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STOP THINKING LIKE A RESEARCH ASSISTANT

The PhD SOP Formula

A step-by-step guide to writing SOPs that generate interviews, fill you with confidence, and convince professors and PIs that you can design and lead research projects that make the world better.

I NEED THIS! LET’S DO IT →
FINALLY, ANSWER THE QUESTION…

“What are search committees really looking for?”

You've spent hours staring at a blinking cursor, trying to write a Statement of Purpose that will land you in your dream school’s "YES" pile – but now you’re losing confidence.

 

DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR…?

  • Deadlines are looming, but you’re not sure where to start, so you keep procrastinating.

  • You’ve picked through EVERY article on Google about how to write an SOP, but now you’re more confused than ever.

  • You still have no idea how to show “fit” – nor why everyone says it’s so important.

  • You drafted your SOP, then went online to compare it to “essays that worked!”  – and now you’re realizing your essay will most certainly NOT work.

…don’t worry – you’re in the right place.

Honestly, there’s probably just this one thing standing between you and an inbox full of interview invites.

Yep, you guessed it – the SOP.

There’s a ton of pressure riding on this essay. But that doesn’t mean you need to stay on the typical applicant’s agonizing path:

OVERANALYSIS
↓
PROCRASTINATION
↓
IMPOSTER SYNDROME


The more time ticks away toward your deadline, the less you feel like a high-impact researcher, and the more you start to question whether or not you’re even cut out for grad school!

Unless… you had an SOP strategy that’s easy-to-follow, that immediately makes you feel proud of your work, and that hundreds of other students have used to earn MULTIPLE PhD admissions.

On average, you're competing with 50 other potential grad students for every one available spot.

– COUNCIL OF GRADUATE SCHOOLS

So, how can you make sure you're the one?

INTRODUCING

The PhD SOP Formula

The only comprehensive, step-by-step roadmap for writing SOPs that PhD programs LOVE to read. It's time to turn your grad school applications into ‘interview magnets'.

YES PLEASE – SIGN ME UP ↓

Inside the Formula

While everyone else is putting admissions committees to sleep with cookie-cutter (and mostly irrelevant) autobiographical essays, you’ll be proving that you have what it takes to design and lead research like a real “Principal Investigator” in the making.

Here's what we'll tackle together...

MODULE 1

What Research Problems Do You Want to Solve?

Set the foundation for an A+ SOP. In this module, we'll engineer your success by getting a few uber-important decisions out of the way, giving you (and your dream school) TOTAL clarity about your research agenda – and why it’s so important.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • Avoid the #1 MOST COMMON MISTAKE that signals you don’t have the potential to lead research
  • Show why your research is important for society, and for other scholars, AND for your dream school too
  • Articulate your "why" (when universities ask, "What will you contribute?" this is EXACTLY what they want to see)
  • Craft a brilliant “Sentence of Purpose" that immediately tells PIs you’re someone to pay attention to
MODULE 2

Why Is This School the Perfect Place to Investigate These Problems?

The most important part of your SOP! In this module, we’ll make sure you’re in the top 30% of “viable candidates” by connecting your research questions to your Target Faculty in a deeply meaningful way.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • What “fit” really means, and why it takes more than 1-2 sentences carelessly inserted at the end of an essay
  • Discover why this is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT part of your SOP
  • Learn how to investigate Target Faculty and boost your chances of admission long before you apply
  • Save weeks of effort by easily recycling these paragraphs for all your applications
MODULE 3

How Are You Qualified to Investigate Your Research Problems?

Selling yourself is easy. It’s not about fancy credentials, GPA, or # of publications. It’s about using simple logic to show that you’re the right person to investigate these research problems you all care about so much.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • Establish hard, verifiable proof that you know how to execute your research agenda (and adapt when things go wrong)
  • Quickly turn this proof into a sophisticated prose argument
  • Prove to yourself that no matter what happened in the past, you have the specific skillset necessary to succeed as a doctoral student
  • Transform your CV into a sales pitch – it’s easier than you think!
MODULE 4

Why Do You Care About THESE Research Problems? What's Your Story?

Everybody has a story. Most people just tell the wrong one! Stand out as wildly unique in the applicant pool by using our foolproof 1-2-3 template to explain how you grew fascinated with your research problems.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • The most powerful technique I’ve ever found for making an applicant immediately interesting to grad admissions readers
  • Follow specific templates to make the writing easy, even if you’ve never considered yourself a writer or “creative” at all
  • Avoid the Top 3 “First Paragraph” problems that turn a smart SOP into a gimmicky "kiss of death"
  • Use “Catalyst Moment Tests” to ensure that your essay is just as intriguing as those from the best WriteIvy alumni at MIT, Stanford, and more
MODULE 5

How Will You Conclude This Academic Journey?

