Motivation Letter for Master's Program in Computer Sicence and Engineering
Hi, I have wriiten a letter template for my application to several Master's Programs in CSE. Would you help to proofread it? Thanks a lot!
Here is the text:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my enthusiasm for the Master's program in Computer Science and Engineering. I have already received a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from [university], which is one of the most famous universities in [country].
I started my undergraduate study with a specialty in design initially. However, due to my strong interest in mathematics and the IT industry, I switched over to majoring in Computer Science and Technology one year later. This decision did live up to my expectations. I was enjoying myself learning the basic courses, especially ones on data structure and algorithm. Brilliant methods that I had never thought of were introduced to reduce time and space complexity, which was much to my taste. At the end of my sophomore year, I got an opportunity to attend SIGGRAPH 2012, the 39th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques. It was an unforgettable experience. I was totally amazed at the cutting-edge technologies I saw there and how they had changed our lives. From then on I had been admiring those who were active at the frontier of research.
I participated in a student research training project on mesh deformation as soon as I got back. My primary task was to implement efficient algorithms described in related papers, so as to achieve real-time manipulation of large meshes. Later I joined in the research group of ubiquitous computing directed by my academic adviser and focused on context-aware computing. My efforts led to a poster paper, which was then accepted by UbiComp, the 2013 ACM International Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. The nice academic atmosphere and international setting appealed to me deeply during my stay at the conference. At that moment, I realized that my career goal would be a research position in either academia or industry, just like the other attendees. I enjoyed exploring new things and communicating with people from different background. On the other hand, I had also found my lack of professional skills by that time. So I finally made up my mind to pursue a Master's degree.
[A paragraph describing reasons for choosing this program]
The undergraduate education has provided me adequate confidence in taking graduate study abroad. I paid special attention to the core courses, in order to lay a solid foundation in mathematics and programming. Besides, I also picked several courses that dealt with practical matters, like numerical analysis and applied mathematics. In honor of my outstanding performance, I was awarded with First-Class Scholarship for three consecutive years. In addition, I took an active part and won prizes in several competitions, such as mathematic modeling contest, programming contest and etc. They had enhanced my ability of problem solving, and taught me how to perform well within a team meanwhile.
My graduation thesis mainly discussed the recognition of Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals collected during motor imagery (not thinking, thinking left and thinking right). I combined a spatial filtering method based on independent component analysis and a feature extracting algorithm based on common spatial subspace decomposition. By making use of brain waves' spatial distribution and selecting signal channels reasonably, the classification accuracy reached 90%. Moreover, I presented a framework for the communication between Emotiv EEG headset (device for collecting EEG signals) and Android. An image browser was implemented as a demo, in which users were able to switch images by thinking left or right. The thesis accounted for 8.0 credits and took a period of four months in length. My thesis received a grade of 90/100 and was honored Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis.
With my strong desire and academic background, I believe that I am qualified for entry and able to make significant contributions to the program. As I am considering pursuing doctoral studies in CSE related areas ultimately, your program will undoubtedly be an essential preparation for me and add tremendous value to my academic experience.
Thank you very much for considering my application.
Yours sincerely,
[name]
[time]
X, the admissions officer will not have interest in rehashing the information about your college accomplishments in relation to a masters degree. Your letter should only discuss the reason you want to enroll in the program (which is usually related to your desire to improve your status in the workplace or new employment opportunities in a related field), your current work experience in the related fields, and finally, your short and long term goals after completing the program. It is vital that you present yourself as a viable candidate for masters school based upon your current experience because the masters program requires a hands-on and work experience acquired knowledge for its participants. You are no longer in college. What was impressive then is not impressive now. You should have enough practical experience under your belt at the moment to qualify you for the next step of advanced education. Kindly revise the essay in that format in order to make it more acceptable as a motivation letter. While your strong desire and academic background is admirable, it is not enough reason for advanced education schools to admit you into their demanding masters programs.
Thank you for your valuable comments. Seems that I've mistaken motivation letters as personal statements. In fact, I graduated from the university this summer and didn't go to find a job immediately for some reason. As a result, I don't have much to say about my work experience. I've also read instructions that tell me to answer the question: why admission committee should select me particularly. To do this, I provided my experience in the college as a commitment of success in the program.
So I can concentrate on what my professional goal is and how can this program help tp achieve my objectives, right?
X, don't worry about it. That is why we are here to guide you :-) You do not need to explain that you did not get a job immediately after graduation, but you do need to prove that you have been using your education in some sort of manner. Be it in a part time or advisory capacity. After all, being a graduate school student, it is assumed that you have at least 1.5 years work experience under your belt and your desire to achieve advanced studies is related to job security or promotions. If you have reasons other than that, then make sure to mention it as well. While explaining what you did in college does help in a way, it is not impressive since you have not used it in an actual work setting, thus the effectiveness of your accomplishments are diminished in terms of impressiveness and impact on the reader. Think about it, when considering two candidates for the school program, who would you choose, the one who graduated and did not work in his field of study after almost a year of graduation, or the applicant who has at least a year of actual work experience in his credentials? One has only hypothetical and controlled environment accomplishments to present, the other, actual work experience and hands on training? I think the answer is quite obvious. Remember, you want to make the reader believe that you have the best credentials and truly require these advanced studies in your line of work. If you are not practicing what you studied, why are you even applying to graduate school? Of what use will the advanced studies be to you?
Since you cannot offer any accomplishments in terms of professional experience, you definitely need to concentrate on your professional goals and how the program can help you achieve your short and long term objectives. Yes, you need to mention your career objectives in order to prove that you plan on making a career out of what you are studying, even if it is taking you some time to get around to it :-)
