Career and Objectives Essay vs Statement of Purpose?

[Anonymous1b]

Hey there!

I'm trying to apply to Georgia Tech's Master of Science in computer science and they seem to have slightly different application requirements than most universities. They require a Career and Objectives Essay and a Statement of Purpose (I've linked to the page so you can see it for yourself):

• Career Objectives and Background Essay - "

  What has prepared you for this program?" Up to 2,000 characters allowed for response.

• Statement of purpose
  • Academic and career plans. Up to 4,000 characters allowed for response

I'm a bit confused about how to approach this. Normally, a single Statement of Purpose incorporates both these things. I'm thinking I write about my past academic history and so on in the Career Objectives and Background Essay (e.g. I did XYZ internship in 2018 and did ABC in it), while the Statement of Purpose, in this case, should be a bit more story-like, and more like a personal statement, that describes my personal history (e.g. I was always interested in blah, blah, blah) and why I want to study there (Georgia Tech's great, etc.)?

Any of you have any suggestions on how to structure it better? Am I misunderstanding something? Any and all feedback is welcome.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Anonymous1b

[PsyDuck90]

I would do what you said for the career objectives and background, as the explanation says what have you done up until this point to prepare you for this area of graduate study. I would not write the statement of purpose as a personal history statement. The description states "academic and career plans" so it is still very much a statement of purpose. The career and objectives essay is about what you have done to prepare for this degree. The statement of purpose would be what you plan to do after you get the degree and how studying at this school/program will prepare you for the specific job you want.