Wrap up your SOP with power and harmony.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • Craft a bold "Career Goals Statement" to show the reader exactly where your research journey will take you
  • Master the four elements of a powerful conclusion that'll make your reader feel GLAD they discovered you in the applicant pile
  • Follow the examples of 12 high-achieving students with sample essays and templates (I'm giving you all their tricks!)
MODULE 6

Putting It All Together

Once you have all the necessary ingredients for a stellar SOP, it's time to put them together so it flows beautifully and logically. After this, there will be nothing left to do besides hit 'submit!'

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

  • Double-check your work with a point-by-point outline for EVERY word of your SOP
  • Learn to craft smart transitions so your writing always feels natural – NEVER clunky
  • Borrow 13 tried-and-true techniques to meet any limit (500 words? No problem!)
  • How to guarantee you get REALLY HELPFUL feedback from your mentors, professors, and LOR writers

PLUS, snag these bonuses to help guarantee your SOP is the best it can be...

BONUS 1



60 Days of Private SOP Support

($500 VALUE)

We get it—even with the best course in the world, sometimes you just want your questions answered.

That's why you get 60 days of Q&A support starting from your enrollment date.

During this time, you'll be able to ask any question you have related to The PhD SOP Formula and get it answered directly by Jordan.

(If you've looked at admissions consultants before, you already know that a good SOP expert will charge thousands of dollars—way more than the price of this course—for far less support than this. We can only offer this to you as a bonus because Jordan limits 1-on-1 clients so he can devote more time to you.

BONUS 2



The WriteIvy Sample SOP Library

($200 VALUE)

See exactly how and what students wrote to earn admission to schools like Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, and more.

You'll get access to 15 Sample Essays fully diagrammed and annotated to show you, step-by-step, how they implemented the SOP Formula and exactly how you can use the same design. The sample library includes essays from all kinds of academic fields, many of which earned admission to as many as 7 PhD programs!

BONUS 3



Expanded Guide: Personal Essays and Diversity Statements

($100 VALUE)

When schools ask you to write more essays on top of the SOP…it can feel a little tedious, can’t it?

That’s why Jordan revised his guide to personal essays so you can feel clear-sighted and confident about about turning your life’s story into a mature, intellectual argument for why you’ll be a great addition to any graduate community.

This includes detailed descriptions of the 3 topics all great personal essays illustrate in some form or another (Diversity, Adversity, or the Broad Social Impact of your Research). Plus, as a Bonus Bonus, Jordan has diagrammed two superlative sample essays from a pair of students—from completely different lives and experiences—admitted to the #1 program in their fields.

BONUS 4



Investigating Investigators: How to Find the Right Faculty Advisors

($100 VALUE)

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu, says: “Victorious warriors win first then go to war. Defeated warriors go to war first, then seek to win.”

Targeting the right faculty advisers is how you win before you even apply.

In this guide, you’ll learn how the most successful students choose where to send their PhD applications. You’ll learn how best to leverage Google Scholar, how to email potential advisers to generate positive pre-interviews, and how to conduct preliminary research so you’ll seem as smart, mature, and professional as possible when you start smiling on Zoom.

Plus, after finishing the course, you'll have access to add-on SOP Review and Editing services — directly with Jordan — for as low as $150.

Honestly, you probably won’t need extra help.

When I used to do 1-on-1 editing for students who had NOT taken the course, it required 4-6 heavy revisions and approximately 6-10 hours of editing before they generated an SOP I considered A+. This took, at minimum, 2 weeks, and often 4 weeks or more.

However, for students who HAVE TAKEN the course, there are three outcomes:

  • 70-80% do not need any further help—they already have an A+ essay
  • 10-20% only require a single "review" (not full editing)
  • A few students still want actual line editing (usually international students with language obstacles), but they now only require one revision to get an A+ SOP

Thus, the course is like a warp speed jump to a high-quality essay, and my personal goal was to make it so good, no one feels like they need further help to succeed in academia.

To show you what I mean, here's feedback from some past students:

What Our Brilliant Alumni Have to Say...

"It helped me tremendously... it was just the right amount of support."

testimonial-image


Hey Jordan, just writing in to update on the status of my applications! They went amazingly well! I'm an international reapplicant this year and I applied to 12 schools and received interviews at 9 of them. I wouldn't be surprised if that number could have been 11 schools because my interviewers mentioned they really enjoyed reading my SOP. I received acceptances from Emory, MIT, and Cornell this cycle and turned down remaining interviews.

I just want to thank you for your amazing course and the amount of effort you put into it because it helped me tremendously. The course had sufficient depth to help organize my thoughts and improve my writing skills. I found myself incorporating your tips beyond my SOP to apply to scientific writing in general, e.g. applying for conferences and helping my professor out with grants! I received encouraging feedback from postdocs reading my SOP and one of them assumed I paid for an editing service, which was really flattering, haha.

Ultimately, it was up to me to evaluate my own writing/thinking and your lessons were an extra push in the right direction. I think it was just the right amount of support provided, and having to think through the process on my own with your guidance facilitated my learning of fundamental writing techniques/habits and helped me regain confidence in my rusty writing skills. Thank you!

– Jena, Immunobiology

"I felt confident in my statement and was able to get interviews at almost every program I applied to. You may hear this enough already, but I really appreciate the time and resources you provide to graduate school-hopefuls like me."

