confusedgradhopeful

thanks to everyone who helped me with my previous SOP. This SOP is for another program at a different university. It needs to be a video so its a bit different. I have made a rough draft so people could give me some comments I'd really appreciate it. thanks What are your educational and career goals? How does this program meet those goals? What qualities and skills do you have to offer the program and the field of mental health? How does your background (education or professional experience) make you the best candidate for this program? 5 minutes Hello my name is Ricardo Alarcon and it’s a great pleasure to address everyone at the FIU graduate admission committee. I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and why im applying to the counseling program at FIU program.my goal in applying to counseling program at FIU is become a certified counselor who provides mental health services to a wide range of client particularly clients who are socially disadvantage due to any number of factors. I plan to become licensed after completing the program. I would like to work in a private practice but also as a consultant for NGO organizations. The reason I chose FIU’s program is because of its diverse student and community population. Given FIUs position in Miami where there are a large amount of immigrants many who have suffered from emotional truamas it would be a great place to learn about how to help people who feel completely disconnected from society. Additionally FIUs commitment to social justice and grassroots work is very important to me. Knowing that the course work I take will have a practical emphasis on not just treat mental illness but creating an environment to prevent it and bring about positive social change. These two factors mean that I will feel very confident when work with client from many diverse backgrounds including social-economic status and sex and gender identity. The qualities I bring to the program are my kindness and flexibility. I will work tireless to make sure that works meets not only clinical standards but also provides a comforting environments where clients can explore their emotions and find solutions to their issues. In my daily life I cultivate an environment of loving kindness by using meditation as tool to ground myself and better empathize with others. I am also very flexible in trying to use the right language and symbols to connect with a client whether through their gender and sexual orientation or their religious background. I am committed to finding a way to therapy that is productive and helpful for a client. The background I bring to the program is my previous experience with JUSTUS ATL and Fundacion Ecuatoriana Equidad two organizations focused on creating equality and justice for members of the LGBTQ community. At both organizations I envelope worked in a peer environment trying to build greater equality and justice by working together on our psychosocial issues. I found that my work really did make a difference in the lives of those around me by improving our invidual health concerns but also by using our knowledge to work in society as a whole to bring about more equality and fairness.

New version here. 1. Why GSU? 2. What experiences have brought you to the field you are interested in? 3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years in the field? 4. What knowledge/expertise/skills do you bring to the profession? Many times in my life I have found myself lost and confused, suffering alone with two unwelcome friends depression and anxiety. It is this personal experience and my volunteer work that have shown me that I am not alone and that far too many people struggle with their mental health in silence without anyone to turn to. Often times this silent struggle is outwardly seen as a lack of strength or a lack of resilience when in reality people are coping as best they can and showing great strength by the simple act of living. It is my goal to change this situation, to use my knowledge to help others and to give them a shoulder to lean on with no judgements or unnecessary labels. Knowing that I was able to help at least one person to better deal with their struggles and helped them find a better path in their lives would be my biggest reward. I believe my own experience with mental health and my volunteer work contribute greatly to my understanding and my abilites to work as a mental health counselor. My time at JustUs in Atlanta, a peer counseling organization with activist objectives, provided me with a great experience helping LGBT youth to find their way while also advancing our goals for a more just and inclusive society. The environment at JustUs was not only incredibly nurturing but also very productive many people left feeling better about themselves and with practical life skills to advance our struggle for healthcare, inclusion and Trans * justice. My other great experience was in Ecuador at the Ecuadorian Equality Foundation where people faced similar issues as in Atlanta but within a different social environment. I found that although society was different the struggles were similar and we could work together to achieve our goals of inclusion and equality within the wider Ecuadorian society. The experiences at JustUs and in Ecuador have shown me that our personal struggles can actually be used to help others and to create a more just society. I think I can use these experiences as a way to grow in a counseling program. In 5 years I plan to have completed all of my counselor training and have started working with NGOs focused on helping those with few economic resources. I also plan to use my training to not only help the LGBT community but also within society at large. I especially hope to be able to work in South America with clients who feel left out or forgotten by the current medical system which often ignores people with mental distress. I hope this work can be used to guide public policy in the States and aboard furthering attention to mental health issues. Studying at GSU would provide me with a holistic view of the counseling profession based on academics and practical counseling skills.I know that GSU has proven itself to be a leader in working with the community especially with the work done by Dr. Joseph Hill with his writing on merging theory and practice in counseling which speaks to me wanting to take my skills into the community and streets. In a previous master’s program at a different university I had hoped that my work would positively influence society at large. Sadly, I found that the programs focus was social justice in theory and in the academic with less in practical skills. My goal is to take my skills to the community meeting people wherever they may be in society regardless of education or economic class. Knowing all of these important factors it is no wonder GSU is a top rated and competitive program; a program which I hope to be a part of soon.

