A statement of purpose is a formal essay that outlines an applicant's career goals and reasons for choosing a specific field of study or program.
[1] According to Uni in the USA, the Common Application essay is intended as a chance to describe "things that are unique, interesting and informative about yourself".
[2] The University of Chicago is known for its unusual essay prompts in its undergraduate admissions application, including "What would you do with a foot-and-a-half-tall jar of mustard"?
Harvard cited the need to know more broadly about applicants' backgrounds following a Supreme Court ruling banning the use of race as a factor for admissions.
[7] A 2021 study in Science Advances found that the content of the admission essays submitted to University of California had stronger correlations to self-reported household income than did SAT scores.