Do Universities Check for Plagiarism in SOP

Do universities check for plagiarism in an SOP? All those who are in the midst of the application process may come to this question in their mind. Whether you are applying for a UG or PG course, usually, universities demand an SOP from the aspirant. SOP or Statement of Purpose states your achievements, whether academic, extracurricular or professional so that the admission committee can evaluate your profile. In this article, we will inform you whether universities check for plagiarism in SOP or not.

What is a Statement of Purpose (SOP)?

An SOP is a long essay required by universities abroad that include the academic and non-academic achievements of the aspirant. Through SOP, the admission committee of the university also gets an idea of why an aspirant is seeking admission to their university in a particular program. It helps them in assessing the profile of the candidate and also helps them in deciding whether the candidate is fit for pursuing that program or not.

Why You Should Not Copy SOP?

Nowadays, a lot of SOPs or sample SOPs are available online, resulting in many aspirants copying them while applying to a university. Even after knowing the importance of the SOP in the admission process, many aspirants copy the SOP from an available online source. Here, we should understand that the CV/Resume of two individuals can have similarities, however, their SOPs cannot be the same under any circumstances. The challenges that one goes through while working on research projects or some particular skills that students develop during the internship period cannot be the same. Even if two students have encountered the same problems, their approach cannot be the same always. Also, their goals in life cannot match.

Some students complain about not having good English skills to write a good SOP. Here, you need to understand that a Statement of purpose (SOP) need not contain fancy vocabulary. Rather, it should be able to explain your goals clearly, which you want to achieve in your life, apart from what you have already learned in your academic and professional life.

Here is an image from the Duke University MBA Admissions Page:

(Source of Image: Duke University MBA Admissions Official Webpage)

Also, Read:

How do Graduate Schools Assess SOP?

Graduate schools in the US look at the holistic profile of the candidate. They match the academic and other details which you have mentioned in the SOP with the documents that you have provided. Your SOP should state your achievements, and drawbacks, how you tackled them and what you have learned from them. If the admission committee does not find your application in sync with your SOP, then they might think that you have copied it from somewhere and chances are there that they will reject your application. Also, it should contain your experiences, like if you have worked on a research project, then you should mention everything about it, the tasks that you have done or challenges you faced while working on it in order to strengthen your application. Therefore, you should be extra careful not to copy your SOP from anywhere.

As the format of the SOP remains the same, admission committee members often encounter sentences that are commonly used by students. It can happen that you or someone who has worked with you (colleague or batchmate) may have encountered a similar situation. But your approach to solving that issue matters and how you arrived at the solution is important. Apart from this, you may have similar kinds of achievements, but how you achieved them, your working style and your approach cannot be similar to your colleague. As a matter of fact, the way you express yourself cannot be similar to anyone else. A personal statement has to be from someone who is applying, so, you should explain your own goals, achievements, and aspirations.

Also, Read: SOP Formats for the USA, Canada, UK, and Australia