"You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety" - SOP for MS in VSLI

SOP for MS Computer Engineering in VLSI - University of South California

This is the SOP written for University of South California. Please check out for the flaws.
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks in advance..
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Statement of Purpose

"You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety". I have always thought of this quote throughout my college career, using it as a guide to challenge myself in my classes, when abroad, and on new projects. Now, in looking at the next chance to improve myself, I am looking to study VLSI at XYZ University and I believe that those previous experiences I used to improve myself will help me succeed at the next level.

I chose XYZ Honor College of UESTC for my undergraduate study and the college's education plan, which requires students to take courses in both electrical engineering and computer science, helped me find my interest in VLSI. With great effort, my overall GPA ranked 18th out of 80 in the most competitive college of my university during my freshman and sophomore years. My experiences, however, were not just confined to the classroom. Through a project experience, I realized the importance of building a solid basis on both hardware and software subjects by designing an intact home automation system using the ZigBee protocol. That's the reason I seize the opportunity to attend University of Michigan, Dearborn funded by China Scholarship Council during my junior year. Aided by my proficiency in English, I quickly blended in the University life there and earned straight As. It had its challenges, though, as the overall difficulty of course projects in UM-Dearborn overshadowed those I took in UESTC. What's more, in UM-Dearborn, the classes focused more on the extension of knowledge rather than depth which better aided me in comprehending difficult questions. These features made me more determined to study in the United States for my master's degree.

My interest in VLSI was mostly piqued in the Digital Design class as I learnt to build some simple digital systems such as barrel-shifter using VHDL. As a consequence, I chose the Intro to Computer Architecture class to further expand my knowledge. In the final project, I designed a microprocessor with an instruction set based on FPGA, which can automatically run the instructions previously stored in a RAM block. The experience of designing every component of the processor (Accumulator, Time Sequencer and Program Counter for example) in RTL level with Verilog HDL familiarized myself with the RTL design methods. The project also helped me understand how a microprocessor works and enhances my HDL programming skill. It's not only the accomplishment I gained from successfully building up an intact computer system from a relatively low level, but also my determination of overcoming one difficulty after another that spurred my interest in Computer Engineering study.

I also took courses in software engineering such as Data Structure and Operating System which developed my base of knowledge for the future. Although I've decided VLSI as my graduate sub-major, these courses still enhance my expertise. For example, in an Operating System class project, I learned how a scheduler works in an operating system and learned a scheduling method called vRR which is different from the original Round Robin method in xv6 (a port of a classic version of UNIX to Intel's x86). The new schedule policy is realized by modifying various system functions in kernel. I used linked list as the data structure to store the pending processes in order to simplify the operation of adding processes. I also used a system call cprintf() to print out the needed information for debugging on the console. The experience of hacking the kernel helped me better understand how an operating system creates virtualization and concurrency in a low level.

Furthermore, with UM-Dearborn's strong connection with the automobile industry and my strong interest in VLSI design, I joined the design of DSRC Radio upon the IEEE 802.11p Standard in the Center for Vehicular communications and Networks to hone my skill. For the baseband system design, the physical layer protocol is based on OFDM studied on the Programmable Logic part of Zynq-7000. I used multiple syncing algorithms (Sampling frequency syncing and Signal syncing for example) on the receiver to deal with the negative effect posed by noise and Multi-Path Channel. In order to simplify the design of the system, I picked up the Zero Intermediate Frequency plan for the RF system using FMC extension board integrated with AD9361 so the Up-converter and Down-converter Module are excluded. For the RF system design, I used the PS part of Zynq (an ARM Cortex™-A9 processor) to configure the registers of AD9361 through SPI to make AD9361 function properly. At first, the bandwidth of the emitted signal didn't match the expected bandwidth. After ruling out several possible factors, I solved this problem by running an embedded Ubuntu OS on Zedboard and configure AD9361 with the IIO software on Ubuntu. In the course of doing this project, I not only practiced the whole procedure of ASIC/FPGA digital system design, but also learned the strategies of integrating the work by myself and those by other team members into the complete design. This research experience is a complex test to my professional knowledge and skill.

Although Moore's Law is hitting its limit and the intensity of transistors on ICs could probably stop development in the near future, the need of advanced IC in the market will never shrink. Therefore, I envision myself as an experienced IC designer working for a phenomenal hardware company ten years from now and the first step to achieve this would be to pursue a MS program in XYZ University. From the information I gathered from the website and from the alumni of UESTC, the Electrical Engineering MS program offered will provide me with the most outstanding faculties and academic platform. With these top-ranking resource, my strong academic background and the keenness for graduate study, I'm confident that I will live up to the high academic standards of your university and I can train myself into a competitive engineer in the VLSI realm.

Every day is about consistently improving myself for me, as the quote first mentioned, and I now believe that going to the master's program at (UNIVERSITY NAME) will do that. Based on my project experiences, I am fully confident I will succeed at the next level.

Ming, your SOP is filled with too much academic information. Don't you have any professional or internship experiences that you can present to the reviewer in order to draw a balanced point of view regarding the development of your interest in the program? While I can understand how you have taken advantage of the educational opportunities your country decided to offer you, unless you can present an accurate representation of real time application of your potential education, I don't see how this essay can be considered effective. There is no clear relationship with your potential future career path in relation to your masters degree interests. It would be best if you revised the essay to reflect a professional relationship with your decision to study this course. Since this is a purpose statement, you should also try to present a short term (at least) career plan that will support the need for higher education in this field.

@Holt
Thank you for your reply. Your suggestions was very useful to me.
And about the short term career plan you mentioned, should I include many detail in it? I modified my essay and I just generally describes my career plan in the last paragraph, and I'm wondering whether it is enough.

Sure you can Ming. In the case of a short term career plan, you could present a five year career plan. Your presentation can start from the moment that you graduate. A chronological idea of how you see your career progressing over that time would be great. You just have to make sure that your career progression will tie in with your completed studies and specific courses if any. I would not say that it has to be extremely detailed over five years since we are not really sure that the plan will go according to what you expect. Rather, present a five year plan that gives an allowance for time depending upon how fast your career will progress. If you want to really play safe you can just say something like, "Over the next five years, I plan to...", which will basically serve as a rundown of how you see your career progressing. The details of which can either be limited in scope or extremely detailed depending upon how you want to present it. Word of caution though, since a SOP is normally 500 words in length, you probably should not make the description too detailed.