CMRaj

Don't worry, I hope we are in the same boat then. Even I haven't heard anything from them yet......

Statement of Purpose Rajkumar Conjeevaram Mohan BSc Honors Computer Information Systems First Class Honors Degree University of Liverpool - 2013 As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to wide range of subjects in Computer Science, and focused more on modules, which serves as a concrete background for pursuing Masters in this field. Although programming is my favorite, I enjoyed not just programming, but engineering applications, sharing ideas with group members and Professors by maintaining a cordial relationship, taking leadership in the group projects and contributing innovative plans that help reach the target. My interest to pursue post-graduation began when I compared the level of knowledge I have acquired in Robotics with the level of advancement in the recent innovation of technologies in Robotics. The intense desire I have for Robotics transformed into an ambition of making robots more usable in our everyday routine life, and enhancing it with a capability of reasoning in a hypothetical situation. The degree program at University of Liverpool has qualified me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation with Liverpool loyalty scholarship for having maintained ‘A’ grade on all consecutive years, but because I desire to attend Harvard University's Computer Science M.E. program, I happen to hesitate the scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK. I have chosen Harvard University for the wealth of courses offered in Robotics, high number of specialized faculties for Robotics, and for the leading innovations by Harvard research group, especially the biologically inspired robotic fly. In number of coursework I have completed, I never stemmed my work with a sense that I have accomplished enough, instead worked up to the level of gratification, considering each chance as an opportunity to wax my knowledge. Some of the highly enjoyed modules were Mobile computing, and Robotics and Autonomous Systems. I worked on couple of group projects in module “Robotics and Autonomous System”, which was my most favorite module of my senior year, since unlike other modules, this module involved hands-on work, which galvanized me to program the robot, observe its behavior with respect to my instructions, and made debugging way more interesting. The task of the first assignment is to let the robot travel throughout the arena looking for obstacle, marking its presence on each grid in the map, and avoid any obstacle that may be found in the arena. The grid that is occupied by an obstacle must also be marked in the map as it travels. The term ‘map’ used in this context refers to a two arrays, for which each of its indexes is the matrix value of the grid, and holds the value of robot’s presence on a grid and obstacle on a grid respectively. The solution brought up for this problem is to let the robot travel throughout the arena in a grid-style, first travelling upward, and then downward in the next column looking for obstacles. When an obstacle is found, the robot start to travel horizontally (i.e. on each grid, it makes a 90 degree turn towards its regular path and looks for obstacle) until it finds a vacant grid, and continues travelling in the vertical direction until it finds either a vacant grid or the end of the column (i.e. the border). The blocks that the robot has skipped will be taken into account for having found an obstacle and marked in the map. This procedure is repeated each time an obstacle is found and until it reaches the last grid of the arena. The second assignment of the same module includes creating an agent program (Jason) that communicates with existing Java program, and acquires the paper’s color placed on the arena using its color sensor. In this assignment, colored papers are assumed as patients, and the grid it is found must be marked in the map. If the dimension of the paper is 1x2 grid, it is obvious that the paper could be placed in either way 2x1 or 1x2. If a paper is placed in 1x2, the robot would then cross two grids on the straight lane along marking on the map for having found a patient. If the paper’s dimension is 2x1, it is possible that the robot would encounter the same patient on the parallel lane. Since the robot is not meant to mark the already found patient as a new patient, a solution was discovered to prevent the robot from marking again. The solution is to mark the next horizontal grid for having found a patient, would prevent the robot from marking again. Finally, before displaying the number of patients found on the arena, the patient’s order in the list is sorted based on the priority: each unique color of the paper carry different priority; of each patient. Despite the fact that I have no background in agent programming, nor been given a lecture about it, I have strived to self-learn and employ agent programming to accomplish the second group project. For final-year project, I initially wanted to pick research-oriented project, but I felt that the completion of post-graduation in a University that provides cutting-edge experience would bolster me in conducting research. Hence, I chose problem-solving project “Big Wave Alert System” and worked under the supervision of Dr. xxx and Dr. xxx. This project is about creating an application that collects seismic information from a National Agency server, and emails the subscribers when seismic activity has been detected for the subscriber’s location. From working on this project, I have expanded essential skills – time management, organization, presentation; developed substantial practical knowledge in several techniques - running optimized query, preventing data redundancy and inconsistency, etc.; and programming notions – PHP, Perl, Advanced JavaScript, Oracle PL/SQL, Object-Oriented Programming in Database. In addition to the requirement, I designed a user-friendly interface similar to Metro UI by Microsoft, with an included functionality of providing visual representation of weather information in a line graph. Being driven by the interest I had on this project, I worked with activeness, sparing time to handle other modules simultaneously, and as a result, I attained A grade in all components of this project. Since I received my degree only at the end of July 2013, I left UK on August leaving me only three months time to prepare for the GRE. The honest reason for low mark in GRE is, although I managed to get correct answers, it was the lack of practice that made me unable to answer questions quickly. Because of my financial situation, I am even unable to retake the GRE exam - For half of the tuition fee, I rely on the Bank, where the terms assert that the co-applicant of the loan must have employment service for at least one year from now to become eligible for a loan. Because my father’s employment service is for the next one and half years, I can get the tuition fee for the first academic year (2014) as educational loan. Any delay in applying for the University because of my GRE mark would literally disqualify me for the loan. Moreover, I have the responsibility to support my family financially after finishing my graduation. I have the strongest belief that I have the ability to bring leading innovation in this field, adding more esteem to your esteemed University. I am also certain that my application to Harvard University is the only best way to reach my ambition, and would regard not just as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to put my best in graduate studies at your esteemed University.

