SOP Presentation.pdf

Behind the Curtain: Decoding the Statement of Purpose Writing Process

This presentation was a part of a workshop conducted by Lovish Chopra, MS CS student at Stanford University.

1. Lovish Chopra
Behind the Curtain: Decoding the
Statement of Purpose Writing Process

2. Topics
•Brief overview: Statement of Purpose and its goals
•Important points to keep in mind while crafting your SOP
•Examples and discussions
•QnA

Note: While the presentation is from MS CS application perspective, most of the things that we
would discuss are also valid for other programs including PhD.

3. Statement of Purpose

4. Statement of Purpose
•Elaborates your ‘purpose’ of attending graduate school
•It’s not your CV!
•Hands down, one of the most important parts of your application: has the
power to make or break things for you.

5. Statement of Purpose
It is your story!

6. What would you document in your SOP?
•Your past academic, research and industrial experiences, what you learned
from them and how they motivated you to apply for graduate school
•Why do you want to apply to the specific university and the specific program
that you’re applying to? How would it help you and how does it relate to your
future aspirations?
•Any other things that you may want to explain to the admissions committee*
(optional)
•For example: let’s say your sophomore GPA is low because you caught
covid, or you took a leave of absence for a year due to some family
circumstances

7. Prompts

8. Prompts: Points to Remember
•Universities give an idea about what kind of information they expect to learn about
you from your SOP. In most cases, the prompt would point to similar kind of
questions.
•Very important: Follow the SOP format guidelines based on the prompt and
university website.
Some universities allow up to 1 page or 2 pages. Some universities set word limit
to 500 or 1000 words.
If nothing is mentioned, assume 2 pages; longer SOPs can become boring!
•Ideal font size: 11 or more.

9. Prompt 1: Stanford University
Statement of Purpose - Your Statement of Purpose should be concise, focused, and
well written. It should describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the proposed
program at Stanford, your preparation for this field of study, research interests, future
career plans, and other aspects of your background and interests which may aid the
admissions committee in evaluating your aptitude and motivation for graduate study.
The Statement of Purpose must be no more than two pages in length, single-spaced. It
will be submitted as part of the online application.

10. Prompt 2: UCLA
Please respond to the following. Your statement can be up to 500 words in length. You do not need to answer every
question; focus on the elements that you feel are most relevant to your candidacy.
•What is your purpose in applying for graduate study in your specified degree program? Describe your area(s) of
interest, including any subfield(s) or interdisciplinary interests.

 
•What experiences have prepared you for advanced study or research in this degree program? What relevant skills
have you gained from these experiences? Have your experiences led to specific or tangible outcomes that would
support your potential to contribute to this field (examples: performances, publications, presentations, awards or
recognitions)?

 
•What additional information about your past experience may aid the selection committee in evaluating your
preparation and aptitude for graduate study at UCLA? For example, you may wish to describe research, employment,
teaching, service, artistic or international experiences through which you have developed skills in leadership,
communication, project management, teamwork, or other areas.

 
•Why is the UCLA graduate program to which you are applying is the best place for you to pursue your academic
goals? If you are applying for a research master’s or doctoral program, we encourage you to indicate specific
research interests and potential faculty mentors.

 
•What are your plans for your career after earning this degree?

11. Examples and Discussions

12. Statement of Purpose
Reminder: There is no
specific format of an SOP. It
is your story!

13. Example 1: Introduction Paragraph
I have always loved computers and technology since I was a kid. Playing video games
and browsing the internet sparked my interest in computer science. I believe that
pursuing a master's degree in computer science will help me enhance my skills and
knowledge in this field. I am excited to join your esteemed university to further explore
my passion for computer science.

14. Example 1: Introduction Paragraph
I have always loved computers and technology since I was a kid. Playing video games
and browsing the internet sparked my interest in computer science. I believe that
pursuing a master's degree in computer science will help me enhance my skills and
knowledge in this field. I am excited to join your esteemed university to further explore
my passion for computer science.
❌ Waste of five lines: doesn’t give any information about what field you are specifically interested in
❌ Loving computers as a kid is one of the most clichéd lines: don’t go to your childhood!
❌ Name of university not there. Don’t be generic!

