SOP Sample for MS in Computer Science in the US

PERSONAL STATEMENT

The constant change in ways how people were integrating new technologies into their lives piqued my interest in the subject. The eagerness to attain discipline-specific competence and acquire the necessary skill set for innovating in this ever-changing field is my motivation to pursue my Master's degree in Computer Science.

I am not an art and craft person, but I wanted to make a card for my parents on their anniversary when I was about 15 years old. At that time, I knew how to make a basic HTML page, and as silly as it sounds, I wished them through a code written in notepad and saved as .html. This experience showed me that my shortcomings can be solved by a piece of code and gave me the taste of including technology to make my life easier. Fast forward a few years I enrolled in a Computer Science Undergraduate degree, where I was introduced to more intricate subjects like Data Structures, Database Management, Cloud Computing, Machine Learning, etc.

At [UNIVERSITY], I worked on multiple projects and actively participated in technical seminars. Also, my Database management project was awarded the best project at the college level. I made a working E-Commerce Website in four months. Going into the project, I had a piece of prior knowledge of HTML and relational database concepts, so I spent my time learning how to use JavaScript, CSS, and PHP to make the website. Not only that, I integrated PayPal Sandbox API to replicate real-time transactions. Working on this project not only gave me technical knowledge but also allowed me to understand the practical applications of technology. With a solid knowledge of the fundamentals, I picked up a few side projects in the upcoming semesters where I developed an Emotion Analyzing Bot that uses Twitter API and machine learning libraries and also a game called Rolly Vortex using Unity and C#. These projects gave me an extensive knowledge of different elements of the subject and help me understand the complexities of development.

With my affinity towards practical applications, I developed an Anti-Spoofing Attendance System where we used Keras libraries to build convolutional neural networks which distinguish between a real student and a photograph of that student so that no one can give a proxy using a photo. During the process, I got a good understanding of the software tools and confidence in my technical ability.

Additionally, I interned at two companies during my semester breaks. My substantial knowledge of hardware helped me get into [COMPANY] as an intern. I got to experience and review their new laptops and even got the opportunity to represent them and impart my knowledge to their on-store employees. Later I interned at [COMPANY], which is a Certifying Authority. The team I was appointed to was working on implementing an eKYC (electronic know your customer) through a video submitted by the customer. So, to avoid spoof attacks, we came up with a face liveness detection system using digital image processing and Neural Networks. This project gave me the opportunity to be a part of building a machine learning model and the intricacies involved in cybersecurity. These internships also helped me gain industrial exposure and were an eye-opener to how an organization function. Besides that, I even published a chapter on the Fuzzy expert system titled, 'Applications of Fuzzy Expert Systems in Farming' for [PUBLISHER]. This allowed me to explore something new out of my comfort zone and extend my knowledge on the topics which weren't a part of my curriculum. Thinking about exploring trending technologies and working with them exhilarates me and is a major driving force towards my decision of pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science.

To stretch my grasp on the financial market, I took up a full-time job at [COMPANY]. [COMPANY] is a fintech company where I dealt with foreign clients to solve their problems and enhance [COMPANY]'s product. I was part of a project where we managed to reduce their computation time by 26%, to achieve that we made some application-level changes and even migrated to PostgreSQL from the Oracle database for performance gain. Working with them gave me technical insights on the importance of security and a chance to work with new software being used against cyber thefts. Also, interaction with my foreign colleagues exposed me to all sorts of cultures, religions, and ideologies. I am sure this experience will help me settle in fast at your esteemed university.

The desire of expanding my palette of expertise and the excitement of keeping up with the ever-changing technology is the reason I want to pursue Masters in Computer Science at [UNIVERSITY]. The diverse topics in the course offered by the university will help by prepping me for achieving a successful career. The research done by [PROFESSOR] on, "Listening To the Crowd: Automated Alignment, Aggregation and Analysis of Social Media Responses to Public Events" and the work done by [PROFESSOR] on "Fraud Detection via Visual Analytics" inspire me greatly as their concepts are in line with my interests and can draw mere similarities with projects (Emotion Analyzing Bot and Anti-Spoofing Attendance System Respectively) undertaken by me. I aspire to work in the field of social analytics and correlate its impact on the financial market. I believe with my keen interest in working on the latest implementations and the innovation opportunities provided by the university will help me achieve my goal. I will be much obliged if I can be admitted to your highly reputed university and contribute actively to my field.

[NAME]