SOP Graduate, Ohio State University

In this era of information technology I feel a sense of pride in being so closely associated with the field of computer science. The desire to forge ahead in this field by doing cutting edge research has motivated me to pursue graduate studies.

Academic Background

I hail from a small industrial town where education is given a very high priority. My father is an educator himself. This background inculcated in me a deep inclination for academics from the very beginning. The subjects that attracted me most were Mathematics and Physics. In order to pursue a career in science and engineering, I appeared for the Joint Entrance Examination for admission to ****. Securing an {All India Rank of $162$} amongst $100,000$ candidates ($99.8$ percentile), I joined ****, one of the best institutes for engineering education in India. The growing involvement of computers in various fields of science and technology encouraged me to choose computer science as my branch of study in undergraduate studies.

Undergraduate Studies

After coming to ****, I was introduced to the true expanse of computer science. The core courses gave me an in–depth knowledge in each field. The lab courses and projects gave me the programming skills (for details of the projects please refer resume). Most of these projects were done in groups of two to four students. This gave me the opportunity to learn to work in a group — both as a leader or otherwise.

Areas of Interest

My main objective during my undergraduate studies was to get an overview of various fields in computer science and identify a field of interest in which I could pursue my research career. Because of their vast applications, computer systems, in general, have attracted me. In particular, I am interested in databases, distributed systems and parallel processing. My junior thesis was on (database mining}, which I completed under the guidance of Dr. yyy am currently doing work in {parallelizing compilers} as part of my Senior thesis under Dr. S. Biswas. I have also registered for a course on “models of parallel computation”, intended to deal with fundamentals of parallel algorithms and parallel architectures, in the forthcoming semester.

Career Objectives

Within a decade or so, I visualize myself as a full-fledged research professional in an organization or a faculty member at one of the leading Universities. I see PhD as a first step in achieving this career objective. I am willing to do MS as an intermediate step.

Strengths

There are a few things whose value I realized during my undergraduate studies and now I strongly believe in them. These are {hard work} — Necessity to produce results, (discipline} — Necessity to finish task before deadlines and {persistence} — Necessity to sail through unproductive periods. My attempt throughout has been to inculcate these qualities in myself in which, I believe, I have been fairly successful.

Weaknesses

A major weakness of mine has been my speed. I always try to attack a problem in depth, which invariably requires some amount of time. As a result, I have not been able to perform very well in “three hour” exams. This weakness has been reflected in my grades. However, given sufficient time I have always been able to show good results, reflected by the good grades (AA or AB) in lab courses involving projects.

Reasons for selecting Ohio State University

My advisors recommended me of your university on the basis of faculty interests and the research work currently in progress. After going through the brochure, I realized that there also exists a vast gamut of opportunities, especially excellent computing facilities, in your department. In addition, from the communication I had with Dr yyy, I have to come to conclusion that the graduate program at your department would suit my interests extremely well.

Conclusion

I am fully aware that a research career requires a constant, well—directed and whole–hearted effort. I am confident that I would meet all the above demands. Hence I appeal to the Graduate Admissions Committee to consider me for admission, and financial aid.