thanks everyone for the review. On my previous statement i had been much more brief about my own personal struggles which quite honestly i still struggle with. Someone on reddit had suggested to go more in depth about my own struggles. I always have a hard time with actual concrete examples, there just isnt anything very concrete i can talk about. I will follow everyones tips and try to post a new updated version later today. thanks

1. Why GSU? 2. What experiences have brought you to the field you are interested in? 3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years in the field? 4. What knowledge/expertise/skills do you bring to the profession? My interest in counseling grows out of my own experiences with emotional distress. I have suffered from anxiety and depression since childhood. The anxiety and depression have often made it difficult to even leave the house or engage with the world. It can be difficult sometimes to even go to the supermarket without the worry that something might happen to you or the feeling in the back of your mind that it isn’t even worth eating anymore. It is this constant struggle that has made realize how many people can suffer silently with their own mental struggle. We blame individuals for their lack of strength or their lack of resilience but forget that those who live with mental distress are some of the strongest people in our society. I have worked hard to learn how understanding someone before judging them trying to find a cause instead of just labeling someone. I find great satisfaction in knowing that I might be able to help someone when they are struggling instead of causing them more harm. In 5 years I plan to have completed all of my counselor training and have started working in an NGO focused on helping those with few economic resources. I also plan to use my training to not only help the LGBT community but also to take my skills wherever I maybe needed. I especially hope to be able to work in South America with clients who feel left out or forgotten by the current medical system which often ignores people with mental distress. I plan to also use my experience and training to help guide public policy in the US and abroad. I believe my own experience with mental health is something that strongly contributes to understanding of the counseling profession. My work with JustUs in Atlanta was based on peer counseling helping LGBT youth with their emotional issues and finding ways to advance activist causes. It was an environment I really enjoyed and it was a very productive way to help others find their emotional center while advancing our concerns for equality, healthcare and Trans* justice. I also worked in Ecuador in a similar function at the Ecuadorian Equality Foundation. I have found my work with people to be immensely satisfying. Additionally, I love researching and learning new skills. It brings me tremendous joy to see when someone finally get a new concept or when they have a realization about the nature of their own concerns. Studying at GSU would provide me with a holistic view of the counseling profession based on academics and practical counseling skills. I had previously been enrolled in a master’s program at a different university with the hope that my work would positively influence society at large. Sadly, I found that I had taken a misstep as the university and the programs goals were not aligned to my interests. I had thought that a degree in communication studies especially would teach me how to work with students to understand their issues and use that knowledge to change lives. Unfortunately, the focus of the program was social justice at the academic level which is very limiting in my opinion. I want to take my knowledge to all levels of society regardless of education or economic means I know that GSU has proven itself to be a leader in working with the community and is regarded as a top university for its grass-roots work. GSU is known to be a competitive program with graduates that excel in the counseling profession. It would be a great honor to graduate from GSU and continue to spread its good name across the world.

I need to submit my application by friday. I have been working and working on the SOP. Ive had one or two people look at it but it always seems to get more complicated. I beg someone to help me out. Give me some final tips, corrections so i can get this off my back until my next app in feb. Thanks Yall goalstatementgsu.docx

1. Why GSU? 2. What experiences have brought you to the field you are interested in? 3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years in the field? 4. What knowledge/expertise/skills do you bring to the profession? My interest in counseling grows out of my own experiences with emotional distress. My own mental distress has forced me to take time to listen to other people instead of passing quick judgment. The interaction between people and society is so complex that we often use mental shortcuts instead of taking the time to understand and comprehend someone’s struggles. Our own struggles can be so deep as to be practically invisible to the outside world yet we tend to confabulate depression with laziness. We blame individuals for their lack of strength or their lack of resilience but forget that those who live with mental distress are the some of the strongest people in our society. I have worked hard to learn how understanding someone before judging them trying to find a cause instead of just labeling someone. I find great satisfaction in knowing that I might be able to help someone when they are struggling instead of causing more harm. In 5 years I see myself as having completed PhD in psychology. I want to have a broad understanding of mental health combining practical counseling work with analytical research training. I also hope to have spent quite a bit of time working in private and hospital practice. I expect that in 5 years I will have helped many disadvantages people to have access to quality care. I also hope to use to my counseling abilities to work with NGOs to advise on policy measures that could help them be more successful. Ultimately I hope to share my skills with others to advanced towards a more socially responsible and equitable society. I believe my own experience with mental health is something that strongly contributes to understanding of the counseling profession. I have struggled to find quality mental care that is accessible. It is not only a matter of money but also of finding someone who is really willing to care for their clients. I think this experience will help me be a better counselor knowing about the difficulties in finding good care. I have worked with several organizations particularly in Queer settings and with impoverished individuals to empower them to take care of them own mental health journey. I love research and learning new skills that I can go out and share with others. It brings me tremendous joy to see when someone finally get a new concept or when they have a realization about the nature of their own concerns. One of the counselors that has personally influenced me the most is a GSU graduate. GSU’s focus on practical skills and high academic rigor make it the perfect place for someone interested in working with people and being a part of social change. GSU has proven itself to be a leader in the southeast with regards to counseling with its top quality research and many successful graduates. GSU is known to be a competitive program with graduates that excel in the counseling profession. It would be a great honor to graduate from GSU and continue to spread its good name across the world.

