How to begin the SOP...

[yayuku]

Does anyone know if it is acceptable to start the SOP without the greeting.. Dear Sir or Madam  I am applying in XXX , etc

 

In other words, to begin straight away with my story? 

[ratlab]

Not to be rude, but there are like 100 topics about how to make a SOP, a few stickied in this very forum. There's also a bunch of example on this forum, and everywhere on the internet, so this thread was really unnecessary. This site is particularly good:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/downloads

 

I would not start with a greeting, and the majority of applicants don't I'd assume.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Not to be rude, but there are like 100 topics about how to make a SOP, a few stickied in this very forum. There's also a bunch of example on this forum, and everywhere on the internet, so this thread was really unnecessary. This site is particularly good:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/gradappadvice/downloads

 

I would not start with a greeting, and the majority of applicants don't I'd assume.

I think his/her question is specific enough to warrant its own thread. He/she's asking if you need a greeting for your SOP. I think you can do without a greeting since you'll likely be sending a package with pages numbered. It would be overkill to put a greetings at the top of every page. You might want to put a title at the top of the page. But I don't think it's necessary to greet the reader. 

Edited January 9, 2014 by Gnome Chomsky

[Loric]

They know who you are and what this is, there is no need for the dance of exposition. Just jump right into it.

However, do not jump into "ever since I was a child my love of...." If you do you'll be dancing straight to the reject heap.