SOP Instructions

GUIDE TO WRITING STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Please follow the suggested format for writing your "Statement of Purpose" (SOP).

Please provide a short statement describing your interests, background, and preparation for research in CS. The SOP MUST NOT EXCEED 800 WORDS in length and should answer the following questions.

• 1. What broad research area do you want to work on? Note you should only pick one or (at the most) two areas.

  You can obtain a list of areas by browsing our department Faculty webpages. Mention any specific faculty members whose research interests you.

• 2. What motivates you to work on this area?
• 3. What are your career goals? Do you want to be a software engineer, a research engineer, an academic, start a company, or do something else entirely?
• 4. What courses (at college or online) have you done for preparation to do research in this area?
• 5. What projects have you worked on that have prepared you for this research? Describe any relevant internships and work experience.
• 6. Do you have a GITHUB/BITBUCKET account with relevant open source projects you would like to highlight? If so, please include PUBLIC links to those projects.

Finally, please make sure to spell check and proofread your document. In order to stay within the word limit, it is best if you answer each of the above questions in a single paragraph of 3-8 sentences.

Use a standard font with font size of at least 11 points. SUBMIT YOUR STATEMENT AS A PDF DOCUMENT.