Clarifications on different types and content of so called statement of purpose

While applying for an academic position, candidates may find that the faculty is asking them to attach a statement showing their interests and enthusiasm while highlighting their backgrounds. Most of the time, the term, Statement of Purpose is witnessed. At the same time, there are other familiar names such as motivation letters, letters of interest, personal letters, application letters, etc. The current study aims to investigate whether or not there is any difference between these statements. For this reason, the information about required statements has been extracted from top universities' websites in different countries. The information was compared in terms of main content, length, and other sensitive information required to be mentioned. The main findings declare that numerous differences, relatively slight or significant, distinguish each statement. Subsequently, it is recommended to perform according to what each university suggested to be included in each statement.

Keywords:

statement of purpose , SOP , motivation letter , cover letter , letter of interest , personal statement