl]

Hello,

I am currently in the process of writing my SOP for universities and I have been looking at a few sample SOPs from other students. And the level of English is way too high, to the point where I am ashamed of my 7.5 IELTS score.

I mean, take a look at these four sentences:



I cannot form a sentence structure like this, it's insane.


I Googled few of the lines from other SOPs and turns out they were pulled from templates here and there, but is this was universities are looking for?

Should I just do what others have done? Or should I write it in my own words, doesn't matter if the words are not as heavy as what people have written?

There is no need for such literature level of English. As long as you are able to express yourself in a way that anyone( Universities/ Professors) can understand it should be fine. The SOP should be concise and to the point.

Note- The grammar and the necessary content will always matter.

 

[lolcocks]

If I were you, I would rather use understandable language. More difficult the language you use, higher are the chances that visa officer might think it's templated, something you'd wanna avoid.

Thank you, I was asking about universities, not VISA SOP. But I guess what you said applies to universities as well.

There is no need for such literature level of English. As long as you are able to express yourself in a way that anyone( Universities/ Professors) can understand it should be fine. The SOP should be concise and to the point.

Note- The grammar and the necessary content will always matter.

Thank you! The SOP is concise and on point, only two sentences about my childhood interests (which for some reason people dedicate an entire paragraph to). Most of the content is related to my projects, work experience and how my studies affect my future.

The "literature level of English" is what had me confused.

 

[DianaFilip]

Keep it simple

 

[ayesha_llk2]

You are not writing to impress them. You are not trying to get admission in an English degree. The point is to inform them of important points in your application which are not clear from your other documents.

 

[AH410]

The point of language is to communicate clearly and efficiently. While that looks impressive, it is not an effective way of communicating, and using long-winded phrases such as 'academic capital' do more bad than good in a statement intended to provide information to someone.

Write in a way that is understandable and clear, while maintaining a somewhat formal tone. That example above is just a blatant affectation and will not help in any way.

 

[lolcocks]

Keep it simple

You are not writing to impress them. You are not trying to get admission in an English degree. The point is to inform them of important points in your application which are not clear from your other documents.

The point of language is to communicate clearly and efficiently. While that looks impressive, it is not an effective way of communicating, and using long-winded phrases such as 'academic capital' do more bad than good in a statement intended to provide information to someone.

Write in a way that is understandable and clear, while maintaining a somewhat formal tone. That example above is just a blatant affectation and will not help in any way.

Thank you for the valuable inputs guys, I guess you are right, writing in such a way would cause more damage than good. I will write a SOP in my own words.

 

[jweekend]

Why do you need sop for?

They read hundreds and thousands of letters, they know how to spot a genuine student or someone who just copied something off the internet.

 

[lolcocks]

Why do you need sop for?

They read hundreds and thousands of letters, they know how to spot a genuine student or someone who just copied something off the internet.

I guess this is another reason why I should write everything in my own words. Which I did. But after seeing what other's had written (off the internet), I got disappointed with my level of English.

 

[AH410]

I guess this is another reason why I should write everything in my own words. Which I did. But after seeing what other's had written (off the internet), I got disappointed with my level of English.

I'm a UK citizen and a native english speaker, and I would never write like that unless the context specifically demanded it. Just because you CAN write like that doesn't mean you SHOULD. Don't stress

If I saw that kind of language used in a context such as this, I would be a bit taken aback and possibly even a bit skeptical (as the top comment said) becuase there is literally no reason to write like that. I would actually be more inclined to believe it was written by a non-native speaker than a native or fluent speaker, simply because of how incredulously diffuse the language is.

 

[Janin_nl]

I'm a UK citizen and a native english speaker, and I would never write like that unless the context specifically demanded it. Just because you CAN write like that doesn't mean you SHOULD. Don't stress

If I saw that kind of language used in a context such as this, I would be a bit taken aback and possibly even a bit skeptical (as the top comment said) becuase there is literally no reason to write like that. I would be more inclined to believe it was written by a non-native speaker than a native or fluent speaker, simply because of how incredulously diffuse the language is.

Exactly my point, using all those rosy words won't mean anything unless they are meaningful. Focus on your strengths, refer every SOP you can but, come up with your own views. Make use of online tools and websites to fine tune your document. Never copy from anyone.

 

[primaprime]

The milieu of a competitive peer group combined with the urge to excel academically instilled the virtues of hard work and determination. The only venture I wished to dedicate my academic capital was automobile engineering. The rigorous academic regimen and unceasing academic mentoring of BVBCET demanded the best that was in me. I was able to cast my inquisitiveness in this inimitable mould.

I'm also a native English speaker and we don't write like this. Fancy words may impress you, but to most Canadians or Americans it's obvious whoever wrote that just abused a thesaurus and isn't actually that good at expressing their ideas. Don't waste your time looking at templates on the internet. Almost all of the ones I've seen are laughably poor and actively discourage you from writing clearly and concisely, in your own words.

 

[Bishops2020]

Hello,

I am currently in the process of writing my SOP for universities and I have been looking at a few sample SOPs from other students. And the level of English is way too high, to the point where I am ashamed of my 7.5 IELTS score.

I mean, take a look at these four sentences:



I cannot form a sentence structure like this, it's insane.


I Googled few of the lines from other SOPs and turns out they were pulled from templates here and there, but is this was universities are looking for?

Should I just do what others have done? Or should I write it in my own words, doesn't matter if the words are not as heavy as what people have written?

I would be completely turned off by this twaddle.

 

[wonderbly]

I won't write an SOP like that, even with my 8.5 ielts in writing. That paragraph is pretentious and does't convey any meaningful message. I'm sure most graduate committee will see right through the farce.

Like someone said above, keep it simple.