The statement of purpose is very important. This should outline your motivation and interest in attending a specific graduate program. There has been a lot written about statements of purpose and you should read through the various takes on these both on the web and in Getting In: A Step-By-Step Plan for Gaining Admission to Graduate School in Psychology. I won’t repeat what has been said about statements of purpose here. I will reiterate that your statement should be well written. Nothing will sink your application faster than a poorly written statement of purpose. Be sure to have someone knowledgeable edit your statement – maybe even more than one person. The other piece of advice I have about the statement of purpose is to be yourself. The more open and honest, i.e. authentic your statement the better chance you have of finding a program that is a good match to your skills and interests. Be sure to tell the interesting story of your life and why you want to make psychology your profession. Graduate schools like interesting people. They also like people who have overcome adversity, have experience in the profession, and who have multicultural backgrounds and experience.