Graduate / Academic goals essay, below 250 words briefly explain why you have chosen XYZ University and goals [2]

(Academic goals essay: Briefly state why you have chosen XYZ University for your degree and specify what you hope to accomplish. Applicants: In no more than 250 words, explain how enrolling in the Master of Education program will help you achieve your professional goals.)

career in Computer Science

A career in Computer Science has been my dream ever since I learnt the basics of my first programming language, Java, as part of the curriculum in my high school. The various approaches I could take towards solving a problem excited me in a way no other subject did. Ever since then, my goal has always been to continually evolve into a more capable programmer. Nearing the end of my Undergraduate study, I feel the next best step to fulfill that goal is to enroll in an MS programme by an institute that provides one of the best educational facilities to push my professional career in the right track.

I wish to pursue MS to gain more specificity in particular sub disciplines within Computer Science, that is, Data Mining, Machine Learning, and Software Engineering as well. The final year project that I'm working on right now involves a large portion of these disciplines, and working on it has made me realize how exciting I find these areas of CS. With these as my leading interests in the field right now, I feel a graduate school education is exactly what I need to gain more specialized knowledge that I can use to build a successful professional career.

XYZ, a prestigious public university equipped with one of the best research and development facilities, along with its in-depth coursework on the disciplines mentioned earlier, and guidance of its various experienced professors, will undoubtedly help push my goal of being the best programmer I can be, to its true potential.

Graduate / SOP for MCS - attach to the application a brief narrative outlining your academic interests. [2]

SOP for MCS - Master's in Computer Science

(Prompt: Please attach to the application a brief narrative outlining your academic interests. Include any current or long-range interests in teaching, research or other professional objectives. If you have progressed far enough in your career to have publications or other evidence of scholarly endeavor, please describe these.)

A career in Computer Science has been my dream ever since I learned the basics of my first programming language, Java, as part of the curriculum in my high school. The various approaches I could take towards solving a problem excited me in a way no other subject did. Ever since then, my goal had always been to continually evolve into a more capable programmer. Nearing the end of my Undergraduate study, I feel the next best step to fulfill that goal is to enroll in a graduate school.

During my undergraduate course, I was constantly amazed by the diversity in the field and how all of it formed a well defined closely knit structure. Various courses among the aforementioned such as 'Database Management Systems', 'Operating Systems', 'Automata, Languages and Computations', 'Computer Networks', 'Artificial Intelligence', etc helped me gain perspective of the various nuances that lay the foundation to this very structure. On the other hand courses such 'C/C++', 'OOP Using JAVA', 'Principles of Programming Languages', 'Data Structures', 'Design and Analysis of Algorithms', 'Software Engineering', etc. equipped me with the tools to project various real-world applications rooted in the foundations of the CS structure. A strong focus on deep mathematical concepts and discrete structures has been part of our coursework as well, who's relevance ties into my career interests in Data Science.

Having acquired the tools to make projects with real-world applications, I immediately began experimenting in different domains. In my 3rd year, I build a RADAR using an ultrasonic sensor coupled with a motor, connected to an Arduino Uno. The information from this sensor was fed into processing IDE, which was coded to demonstrate a 360-degree visualization of objects around the sensor, such as in submarines and aircraft. Following this, I participated in the 'MOZILLA MJHACK- Hackathon' conducted at our college where along with a team, I contributed in implementing our proposal for 'Door Security' in IoT using sensors with an ESP8266 board. The board was coded to detect particular behavior in entering and leaving a house to determine whether the person was a resident or not, and if not, an email would be sent to the resident as an alarm. Although we didn't win, the experience of working with a team to build a project with real-time constraints was enlightening and valuable. Later on, I was approached by one of our professors to build a ticketing booth system for our college's annual festival ADSOPHOS for the year 2018. I gladly accepted the request and built an application on the Android OS, a platform that is ubiquitous today. The application made use of an MD5 hash based on user information, stored in a real-time database, and sent QR codes to the participants as tickets. These QR codes when scanned would show information about the respective user's balance wherever he/she wanted to participate, and reductions would be made as necessary.

Admittedly, as evidenced by my transcripts, I had gotten indolent during my first year and didn't get noteworthy scores in various subjects, especially in my sessionals. But I quickly realized my complacency and worked hard and improved upon this in subsequent years, currently standing at a percentage of 71.6%. Aside from coursework in theoreticals, I have managed to gain exceptional scores in all my practicals which, along with my project work, I believe speaks to a good extent about my competence as a computer science student.

My final year project is to implement 'Crime Geo-Profiling System' that uses time series regression models applied on past crime data in various parts of India, to identify existing risk-prone areas where crimes are likely to occur, and empower not just authorities, but also the local populace with this information, through an Android application. Working on this project has made me realize the potential of Data Science in its ability to help people in various such manners. This, in turn, has inspired me to select this as my area of specialization, which I hope to contribute to in my scholarly endeavors to help it reach that potential. As such, my current academic goal is to learn advanced concepts in Data Science to improve my knowledge of its nuances and also gain necessary exposure in research working along with experienced professors; something I believe is achievable under the guidance of the excellent CS department at University of Texas, Dallas. After looking into the courses offered at your university, I feel the Data Science major concentration area listed under MSCS would be the best fit for achieving my academic goals, and would effectively equip me for transition into my future career endeavors.

As for my goals for the future, I wish to become a Machine Learning engineer and obtain fruitful employment for the same. I hope to learn and grow from this experience enough that 8-10 years down the line I can develop myself into an adept data-oriented professional, working in a company with a philosophy to make a difference in the world, leveraging computer technology to satisfy unfulfilled human needs. To this end, graduate education at your university will surely be a stepping stone in reaching my career aspirations. I hope my drive and passion has been expressed through my words to the reviewing committee and that I am given this opportunity to enroll at your esteemed university.