Hello everyone, here is my personal statement for computer science graduate program in U Maryland College Park(I am an international applicant), could you give me some advise? Any comment will be highly appreciated. Thank you all.
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Modern technology has greatly simplified our lives and released us from daily chores and repetitive tasks. However, with the increasing importance of the role that modern technology is playing, we are also facing unprecedented challenges. For instance, the misunderstanding between humans and computers has led to many severe accidents (unforgettable lessons such as Three Mile Island accident). I am always interested in finding a way to deepen mutual understanding between humans and computers.
My undergraduate studies at XX University has brought me into the fascinating realm of software engineering and provided me preliminary knowledge about computer science. With the career aspiration to become a usability engineer, I desire to obtain training from your esteemed program in order to acquire specific and detailed knowledge in the usability area.
My studies and training in my undergraduate years laid me a solid fundamental for the usability field. I have gained exceptional knowledge of programming languages, database, operating systems, and so forth during the past three years. After I learned C language, I was immediately fascinated by its broad applicability and started to apply it for solving some real-life problems. For example, once I designed an algorithm according to Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve and developed word memorization-planning software for users to memorize more English vocabulary. Moreover, various kinds of course projects brought my understanding of software engineering to a higher level. Last semester, I designed a library management-information system with my classmates. We did all the work together, from requirement analysis, database design, and user-interface design to the final presentation. I analyzed the logic relationship between elements and built logic and physical models for the entire system. I obtained some hands-on experiences from this project and enjoyed myself in the process of abstracting and modeling. Due to the practicality limitation of the knowledge in class, I jumped at the internship opportunity at YY Software Inc. and experienced up-to-date techniques and more formal processes of software production in the project group, as well.
After three years of academic and practical experience, I found human-computer interaction (HCI) could address the abovementioned problem. With a long-term wish to become a bulldozer of barriers between humans and computers, I have determined to further my graduate education in the field of HCI. As HCI is an interdisciplinary field that involves computer science, psychology, ergonomics, etc., I have not confined my studies to software engineering. Accordingly, I plan to read several books on subjects relating to HCI, such as Psychology, a classical psychology textbook written by David Myers. In addition, I have applied for an international technology traineeship project in the Netherlands to start my internship at Luna Technology, a computer-support service company. My work there will be coding and document writing, and the most interesting part is that I will meet people from different cultural backgrounds. I believe that this experience will be invaluable for my HCI studies. Moreover, my six years of training in fine art has cultivated my artistic insight and inspiration, which definitely will be a good help for me in human-computer interface designing.
Though the undergraduate studies at XX University have given me fundamental knowledge and overall concepts of HCI, in order to become a successful usability engineer, I need more professional education and more advanced knowledge. I believe that University of Maryland, College Park (UMDCP) is the ideal place for my further studies. UMDCP has a top engineering school and an excellent faculty group. With highly advanced HCI research dating back to 1982, the enriched research and practical experiences must be beneficial to my future education. Professor ...'s cutting-edge research in... would make my experience in the ** department a challenging and enjoyable one. Additionally, Professor ...'s study on... is also in line with my interests. I believe your ** program is an ideal place to shape my academic and career paths and fulfill my personal values and goals. Additionally, the incoming HCI master's program, which includes a series of courses on HCI and an internship in the industry, will also provide me more exposure to the advanced knowledge and latest techniques. I hope UMDCP will offer me the opportunity to savor the infinite possibilities in HCI, and I believe my experience will contribute to UMDCP's HCI research group, too.
Modern technology has greatly simplified our lives and released us from many daily chores and repetitive tasks.
My undergraduate studies at XX University have brought me into the fascinating realm of software engineering, and have provided me preliminary knowledge about computer science.
My studies and training in my undergraduate years have laid me a solid fundamental knowledge of the usability field.
... I was immediately fascinated by its broad applicability and started to apply it in solving some real-life problems.
For example, once I designed an algorithm according to Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve and developed word memorization-planning software for users to memorize more English vocabulary.
I analyzed the logic relationship between elements, and built logic and physical models for the entire system.
After three years of academic and practical experience, I found human-computer interaction (HCI) could address the above mentioned problem.
With a long-term wish to become a bulldozer of barriers between humans and computers, I am determined to further my graduate education in the field of HCI.
Great essay, and good luck in school!