Thanks for your suggestions. I have now modified my SOP as per your suggestions. I don't really understand where I am supposed to include that detail if I shouldn't include it in the personal statement. By the way, are you sure about using the word "whiny" ? really ? because, to me, what I have written sounds like pleading for an unexpected circumstance that has influenced my mark, and just trying to explain the gravity of the situation.

How about this new SOP ? Please leave your comments Statement of Purpose Rajkumar Conjeevaram Mohan BSc Honors Computer Information Systems First Class Honors Degree University of Liverpool - 2013 As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to wide range of subjects in Computer Science, and focused more on modules, which serves as a concrete background for pursuing Masters in this field. Although programming is my favorite, I enjoyed not just programming, but enjoyed even engineering applications, sharing ideas with group mates and Professors by maintaining a cordial relationship with everyone, taking leadership in group projects and contributing innovative plans that help reach the target, etc. My interest to do post-graduation in Computer Science began when I felt that just an undergraduate degree would be insufficient to get a deep insight on areas such as data analysis, mathematical models involved in computing scientific problems, parallel computing, widely used simulators, etc. The degree program at University of Liverpool has qualified me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation with Liverpool loyalty scholarship for having maintained ‘A’ grade on all consecutive years. Since my only ambition is to do Masters at Harvard University, I happen to hesitate the scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK. In all Mobile Computing coursework, I didn’t stem my work with a sense that “I’ve completed what the program intends to do”, instead accomplished beyond the requirement, considering this as a precious opportunity to ameliorate my knowledge. Also I have created several applications for coursework using various techniques in cocoa framework – NSOperation, Web Services, Map routing, etc. A notable coursework of this module is NotesBrowser, which utilizes a JSON file that carries information about all modules with their corresponding links to lecture notes to enable application to download the lecture notes, and make them available offline. The main part of this assignment was to use the NSOperation appropriately, limiting the number of simultaneous downloads, without compromising the performance of the main thread. I worked on couple of group projects in module “Robotics and Autonomous System”, which was my most favorite module of my senior year, since unlike other modules this module involved hands-on work, which galvanized me to program the robot, observe its behavior with respect to my instructions, and made debugging way more interesting. This assignment includes creating map for the given arena, instructing robot to travel throughout the arena, avoiding obstacle with the help of its Ultrasonic and Touch sensors, marking the specific grid on map for obstacle as it finds while traveling, identifying its border, and returning to its initial grid where it started off. I took the leadership in this group assignment, engineering the very foundation of the program, programming it using Java, while others gave their support in configuring the sensors, calibrating the wheels, etc. The second assignment of the same module includes an agent program (Jason) that communicates with Java, and retrieves information about the patients (colored papers assumed as patients, each color representing priority) placed on the arena, appends the patient detail to the Jason list and later prioritize them by their color prior to output. Despite the fact that I’ve no background in agent programming, nor been given a lecture about it, I’ve strived to employ agent programming to accomplish the second group project, and with all my efforts I have achieved ‘A’ grade for both the assignments I handed-in. For final-year project, I initially wanted to pick research-oriented project, but I felt that completion of post-graduation in a University that provides cutting-edge experience would bolster me in pursuing research. Hence, I chose problem-solving project “Big Wave Alert System” and worked under the supervision of Professor xxx and Dr. xxx. This project is about creating an application that collects seismic information from a National Agency server, and emails the subscribers when seismic activity has been detected for the subscriber’s location. From working on this project, I have expanded vital skills – time management, organization, presentation; developed substantial practical knowledge in several techniques - running optimized query, preventing data redundancy and inconsistency, etc.; and programming notions such as – PHP, Perl, Advanced JavaScript, Oracle PL/SQL, Object-Oriented Programming in Database. In addition to the requirement, I designed a user-friendly interface similar to Metro UI by Microsoft, with an included functionality of providing visual representation of weather information in a line graph, by the help of the weather data provided by wunderground weather service, etc. Being driven by the strong fascination I’d on this project, I worked with activeness, sparing time to handle other modules as well, and with all my efforts I’ve scored A in all components of this project. Since I received my degree only at the end of July 2013, I left UK on August leaving me only 3 months time to prepare for the GRE. The honest reason for low mark in GRE is, although I managed to get correct answers, due to lack of practice I was unable to answer questions quickly. Because of my current situation, I am even unable to retake the GRE exam - I depend on the Bank Loan for half of the tuition fee and the Bank requires the co-applicant (my father) of the loan to have employment service for at least one year whereas my father’s service is only for the next one and half year. So, a year delay in applying for University would literally disqualify me for loan, and wouldn’t be able to join University after 2014 because I have the responsibility to look after my parents as soon as my father retire. Supporting documents could be provided, if required. I have the strongest belief that I have the ability to bring leading innovation in this field, adding more esteem to your esteemed University. I am also certain that my application to University of Harvard is the only best way to reach my ambition, and would regard not just as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to put my best in graduate studies at your esteemed University.

