<p>Is everyone else as frustrated with their SOP as I am? I've tried reading books and websites about how to do it to get ideas along with sample essays, but I feel like I'm getting nowhere. All of the sample essays seem to be by super humans who have either been in the Peace Corps, overcome terrible poverty or illness, are immigrants from a war torn country, or something else. What about people who have drive, good grades, and decent test scores, but nothing "extraordinary" in their backgrounds? I'm afraid this will be the kiss of death for my applications. Anyone else facing this problem or figured out how to get around it?</p>
<p>It's not about those things. It's about articulating your research interests and goals and how your prospective program will help you pursue them. Explain how you got to where you are now academically and where you want to go. Good luck!</p>
<p>Neuro is right. The SoP is mainly used to see whether you will actually be a good grad student, not to see whether you have superhuman capabilities.</p>
<p>Do you have any research projects you can talk about? Is there a professor at the school you are applying to who is working on something that inspires you? Why do you love the field you are in?</p>
<p>It seems like you are still stuck in the undergrad essay mentality. It's very different.</p>