- Ben, Human Computer Interaction / Mech Engineering


"While my essays are by no means among the best featured on your website, they gained acceptance + maximum possible funding to my top three choices! I'll be an Ivy Leaguer in the fall! Thank you so much for your selfless dedication, I would not have made it without your help!"

- Adri, Sociology


"I’m happy to say this year that out of my 7 applications, I received 5 interviews and 5 offers, including one to my top choice with full fellowship funding (which is INCREDIBLY selective even as far as PhD programs go)!!"

- Lia, Public Health


"I was very fortunate to receive both the NDSEG and NSF GRFP fellowships so it seems that your SOP strategies are also effective for those applications!  Thank you again so much for your help. This application cycle was successful beyond my wildest expectations!"

- Rick, Electrical Engineering

When you enroll today, here’s what you’ll get:

  •  All six modules of The PhD SOP Formula [$497 value]
  •  60 days of private SOP support [$500 value]
  • Sample SOP Library [$200 value]
  •  Expanded Guide to Personal/Diversity Essays [$100 value]
  •  Guide to Finding the Right Faculty Advisors  [$100 value]
 
That’s a total value of at least $1,397!

And that's not counting the value of the results you'll get if you follow this formula and put in the work...

The confidence that comes from knowing you've written exactly what faculty want to read, that you've proven you can design and lead research projects, and of course...the interviews and admissions that'll follow when you've shown your true potential.

If this sounds like exactly what you've been looking for, you can get instant access to the course via the enrollment options below. But before you join, please make sure you're ready to do the work so you can get the results you want and deserve.

Because all sales are final.

If you're ready and excited to get started, choose the enrollment option that works best for you. Once you submit your order, you'll receive an email with your access information so you can start right away with your course content and bonuses.

Choose the plan that’s right for you…

Sign up for The PhD SOP Formula today and start checking your grad school apps off your list, one by one.

3 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF

$180

ENROLL + PAY MONTHLY

1-TIME PAYMENT OF

$497

PAY IN FULL + SAVE

WriteIvy students have been accepted into graduate programs at:

brown-university-logo cambridge-logo carnegie-mellon-logo columbia-logo cornell-logo emory-logo eth-zurich-logo georgetown-logo harvard-logo heidelberg-logo johns-hopkins-logo nyu-logo stanford-logo tu-delft-logo
penn-logo uc-berkeley-logo ucla-logo ucsb-logo ucsd-logo unc-logo university-of-chicago-logo glasgow-logo illinois-logo michigan-logo university-of-toronto-logo utrecht-university-logo washington-u-logo yale-logo

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE…

Multiple CS admits at MIT and Carnegie Mellon


One Mechanical Engineer admitted to 7 top-12 programs


Two alumnae went from 0 to 5 PhD admits in a single year (with no new research)


10+ Stanford admits (across all fields) in 2023


 

Add yourself to the list of WriteIvy’s thousands of success stories.

I’M IN – SIGN ME UP!

Meet Your Instructor

Hi, I’m Jordan, your SOP coach. After reading and editing thousands of admissions essays, I’m sharing the universal lessons of essay writing that have helped countless students land their dream schools and transform their lives.

I’ve celebrated SO MANY TIMES with students who never imagined they could write an SOP that made them so proud, let alone earn admission to their #1 choice PhD programs.

That’s what I want to share with you.

If you’re a PhD applicant of any kind, you owe it to yourself to take this dive and see how your applications transform when you stop Googling, stop guessing, and instead, follow a logical writing model that’s worked a thousand times at virtually every elite university you can think of.

The PhD SOP Formula is perfect for you if…

 

  • You're dreaming of a career in academia, and you know the SOP is your ticket to the most competitive grad schools
  • You feel awkward when you write, you're not sure if you're on the right track, and you're looking for a way to stand out from your competition
  • You're spending way too much time trying to figure out what to write to convince search committees that you're the research apprentice they need
  • You’re tired of vague, frustrating advice about admissions essays, and you just want to write an SOP that’s sharp, intelligent, and conveys what schools want to see (in just the right way)
  • You’re motivated to invest the next two weeks in brainstorming, outlining, and writing a deeply meaningful SOP that can dramatically alter your chances of admission. 

If you’re a PhD applicant with ambitious goals and you want to give yourself the best possible chances of admission…

Yes, this course is for you!

"This course astounded me.

The lessons aren’t just instructions for writing an SOP, but totally made me rethink the whole application process. Let me just say this: I don’t think there is ANYONE who shouldn’t read these lessons before they apply to grad school, regardless of the programs they apply to."

– Wang Z., Economics

FAQs

Questions your fellow grad applicants asked before they enrolled in The PhD SOP Formula

Don’t leave your future up to chance.

Give yourself the best possible shot at securing the school (and research career) of your dreams.

3 MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF

$180

ENROLL + PAY MONTHLY

1-TIME PAYMENT OF

$497

PAY IN FULL + SAVE