- Check out our Video Course (64 min.)
- What is a Statement of Purpose?
- Do universities provide samples?
- Why should you NOT use a sample?
Video Course
Get Accepted into Your Dream German University — with the Perfect Letter of Motivation!
22 videos
incl. Checklist + Template
As you may already be aware, no matter whether you are applying for a Bachelor's, Master's, scholarship or student visa in Germany, you need to write a Statement of Purpose (SOP). When it comes specifically to Master's in Germany, over 90% of German Master's programs include the SOP in the list of compulsory application documents. Moreover, in the case of Master’s admissions, the weight of this document usually varies from 10% to 40% of the total application score. In other words, you need to take the SOP seriously if you want to get into your desired Master's program in Germany. The problem is that, based on our experience and research, students usually find SOP-writing is the most challenging task of their application.
That's why many students browse the internet to find a high-quality SOP sample. Unfortunately, this decision can lead to dramatic consequences because
1
Students end up using a poor SOP sample as a guide, as finding a very good SOP example is extremely difficult (and they are by virtue of their situation unable to tell the difference), and/or
2
Students end up plagiarizing
Both of these generally lead to students having their applications rejected. In order to help you to avoid this trap, in this article, we decided to address the key issues when it comes to the Statement of Purpose sample for Master's in Germany.
Check out our Video Course (64 min.) on "How to write a Letter of Motivation"
22 videos plus checklist and template
Go to the video courseWhat is a Statement of Purpose for Master's in Germany?
Generally speaking, a Statement of Purpose (SOP) is a (mandatory) application document requested by most German universities in which you demonstrate your motivation to get into the given study program/ scholarship/visa/etc. and explain why you are the best fit/candidate. Put another way, it is through the SOP that you can "advertise" yourself in the best possible ways (i.e., showing your strengths, your determination, your qualifications, and so on) and make a formal request for placement. The same is true for the rationale behind the Statement of Purpose when it comes to applying to Master's degree programs in Germany.
Do German Universities provide SOP Samples?
No, German universities do not provide Statement of Purpose samples. This is done intentionally, as SOP writing is supposed to be an open-ended task. At most, German universities sometimes provide students with guidelines for writing their SOP. We provide several examples in the table below.
Table: Statement of Purpose Guidelines by German Master's Programs
|
University |
Program |
City |
Status |
Guideline |
|
Freiburg |
public |
|||
|
general |
Heidelberg |
public |
||
|
Leipzig |
public |
|||
|
Rheinbach/ Sankt Augustin |
Public |
|||
|
Bremen |
Public |
|||
|
Potsdam |
Public |
Why should you NOT use a Statement of Purpose sample?
1
Samples are usually of low quality
The Internet is full of SOP samples. However, we do not suggest relying on these while writing your own SOP for your German master's program applications. As was already mentioned, one of the reasons is that, in most cases, the quality of these SOP examples is quite poor. To be more precise, 90% of the Statement of Purpose samples that you can find on the Internet would be rejected by selective German master's programs. Why? Because the guidance they provide in terms of format, content, length, etc. in general does not meet the expectations of German professors, the people who will check your SOPs and decide whether they accept you or not. You can find examples of these kinds of bad SOP samples here.
2
High risk of plagiarism
Even if the sample is of high quality, you still should not heavily rely on it, as you might end up plagiarizing it, which is a no-go. You should rather use the good SOP sample as a general guideline for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the SOP should look like. In general, if you plagiarize or copy anything directly from any source, you will not be able to get away with it. The study program will find out about it, and your application will be immediately rejected.
You can find examples of good Statement of Purpose samples here. Although the Charité University Medical School (based in Berlin) does not specifically provide a sample, we strongly suggest you to read through their advice regarding SOP writing, which is relevant for various Master's programs in Germany. You can find their recommendations here.
Advice Box
If you want to be on the safe side and at the same time learn how to write a very good Statement of Purpose for your German Master's program application, check out our comprehensive video course on this topic and familiarize yourself with our articles, which you can find here. By the way, in our video course, you can also find a high-quality Statement of Purpose sample created by our team!
Do not forget about the danger of plagiarism! Just use our sample (or any other high-quality sample) for the purpose of getting an overall idea of what the SOP should look like.