Statement of Purpose I am applying to San Francisco State University, Masters of Art in Communication studies program because I would be an excellent fit for your program. The strong emphasis given to social justice as a way to honor unheard voices is something that speaks to me. Also, I hope to work with Dr. Wingard, an expert in the field of communications and linguistics. My main interest in communications centers on cultural differences and how they affect communication. As human beings we tend to assume that everyone carries the same socio-linguistic background that we do, in reality this is not true. We all have a unique perspective of the world that first needs to be considered before effective dialogue can take place. Most importantly these differences should not be hidden or erased; they should be highlighted so that we might all benefit from them. My undergraduate degree in Linguistics has provided me a strong toolkit that can easily be applied to Communication studies. My linguistics studies focused on human communication. Additionally my psychology minor provides me with an added insight into the psychosocial reasons why intercultural exchanges can be so difficult. In addition to my academic background, I also posses a great deal of practical experience in cross cultural perspectives. I grew up in New York City as the son of immigrant parents from South American. From a young age I placed in a valuable position to look at different cultures and was forced to bridge these disparate realities. Additionally, I lived in Ecuador and Chile for 5 years. During this period I had to face a new culture and become proficient in Spanish. Theses situations forced me to refine my linguistics and social skills. I later moved to Georgia, where I completed my undergraduate degree in linguistics. All these social changes have forced me to become keenly aware of the differences that we must honor every time we communicate with someone. Most importantly, it has shown me that many times we silence voices simply because of slight differences. This is particularly a problem when these perceived differences are based on ignorance and groupthink instead of factual reasons. This is a reality I hope to change and improve. What I hope to achieve by graduating from California State University East Bay’s masters program is a better understanding of cross-cultural communication and more importantly the ability to bridge cultural divides. These abilities will provide with me with the basic tools needed to enhance people’s lives. Also I hope to give voices to those that have long been silenced by xenophobia and racism. I plan to take my experience in this program further by enrolling in a PhD program after graduation. I look forward to being a part of the diverse academic culture and working with my peers and academic faculty to reach my goals. Thank You.

Statement of Purpose I am applying to San Francisco State University, Masters of Art in Communication studies program because I would be an excellent fit for your program. The strong emphasis given to social justice and the opportunity to honor unheard voices is something that speaks to me particularly because of my background. Additionally, the opportunity to work with professors like Dr. Wingard would be an incredible opportunity to work with an expert in the field. My main interest in communications revolves around the cultural differences and how they affect communication. As human beings we tend to assume that everyone carries that same linguistic and cultural background that we do, but this could not be further from the truth. Each one of us has a unique understanding and perspective of the world that first needs to be taken into account before effective communication can take place. These differences should not be hidden or erased instead they should be highlighted so that we can all learn from them. My undergraduate degree in Linguistics has given me a strong analytical toolkit that can easily be applied to Communication studies. The methodical research approach of linguistics is a natural fit for methodical research into the way humans communicate. Additionally my minor in psychology gives me an extra insight into the background reasons why communication, particularly in an intercultural arena can be so difficult and why we sometimes assigned certain negative values to people simply because of a difference in background. In addition to my academic background, I also have a great deal of practical experience in communications particularly when it comes to cross cultural perspective. I grew up in New York City as the son of immigrant parents from South American. This already placed me in a strange but valuable position to look at different cultures and to try bridges all the cultures divides. Additionally, I lived in Ecuador and Chile for 5 years. During this period I not only had to face a new culture but I had to become proficient in Spanish, situations, which forced me to refine my linguistics and social perspectives. I later moved to Georgia, where I completed my undergraduate degree linguistics. All these social changes have forced me to become keenly aware of the differences that we must honor every time we communicate with someone. Most importantly it has shown me that many times we silence voices simply because of slight differences, this reality is something that I hope to change and improve. What I hope to achieve from graduating from California State University East Bay’s masters program is not only a better understand of communication in general but also more importantly the ability to bridge cultural divides and to apply them to real world problems. Such as finding ways in which we can give people voices when they are silence by a majority culture that is different from their. I hope to take my experience in this program and further refine it by later enrolling in a PhD program. I look forward to being a part of the diverse academic culture and working with my peers and academic faculty to reach my goals. Thank You.