What makes you think that convoluted sentences would let them undermine my skills ?

So, are you saying I am missing convoluted sentences ? If yes, do you reckon it's really necessary, because this is the first time I am hearing this.

As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to wide range of subjects in Computer Science, and focused more on modules that involved complex programming, networking, different encryption algorithms, etc. Although programming is my favorite, I enjoyed not just programming, but even engineering applications, sharing ideas with group mates and Professors by maintaining a cordial relationship with everyone, taking leadership in group projects and contributing innovative plans that help reach the target, etc. My interest to do post-graduation began when I started to see world-class innovations that have influenced millions of lives – Google search engine, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blood Simulators, Autopilot, etc., because I have a strong feeling that just an undergraduate degree would be insufficient to get a deep insight on such areas. The degree program at Liverpool has endowed me with moderate knowledge in wide spectrum of subjects in this field, qualifying me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation in their University with Liverpool attainment scholarship for having maintained ‘A’ grade on all consecutive years. Since my only ambition was to do Masters at Harvard, I happen to hesitate the attainment scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK.

How is the first paragraph now ? Please reply as soon as possible since I am planning to apply today !!!! As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to wide range of subjects in Computer Science, and focused more on modules that involved complex programming, networking, different encryption algorithms, etc. Although programming is my favorite, I enjoyed not just programming, but even engineering applications, sharing ideas with group mates and Professors by maintaining a cordial relationship with everyone, taking leadership in group projects and contributing innovative plans that help reach the target, etc. My interest to do post-graduation began when I started to see world-class innovations that have influenced millions of lives – Google search engine, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blood Simulators, Autopilot, etc., because I have a strong feeling that just an undergraduate degree would be insufficient to get a deep insight on such areas. The degree program at Liverpool has endowed me with moderate knowledge in wide spectrum of subjects in this field, qualifying me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation in their University with Liverpool attainment scholarship for having maintained ‘A’ grade on all consecutive years. Since my only ambition was to do Masters at Harvard, I happen to hesitate the attainment scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK.

Since I haven't taken research type for my final year project, I am quite confused what to put in SOP instead of it. I've put Robotics since its only of the hard modules of that time. Moreover, I am not sure what is the weightage of theoretical assessment and coursework in US. Since British degree transcripts doesn't normally break down the overall mark of a module into theoretical assessment and coursework mark, I have decided to only include the coursework mark in which I've received distinction, removing others that repeat whats given in my transcript. Would it be alright ? Btw, I myself would like to know how they weigh the examination and coursework mark in US, because in UK, 80% for examination mark and 20% for the coursework mark are contributed to the overall mark.

Thanks for your comments, but it would be of more help if you could further your reading leaving the childhood portion for now and provide more suggestions that could significantly bolster my SOP. Once again, thanks for sparing your time reading my SOP. Your suggestions are much appreciated....

Could someone shed some light on my doubt how good the SOP is........... So far I have revised it three times... I am planning to revise it one last time, and submit it day after tomorrow.... Thank you in advance !

