SOP for Computer Science - need an advice

[akurniawan]

Hello guys, i intent to apply for several universities in UK at Fall 2016 admission, but this one is for Edinburgh, could you give some advice? thanks

Statement about academic interests, purpose, objectives and motivation (max 3500 chars - 500 words)

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Started out as a student with no background about a computer always left me with a question whenever i heard about the machine that learn by themselves “How does a machine, a non-human being that doesn’t has a brain which has been used by human over the age to develop a ways solving a problem can think? Does it create a code that keep changing every time it faced a problem?”

 

The first question that have been asked in the first paragraph leading me towards a branch in Artificial Intelligence calls Machine Learning. I am aware machine learning could be the future of the world of computing, there are many examples that amaze and intrigue me for pursuing this field. Being taught by data in which the data is differed in different kind of features Machine Learning could make a prediction quite accurate depends on the given features. In order to help me to get better understanding about Machine Learning, i have learned several techniques that has been usually used such as linear regression, neural network, k-means algorithm, SVM, PCA, and Recommender Systems.

 

Machine Learning is a great tool, and in order to make Machine Learning more useful sometime it needs a massive amount of data to calculated for better prediction. Calculating small amount of data is great to ran in a single machine, but in this era where big data is the main event of the world of computing is impossible to run the computation with only a single machine. In order to solve this situation usually the computation was being ran in multiple machines. Presently, i am working as software engineer system in which distributed computing is my main area and i believe my experience in distributed system area are going to help me while pursuing my study.

 

I have decided graduate studies as the next step for pursuing my ultimate goal as a life-changing careers path from a software engineer into an experienced researcher. Pursuing a graduate studies asks for a massive amount of commitment, willingness for working harder and in return it gives a satisfaction, an intellectual satisfaction and gratification. I believe that i possess the motivation and willing to take all preparation needed in order to achieve my ultimate goal as an experienced researcher.

 

I have chosen to pursue my graduate studies at The University of Edinburgh because The University of Edinburgh has well known for its expertise in Artificial Intelligence and working under the guidance of distinguished researchers of The University of Edinburgh will increasing my knowledge for Machine Learning and also will help me to have a solid background in research.

 

I look forward to joining The University of Edinburgh as one of your graduate student and i hope you will give my application a sincere consideration.

 

Relevant knowledge / training skills (max 3500 chars - 500 words)

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As an undergraduate majored in Computer Science i have a great understanding in variety of algorithms and data structures. In order to enhance my algorithms and data structures skill i also conducted in programming competition such as ACM ICPC (2012 and 2014) and a local competitions in my country. It gave me a lot of new experienced and improved my analytical skill while solving a problem.

 

Unfortunately when i am pursuing my undergraduate degree the Machine Learning course is not provided by the university. I have made my own way in order to studying Machine Learning by attended an online course class which provided by Stanford University, in this course i have learned a different techniques in Machine Learning such as :

1. Linear Regression with One Variable

2. Linear Regression with Multiple Variables

3. Logistic Regression

4. Regularization

5. Neural Networks

6. Support Vector Machines

7. K-Means algorithm

8. Principal Component Analysis

9. Anomaly Detection

10. Recommender Systems

I also challenged myself to relearn Statistics and Probability and linear algebra to enhance my background in Machine Learning.

 

Working as Software Engineer System in current company also gives me a new experience in distributed system. My responsibility key is to ensure our site is reliable and scalable. I believe this ability is needed in order to create a scalable machine learning which needs a massive amount of computation for making a prediction

[akurniawan]

Please help 

[darksteam]

Hi Akurniawan,

First, do not take my comments seriously. I haven't been successful in applying into Graduate schools yet.
I think your SOP is quite good.  But I think you should add some specific details and examples such as your projects during your time at school or at work.

I think those examples and details would back you up firmly that you really have knowledge in that field (Machine Learning).

In addition, make sure that your essay contains no grammatical error ( that doesn’t has a brain ). Find an educated native speaker to check your essay.

Good luck.