[文书写作] [发现]Statement of Purpose Advice [复制链接]

keyboard
UID: 135858

寄托新兵

Rank: 2

声望: 5
寄托币: 80
注册时间: 2003-5-30
精华: 2
帖子: 0

电梯直达

楼主

发表于 2003-12-17 03:32:38 |只看该作者 |倒序浏览

http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~whuang/other/purposeadvice.html
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf

Wes Huang Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science
Home » Other »

Statement of Purpose Advice
I've read many applications to our graduate program, and I've seen a lot of statements of purpose that, frankly, aren't very good.
Here are some thoughts and comments that will hopefully help you write a better statement of purpose. These are merely my own thoughts and should not be construed as official guidelines of any sort.

What the statement of purpose is not
Many students (particularly foreign students) think that the statement of purpose is about character. While honesty, sincerety, conscientiousness, etc. are important attributes, I assume students with good academic records applying to graduate school have these traits.

Many students think that the statement of purpose should be an autobiographical sketch. Believe me, the story of your first computer when you were 10 years old and how it inspired you to devote your life to Computer Science does not make particularly interesting reading, nor does it tell me the things I want to know.
Questions that your statement of purpose should answer
When I read a statement of purpose (which I think is one of the most important parts of a graduate application), I have the following questions in mind.
Don't structure your statement with these questions! (I can just see the applications pouring in now with my questions used as section headings.)

Your statement of purpose should be a cohesive piece of prose. (Some use of section headings is OK, but not with my questions.) It should present yourself to the reader. One way you can think of your statement is as an extended (and somewhat more formal) answer to the interview question, “Tell me about yourself...”

While some of my questions below can (and should) be answered directly, the rest should be addressed by relating relevant experiences and accomplishments.

Why do you want to get a PhD (or MS)?

What are your research interests?
Be as specific as possible, but keep in mind who will be reading your application.

In the Rensselaer CS department, research groups read applications — the one(s) you specify on your application. At other schools, a department committee may read all applications and decide upon admissions on behalf of the whole department.

For the Rensselaer CS department, unless you are an exceptional student with a broad range of experience/accomplishments, you should target your application to just one research group — a student who specifies interest in robotics and networking, for example, may not be taken seriously by either group.

Multiple faculty within a research group will read your application.

Why are you interested in these research topics?
Don't write an autobiography!

Do you have the motivation/perseverence to complete a PhD?

If you have an undergraduate degree in something other than Computer Science or Computer Engineering, then another question is: do you have the background to pass the PhD qualifiers?
The statement of purpose is also an opportunity to describe some of your accomplishments and their significance. The reader will not be familiar with the programs, competitions, examinations, etc. for all parts of the United States, not to mention other countries.

Other things to keep in mind
Format: Single spaced (or maybe even "one and a half" spacing, but definitely not double spaced) with at least a 10 point font and reasonable margins (at least 1 inch on all sides, preferrably more on the left and right with a 10 point font).

Length: Definitely not more than 2 pages! (Who has time to read more than that?)
When I was applying to graduate schools, I was advised to keep my statement of purpose to a single page. I now think that this was not good advice — one page tends to be too short if you're covering everything you should.

Don't try to "cram" more into your two pages using typographical tricks (line spacing, font size, margins, etc.) You're not fooling anyone. Inability to write a concise statement of purpose indicates a lack of critical thinking skills.

I should duly note that most undergraduate Computer Science students confuse "concise" with "short". "Concise" means that you have given thought to the composition of your statement to make it a clear and cohesive piece of prose (with a natural/logical flow) that covers all the necessary points and doesn't cover unnecessary points. "Short" pieces of writing are usually too short because they omit important points, aren't cohesive, etc.

Spell check it! Get someone else to proofread it!
Special note to Chinese (and some Indian) faculty...
Fer cryin' out loud, stop saying that every student is your favorite student!
I never really believe it anyway...

Links
Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science by Mor Harchol-Balter
This document has much more extensive exposition about what grad school is like, the application process, and so on. I think most of it is on the mark.

已有 5 人评分	声望	收起理由
Janerf	+ 1	感谢分享
juneeendless	+ 1	不能更认同
baoaidi	+ 1	赞一个!
bravemartin	+ 1	很给力!
江兔子	+ 1	赞一个!

总评分: 声望 + 5 查看全部投币

寄托天下25Fall留学申请交流群，欢迎加入！

回应
73

使用道具举报

blueqiao
UID: 111634

元老版主

Rank: 11

声望: 90
寄托币: 15177
注册时间: 2002-10-3
精华: 26
帖子: 21

沙发

发表于 2003-12-17 12:55:58 |只看该作者

非常不错，建议阅读

没有理由保持沉默！

起初他们追杀共产主义者，我不是共产主义者，我不说话；
接着他们追杀犹太人，我不是犹太人，我不说话；
后来他们追杀工会会员，我不是工会会员，我不说话；
此后他们追杀天主教徒，我不是天主教徒，我不说话；
最后，他们奔我而来，再也没有人站起来为我说话了。

－－－美国波士顿犹太人大屠杀纪念碑 Martin Niemoller (德国新教牧师)

【2025FALL】全站祈福已开放~~来领祈福章，求offer得offer

使用道具举报