Statement of Purpose – M.E. Computer Science Rajkumar BSc (Hons) Computer Information Systems (First Class Honors Degree) University of Liverpool - 2013 Since my childhood, I have had a strong predilection for devouring variety of technologies in Computer. At the age of 11, during my summer vacation, I joined web designing short course, spending almost whole day in front of computer either practicing what I learnt or looking at latest trend in designing. Similarly, I have taken up several crash courses on subjects before studying at University level – Multimedia, Hardware troubleshooting, High-level programming, Database Management System, etc., and this has bolstered me to advance my knowledge in Computer Science. Coming from a family of no computer background, I’ve strived to wax my knowledge in Computer Technologies solely through the fascination I have on this field. My interest to do post-graduation began when I started to see world-class technologies that have influenced millions of lives – Google search engine, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Blood Simulators, Artificial Intelligence, etc., as I have a strong feeling that just an undergraduate degree would be insufficient to get a deep insight on such areas. The degree program at Liverpool has endowed me with moderate knowledge in wide spectrum of subjects in this field, qualifying me to pursue either PhD or Post-graduation in their University with Liverpool attainment scholarship as I have maintained ‘A’ on all consecutive years. Since my only ambition was to do Masters at Harvard, I happen to hesitate the attainment scholarship issued by the University and job opportunities I had in the UK, and return to India. Though I only attained B in my freshman year, I’ve strived to gradually ameliorate my scores by recognizing and redressing the mistakes committed in my freshman year, leading to achieve First Class Honors Degree eventually. During my sophomore and final year, I have attained an overall of A and A- in number of modules – Advanced Object Oriented Language, Database, Software Engineering-II, Distributed Systems, Scripting Languages, Internet Principles, Applied Database, Software Development Tools, Group Software Project, Mobile Computing, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Advanced Web Technologies, Multi-agent Systems, Technologies for E-Commerce, and Final Year Project. There are modules in which I’ve attained 100% on coursework – Distributed Systems, and Mobile Computing. During first-semester of the final year, I worked on couple of group projects in module “Robotics and Autonomous System”, which was my most favorite module of the year, since unlike other modules this module involved hands-on work, which galvanized me to program the robot, observe its behavior with respect to my instructions, and made debugging way more interesting. This assignment includes creating map for the given arena, instructing robot to travel throughout the arena, avoiding obstacle with the help of its Ultrasonic and Touch sensors, marking the specific grid on map for obstacle as it finds while traveling, border identification, and return to its initial grid where it started off. I took the leadership in this group assignment, engineering the very foundation of the program, while others gave their support in configuring the sensors, calibrating the wheels, and endowing me with valuable suggestions that helped me make important decisions. The second assignment of the same module includes an agent program (Jason) that communicates with Java, and retrieves information about the patients (colored paper assumed as patients, each color representing priority) placed on the arena, appends the patient detail to the Jason list and later prioritize them by their color prior to output. Despite the fact that I’ve no background in agent programming, nor been given a lecture about it, I’ve strived to study agent programming, which is analogous to “Prolog”, to accomplish the second group project. Holistically, this module was interesting in a way that caused me to probe my knowledge on that subject, and make best use of all the resources the University provided. In addition to that module, I took Multi-agent systems module in my second semester in which I learned how to let the robot cooperate, coordinate, negotiate with other robots, agent reasoning, revising belief, goal and intention, and even famous game theory concepts – Nash Equilibrium, Mixed strategy, etc., waxing my knowledge in Robotics. Although I’m motivated towards research project, I didn’t want to do research until I start studying at post-graduation level, so I chose Problem-solving project “Big Wave Alert System” as my final year project, and worked under the supervision of Professor xxx and Professor xxx. This project is about creating an application that collects seismic information from a National Agency server, and alerts the subscribers via e-mail when seismic activity has been detected for the subscriber’s location. By working on this project, I have expanded my proficiencies – time management, organization, presentation; developed substantial practical knowledge in several techniques - running optimized query, preventing data redundancy and inconsistency, etc.; and programming notions such as – Oracle, Object-Oriented Programming in Database to improve the performance of the database. The valuable suggestions, and information given by my project supervisors also played a vital role in the perception of hidden complexities in handling such large data. Being driven by the strong fascination I’d on this project, I worked with activeness, sparing time to handle other modules as well, and with all my efforts I’ve scored A in all components of this project. Since I received my degree only at the end of July 2013, I left UK on August leaving me only 3 months time to prepare for the GRE. The honest reason for low mark in GRE is I was unable to maintain correct pace in the test to answer all the questions. Although I was able to get the correct answers, due to limited practice in answering questions quickly, I was unable to answer all the questions within the given time. Due to my current situation, I am even unable to retake the GRE exam - I depend on the Bank Loan for half of the tuition fee and the Bank requires the co-applicant of the loan to have employment service for at least one year whereas my father’s service is only for the next one and half year. So, a year delay in applying for University would literally disqualify me for loan. Supporting documents could be provided, if required. My area of interest alongside wide range of modules covered in my undergraduate serves as a background to the program M.E. Computer Science that includes Data Science, Parallel Computing, etc. I have the strongest belief that I have the ability to bring leading innovation in this field, adding more esteem to your esteemed University. I am also certain that my application to Harvard is the only best way to reach my ambition, and would regard not just as a great honor but also as a great responsibility and an obligation to put my best in graduate studies at your esteemed University.