Strategic Graduate Application Support at the Centre for Writing and Communication

In Hollywood teen movies, college essays often appear as effortless, monologue-driven snapshots of life. Writing a concise and impactful Statement of Purpose takes effort: it involves distilling years of academic and personal journeys into a narrative that demonstrates both your fit for the programme and your potential to contribute to it. At Ashoka University’s Centre for Writing and Communication (CWC), we provide personalised support to help students tackle this challenge. Through one-on-one appointments, workshops, and resources, we guide students in ideating, structuring, and refining their SOPs.

Our tutors—all of whom hold Master’s or Ph.D. degrees—bring extensive experience to these appointments. Having worked with a significant number of students on their applications, they can foresee, understand, and address common problems students face while writing these essays. We work closely with students on various drafts of the SoP, providing incremental and dynamic feedback to help the statement achieve its ideal form. This process focuses on succinct, meaningful, research-focused storytelling tailored to the programme, ensuring the statement retains its uniqueness.

Workshops and Resources for SoP Writing

In addition to individual consultations, we conduct workshops throughout the academic year, covering every aspect of SoP writing—from defining its scope and interpreting prompts to structuring and editing drafts. These workshops aim to demystify the SoP-writing process for applicants both within and beyond the Ashokan community, providing accessible guidance on writing college essays.

As part of our commitment to supporting applicants, we also produce resources that are collated on the university’s YouTube channel and the CWC website. On the YouTube channel, our series “Decoding College Applications” offers a comprehensive overview of the graduate application process, covering timelines, preparation tips, and insights on application documents across disciplines. For example, Sayori suggests drafting in transferable “sections” that address specific application questions, and Rachith provides tips on leveraging interdisciplinary experience effectively in the SoP. Similarly, the Resources tab on our website includes a recently published document on SoP writing containing the following sections:

• Frequently asked questions on getting started with a draft, framing your personal narrative, and navigating common challenges. Most FAQs include examples from South Asian and Indian contexts. For example, it addresses the use of quotes in introductions—a common feature in Indian academic writing but less prevalent in popular samples online that follow global North academic conventions. The FAQs indicate that an SoP can mirror academic writing by presenting a clear central argument.
• A writing exercise with step-by-step prompts to methodically draft a statement of purpose containing essential information about your background while minimising redundancies to answer the “best fit” question.
• Success stories from students who utilised CWC’s support to secure admissions to top programmes. These resources, available in the public domain, aim to simplify the intimidating task of writing personal essays like SoPs, and in turn, view them as opportunities to infuse one’s application with personal voice and conviction.

A Broader Vision for Professionalisation and Interdisciplinarity

As members of the CWC, we engage with students, faculty, and administration, gaining insights into Ashoka University’s evolving priorities in professionalisation and interdisciplinarity. Many students, accustomed to academic writing that prioritises objectivity, struggle to articulate their personal motivations and goals effectively. CWC helps bridge this gap by helping students refine their stories as scholars while integrating appropriate, discipline-specific insights into their applications—beyond simply listing their achievements. Graduate application support is one of our most in-demand offerings, and over the years, Ashoka students who have worked with us have gained admission to top institutions worldwide, including Ivy League schools, UChicago, LSE, Sciences Po, and Oxbridge.

Our one-on-one application support includes feedback on all key materials, such as resumes, personal statements, scholarship essays, SOPs, and research proposals. CWC aligns with the mandate of Ashoka’s Office of Postgraduate Studies and the Office of Global Education, supporting students’ aspirations for higher education abroad, yet bringing a distinct depth and reach to its work. Our SoP workshops, which attract 700+ registrations annually, and receive enthusiastic feedback, demonstrate the impact of our guidance. Through strategic, personalised advice on graduate applications, we equip students with the skills and confidence needed for future studies and careers.