Dos and Don’ts

Dos and Don’ts of the Gilman Statement of Purpose

1. DO be specific and precise. Abstract language and vague references to lessons learned or experiences lived won’t get you anywhere. Your reader wants proof that you have thought in concrete terms about what your study abroad experience will be like and what its impacts will be.
2. DO edit! Proofread! Your reader is going to be reading a lot of essays; little grammatical errors, typos or misspellings can be irritating to readers and demonstrate a sloppiness or lack of dedication.
3. DO NOT be sassy. Your essay can have personality and be unique without being sassy, boastful or goofy.
4. DO use the space that you have! Your essay does not have to be exactly 7000 characters, but your readers will definitely notice if it is really short, especially if you leave things out.
5. DO NOT be sappy. Sap is a total turn-off. Everyone can (and does) say “this will change my life,” “I’ve dreamt of this forever…”
6. DO pay attention to small formatting details like paragraph breaks. When the reader opens your essay (perhaps the 60^th one that she has read in the past 2 days) and sees one huge block of tiny text with no paragraph breaks or indents, she does not want to read your essay, and is already predisposed to dislike it.
7. DO have someone read your essay. Have an advisor, writing center staff, friend or family member read over your essay for content and typos.