Please take a look at my statement of purpose and let me know how i can improve it. Thanks! I am applying to San Francisco State’s Masters of Science in Computer Science program. I would be an excellent fit for your Master’s program because of your strong support of minorities and because of the interdisciplinary approach taken. I am particularly interested in the way in which the brain processes information especially in relation to learning and how this is similar to the way in which a computer learns. Be furthering investigating the similarities between the brain and computer’s we can finds ways to improve interaction in both environments. My undergraduate degree in Linguistics has given me a strong analytical toolkit that can easily be transferred to the study of Computer Science. The methodical research approach necessary to classify phonemes and grammatical structures is a great building block on which to further my studies in Computer Science. I hope to be able to bridge the gap between both fields so as to have a more concise understanding of the way in which we acquire language and how this can be applied to natural language processing. The interdisciplinary approach of your computer science program gives me the possibility to work not only in Computer science but also within linguistics and psychology. These three fields are essential if we are to make interaction between humans and machines much more efficient and particularly in improving the understanding of natural language in computer systems. In addition to the academic background that I posses, I also have a great deal of practical knowledge in different technological topics. Starting with my internship at Tri-Net Communications Inc. in which I worked with the President of the organization to design and implement networking systems for call termination. Additionally, I have worked since 2000 on an independent basis as a freelance computer technician. I have done repairs on a variety of computer systems and in a variety of fields including Operating System modification and home networking. What I hope to achieve from graduating from the program is not only a complete understanding of the most intimate details of logic and computer programming but also the ability to take these abstract concepts and to apply them to real world problems. I hope to work not only in trying to create more efficient computer systems but also to use these systems to improve on the world in anyway possible. In conclusion I would like to thank you for taking the time to consider my application and my qualifications for the Graduate Program at San Francisco State University. I look forward to being a part of a diverse academic culture and working with some of the top professors and experts in the field.

yea i have posted my CV on here to try and get that ready. so i can send it to one particular professor that asked for it but i imagine the other one would benefit form it as well. And yes both are professors i have worked with in the past

So i have two really top professors more then happy to write me a recommendation but they are basically asking me to tell them what to write. I have no idea what to tell them. This is for a MS in CS at SFSU, hopefully.

i've googled but most of the information i have found has been just regular resumee and some from england which follow an entirely different format.

I have further updated my CV i hope i have made some progress. EDUCATION: Georgia State University, August 2009- December 2011 Applied Linguistics Minor in Psychology, B.A Atlanta, Georgia Georgia Perimeter College, August 2007- May 2009 General Studies, A.S Dunwoody, Georgia HONORS: Georgia State Spring 2011 Dean’s List Georgia Perimeter College Fall 2007 Dean’s List RELATED EXPERIENCE: Internship with Anteus Rodas Inc, July 2010 Worked as a technical consultant. Designed and Integrated servers for CAD design. Built a custom network to include various plotters. Was retained as a freelance consultant for the firm. Internship with Tri-net communications Inc, August 2008 Worked with the vice-president to configure and order servers for call termination. Also helped to configure the required services. Freelance Computer Technician, May 2007- Present Have worked on an independent, on call basis to resolve IT technical issues. In the past I have personalized computers for Spanish language users. I have worked with Mac OS x, Linux (various distros) and Windows XP, Vista and 7. I have also created networks for small businesses and home usage. I have reprogrammed modems and routers for different Internet providers. LANGUAGES: Fluent in Spanish, Competence in French and American Sign Language RESEARCH INTERESTS: Artificial intelligence and Natural Language Processing. Voice recognition. Health informatics. User customization. FURTHER EDUCATION: Lynda.com Foundations of Programming: Fundamentals Ruby Essential Training CSS Fundamentals WordPress 3 Essential Training COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Organizer at JustUs Atl, May 2012-Present Worked with LGBT youth to provide a safe space where anybody is welcome to share his or her experiences without any judgment. I have helped to organize and maintain weekly forums. I am also currently working with them to expand our array of services to increase youth involvement. Georgia State University Alliance for Gender and Sexual diversity. May 2011-Present Presented LGBT topics to the organization. Helped to plan and run educations events. Also served as a liaison between this organization and JustUs Atl ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: International learning and living experience. Lived from 2000 to 2006 in Ecuador, where I completed elementary and middle school.

for my first year i went to georgia southern but i didnt receive any degree from there, should i list it on my cv? after all they do ask for those transcripts

well i dont really have any research or honors or publications or presentations honestly. Besides my BA most of knowledge comes from practical working and being self taught.