Hi,
Following is a draft SOP i have written for Msc Thesis based program in Computer Science in intend to apply for.
Please review and let me know your comments
I grew up in a family of Engineers and so the interest in being a Engineer came naturally to me and moreover, I was always good in Math and Science throughout my school so I took up Software Engineering as my academic aspiration as I was always really fascinated by computers. It was amazing how these small machines can do such great work. Even now I am constantly amazed by its abilities.
But it was not till I was introduced to testing in my first professional project that a came to know what passion is. Testing to me seemed a vital part of a software lifecycle in contrast to the image which was built in my mind during college. I picked up an immense interest in it gradually and learned a lot though self study. What made it more interesting was that I was able to apply my knowledge gained by self study in various profession projects I was a part of. It helped a lot in improving the over all quality and I got recognized a lot and regularly by my clients. So I kept on reading more and more online and tried to grab as much as possible from books available but slowly I realized that just by self study I will not be able to become an expert. A proper guidance is needed and that can be provided only by learned professors.
From the knowledge which I have gained in last five years after graduation, working as a Quality Analyst, I think that there is not much emphasis in development of testing as an academic field of interest. My country, India, is becoming a hub for IT companies, but still most of the Indian companies do not give that much emphasis to testing as it requires. Major reason for this I presume is the lack of a proper guidance provided to students during there Under Grad and Grad studies who later join these companies as professionals. Computer Science graduates are not inclined towards taking up software testing as their carrier aspiration. Very important reason for this is limited number of Professors in this area of specialization in India. Students are not made aware how challenging this field is and how fast it is growing and how bright are its future prospects. So there is nothing which instigates there interest in this field. I want to specialize in this field and with my knowledge be able to improve the academic prospects of testing in my country. A master degree and later a Ph.D., will help me gain more knowledge and expertise to do so.
My primary area of interest is 'Requirement Analysis'. I feel it is a very challenging field and till now much emphasis is not paid on this phase of software life cycle, even though it has been recognized as a very critical phase. An effective requirement Analysis can help in finding issues early and thus reduces the overall cost on development and testing. Fixing an issue at this phase is cheapest and can be easily fixed. But recognizing an issue at this phase requires a lot of in depth understanding of the domain. I feel different strategies for requirement analysis can be developed specific to different domains and they can be put in as a standard practice in the software life cycle. This can reduce a lot of cost put on later in fixing issues. This challenge, which this field posses, has attracted me towards it. I have been a supporter of finding issues during requirement analysis and have used this strategy in my projects. In IT industry testers are not involved at this early stage but I have fought hard to put my point forward and get tester involved during requirement analysis. It has been very easy for me to prove the advantages of the same as the difference in cost is usually huge
I really want to take my knowledge to a higher level in this field and require your assistance in doing the same. I think there is a good amount of research going on in this field in Computer Science department under research group WatForm. With my professional experience I would be able to contribute significantly to this research group. I would further want to pursue Ph.D. and move forward to be a researcher and a teacher. An opportunity to join your university will surely provide me the ideal platform to pursue my interests.
Following is a draft SOP i have written for Msc Thesis based program in Computer Science in intend to apply for.
Please review and let me know your comments
I grew up in a family of Engineers and so the interest in being a Engineer came naturally to me and moreover, I was always good in Math and Science throughout my school so I took up Software Engineering as my academic aspiration as I was always really fascinated by computers. It was amazing how these small machines can do such great work. Even now I am constantly amazed by its abilities.
But it was not till I was introduced to testing in my first professional project that a came to know what passion is. Testing to me seemed a vital part of a software lifecycle in contrast to the image which was built in my mind during college. I picked up an immense interest in it gradually and learned a lot though self study. What made it more interesting was that I was able to apply my knowledge gained by self study in various profession projects I was a part of. It helped a lot in improving the over all quality and I got recognized a lot and regularly by my clients. So I kept on reading more and more online and tried to grab as much as possible from books available but slowly I realized that just by self study I will not be able to become an expert. A proper guidance is needed and that can be provided only by learned professors.
From the knowledge which I have gained in last five years after graduation, working as a Quality Analyst, I think that there is not much emphasis in development of testing as an academic field of interest. My country, India, is becoming a hub for IT companies, but still most of the Indian companies do not give that much emphasis to testing as it requires. Major reason for this I presume is the lack of a proper guidance provided to students during there Under Grad and Grad studies who later join these companies as professionals. Computer Science graduates are not inclined towards taking up software testing as their carrier aspiration. Very important reason for this is limited number of Professors in this area of specialization in India. Students are not made aware how challenging this field is and how fast it is growing and how bright are its future prospects. So there is nothing which instigates there interest in this field. I want to specialize in this field and with my knowledge be able to improve the academic prospects of testing in my country. A master degree and later a Ph.D., will help me gain more knowledge and expertise to do so.
My primary area of interest is 'Requirement Analysis'. I feel it is a very challenging field and till now much emphasis is not paid on this phase of software life cycle, even though it has been recognized as a very critical phase. An effective requirement Analysis can help in finding issues early and thus reduces the overall cost on development and testing. Fixing an issue at this phase is cheapest and can be easily fixed. But recognizing an issue at this phase requires a lot of in depth understanding of the domain. I feel different strategies for requirement analysis can be developed specific to different domains and they can be put in as a standard practice in the software life cycle. This can reduce a lot of cost put on later in fixing issues. This challenge, which this field posses, has attracted me towards it. I have been a supporter of finding issues during requirement analysis and have used this strategy in my projects. In IT industry testers are not involved at this early stage but I have fought hard to put my point forward and get tester involved during requirement analysis. It has been very easy for me to prove the advantages of the same as the difference in cost is usually huge
I really want to take my knowledge to a higher level in this field and require your assistance in doing the same. I think there is a good amount of research going on in this field in Computer Science department under research group WatForm. With my professional experience I would be able to contribute significantly to this research group. I would further want to pursue Ph.D. and move forward to be a researcher and a teacher. An opportunity to join your university will surely provide me the ideal platform to pursue my interests.