One thing you need to nail for superb application results

I interviewed Bhavesh Sanghvi, CS grad from Iowa State University who is now working with Amazon in USA. He thinks that everyone works on their SOP, LORs and resume but if you can do this one thing, it might put you at a big advantage. He did it himself and found much success.

GRE and GMATs may become obsolete in the coming years but there is one thing that will not stop mattering for MS/PhD applications. This is also one of those things which if you get right can get you admitted right into your dream school.

And, now is the time to do it.

I bet you are thinking that we mean publishing more papers. But nope, that is not enough.

What we are talking about is emailing the Professors!

I also interviewed Ankit Srivastava, Asst Professor at IIT Chicago and PhD from University of California, San Diego. He said emailing Professors can be tricky but highly rewarding.

Here is why it can be so effective (as Ankit told me) – Professors fund students through grants and the goal of any school is to be able to admit and fund as many good students as possible. So, if a Professor recommends a student and can potentially fund her, the school committee would be more than happy to admit her directly with no fuss. 

It’s funny how simple and logical it is and yet, how many students ignore this step.

I had a client last year whose friend put her in touch with her advisor. As it happened, the advisor was looking for a suitable grad student immediately. Not only did the Professor recommend my client’s admission after a quick review of her resume (yes not even looking at SOP etc) but also gave her full funding. Things moved at lightning speed and it was one of the smoothest admission and visa process as you can imagine.

Also Read: Want to get more emails from Indian students, says award winning Prof in USA

The bottom line is while it is very hard to get positive responses from the Professors, but if you hit it right, it can be more effective than ANY other thing in your application. So you would be a fool to not try it out.

In MS Book, I have covered the topic in detail and provided sample emails and templates on how to contact the Professors because it is an important thing to do. Check it out here – https://scholarstrategy.com/smart-engineer-book/

So, do not leave out on this step when you are working hard to get into those TOP schools anyway. Good luck!

Exclusive MS advice from successful grads and professionals

In last two posts, we touched upon financial concerns and SOP tips. To recap,

1. MS in USA is affordable and within your reach if you understand the numbers and plan properly. We discussed break even analysis to look into that. Read it on http://wp.me/p39Fhf-oB

2. SOP is the magic wand you can use to help your application stand out. We looked at some Do’s and Don’ts. Check it on http://wp.me/p39Fhf-oW

We built specific tools for these two in the MS Book that you can use to save some time.

Applications are a multi-step complex process to ace which you need clarity of thought and action. Don’t let the details daunt you. The key is to know what kind of career you want to build and then choose the right program that will help you get there. But getting to a good university alone is NOT enough. It also matters how you spend your time in Graduate School. At least, in my case, I wish that I had taken some courses from non-CS departments too to augment my understanding. I felt that such advice can be valuable when you are about to join the Grad School. 

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How to write a powerful SOP

how to write SOP

How to write that powerful SOP that will get you admitted to your dream schools? Many applicants shudder at the thought of staring at a blank sheet. In this post, we will make the process easy for you.

An SOP is a mandatory component for applying to Master’s programs in US and other countries. Hence, it is important that you write a perfect SOP that contains everything that Adcom is looking for.

What is a good SOP?

Let me show what I mean. Look at the following examples, which one do you think is a better approach?

A: “I have CCNA and CCNP certifications in most of the fields to serve as a proof for my knowledge in these fields”

OR

B: “For instance, in my math class, I found myself getting frustrated with my calculator because it could not handle matrices with complex numbers. I took the matter into my hands and wrote a java program to find the determinant of a matrix involving complex numbers, which would run on my mobile phone. It worked well, and this was just the beginning of bigger things for the next three years.”

Approach A tells what you have done, something that is easily mentioned in the resume itself. B tells me why you did something and gives me an insight into your thought process.

A is wasting precious space by repeating stuff on your resume. Clearly the Admission Committee will prefer to know your potential better as a candidate and B shows them exactly that.

A: “As it is evident, my academic qualifications in the field of networking are exceptional.”

OR

B: “During the internship, I faced a crunch situation while designing a Cost-effective Power Generation Unit. Since factors such as time to procure and implement the solution were not considered by me before designing the circuit, the entire complexion of the solution got changed – which taught me my first lesson in engineering management.”

Approach A is to state your opinion (which in this case makes you sound arrogant anyway even if you are not). In B, you are giving facts and letting the Admission Committee form its opinion. This is known as TELL vs SHOW. Don’t tell me what you think you are, show me examples and let me form my own opinion. Obviously approach B will give better results.

How to write a compelling SOP?

We covered the essential paragraphs of a SOP in our Statement of Purpose (SOP) guide

Now you know that SOP is not your verbose resume and it is not simply a collection of what you did. It is your story and unless you understand what is the Admission Committee looking for in your story, you will struggle to write the winning SOP.

Trying to cover the following pointers has worked well for applicants working with us-

  1. Background and Aspirations
    • Clear goals help
  2. Academic and Professional relevance
    • Show you are good in your field
  3. Personal Story
    • Show a face behind the application
    • Talk about how you have overcome challenges, what motivates you?
    • Talk about how you have applied your learning
    • Show that you can execute your lessons in practice
  4. Why are you applying to this school?
  5. Why should this school admit you?

How to write the perfect Introduction for your SOP

Next, let’s look at a real introduction used by a candidate who is now studying MEng at Cornell-

“From programming cells of an excel sheet with math formulas in my fourth grade to building a security plugin for Mozilla Firefox considering the current threats to privacy and security on Internet, I have realized that problem solving is what excites me. After a year and a half as an Application Developer in Risk Technology at JP Morgan Chase, I have found my passion in improving the way Information is used in businesses. Therefore, I wish to return to school to pursue a Master’s degree in Computer Science that will allow me to explore the subject in greater depth, particularly the fields of Data Mining, Database and Software Engineering, and use it effectively to address real-world challenges.”

  • First line shows that the candidate knows about his field
  • Second line shows that he has solid background and proficiency
  • The last line clearly identifies his goals

In the MS Book, we use something called SOP Canvas to help build your story. If you fill it out sincerely, I’m pretty sure your SOP will end up better than majority of applicants out there!

Don’t use templates

One major mistake that I have seen in students’ SOPs is that they all look same. It is tempting to pick out 5-6 SOPs from Internet and hash them up to create your own SOP. That is where you will dig your own grave because using templates or copying will only get you to come up with things that others already have. The key to a successful application is to stand out from the crowd, not copying them.

Read how to Avoid other common mistakes that 80% applicants make in their SOPs

In summary: understand what AdCom is looking for

So, those were some insights into the tricky world of SOPs. It’s a rookie mistake to think that SOP is a description of your resume or that there is a set template that you can use as a shortcut. Use SOP to highlight your strengths and tell your unique story.

This is why we do a detailed call to craft a student’s story and then formulate strategy for SOP and LORs in our MS Admissions Consulting. Do not use shortcuts for your SOP, give it time and let it evolve into a solid personal statement.