15. What do you need in the introduction?
✅ Be concise and specific. Every single sentence, every single word is prestigious.
✅ Establish the ‘hook’ of your story. This hook has to talk about what you want to do during your
graduate program and why.
✅ Avoid being generic. Try not to say that you ‘want to learn more about CS’.
✅ Reflect your true intentions of joining the program.
✅ For a PhD program, you may also want to go in more depth of the kind of problems that you
want to solve instead of mentioning a broad field or research area.

16. Example 1a: Introduction Paragraph: Better
While transmitting the first-ever internet message over the ARPANET, Leonard Kleinrock and his
team tried to transfer the word "Login" across a network, but the system crashed after sending
"Lo". Was the experiment a failure? No. That was indeed the beginning of a revolution! Today, the
world is at our fingertips, thanks to the internet. While computer science has led to innovations in
multiple fields, what fascinates me the most are advancements in systems and networks that
have continuously strived to serve the increasing user-base for the internet efficiently. One of the
research problems that captivates me is improving the Quality of Experience (QoE) of network
service applications like multimedia systems because of their potential to reduce internet traffic.
The avidity to explore such problems in-depth and innovate in the field drives me to become an
active member of the research community of Stanford University, learn from it and contribute to
it. The Master's program would be an effective modus operandi to pursue this goal.

17. Example 2: Sample experience paragraph
I have accomplished numerous achievements in my academic and professional
journey. During my undergraduate studies, I completed several computer science
courses and secured top grades in subjects like algorithms, data structures, and
machine learning. Additionally, I interned at Meta where I worked on developing a web
application using Javascript, HTML, and CSS. I also participated in a coding
competition and ranked among the top 10 participants. Moreover, I contributed to an
open-source project on GitHub, where I implemented various features and bug fixes.
These experiences have equipped me with strong programming skills and a solid
foundation in computer science.

18. Example 2: Sample experience paragraph
I have accomplished numerous achievements in my academic and professional
journey. During my undergraduate studies, I completed several computer science
courses and secured top grades in subjects like algorithms, data structures, and
machine learning. Additionally, I interned at Meta where I worked on developing a web
application using Javascript, HTML, and CSS. I also participated in a coding
competition and ranked among the top 10 participants. Moreover, I contributed to an
open-source project on GitHub, where I implemented various features and bug fixes.
These experiences have equipped me with strong programming skills and a solid
foundation in computer science.
❌ Enumerated so many experiences all of them together.
❌ Looks like a CV; doesn’t tell what challenges you faced in these experiences, what you learned
from them and how they motivate you to pursue graduate studies.
❌ Absolutely no flow in the story. The experiences don’t relate to each other.

19. How to talk about your experiences in the SOP?
✅ Talk about at most 3-4 most relevant experiences.
✅ For each experience, talk briefly about what you did, and more about what you learned from it
and what you accomplished through it. Reflect any challenges that you faced in the same and how
you overcame them.
✅ Try weaving your story to accommodate a flow in the essay: these experiences should lead you
to your future goals and purpose of applying to graduate school
✅ Maintain the ‘hook’ of the story.

20. Example 2b: Sample experience paragraph: Better
My first experience with research was through my internship under Dr. Tzi-cker Chiueh
at Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan, where I developed a system
for automated mining of small clips of car accidents from youtube videos. The project
posed a challenge in detecting car accidents due to difficulty in estimating depth in 2D
videos. To tackle the problem, I developed an innovative solution to track car
movement and detect accidents with high accuracy using image processing, object
tracking and heuristic algorithms. My work helped the autonomous driving research
team at ITRI develop robust ML algorithms for accident prevention. I primarily learned
about developing efficient software, video crawling and processing through the project.
Also, working in a collaborative environment alongside other international co-interns
helped me develop cultural sensitivity and gain technical knowledge from them. By
working on video processing and analysis technologies, the experience made me keen
on exploring how one can exploit several types of data obtained from videos to
develop smart video streaming systems that could improve user experience.

21. Example 2b: Sample experience paragraph: Better
I chose to conduct my final-year research, working with Prof. Sandip Chakraborty, on
developing an end-to-end 360-degree video streaming system that could predict the
future viewport of a user, which could be used to stream the predicted viewport regions
of the future frames at a higher quality than the other regions, reducing bandwidth
consumption and improving the QoE. The most challenging task was to come up with
a novel idea for the model……(continued)

22. Example 3: An extracurriculars paragraph example*
I have been highly involved in all the activities from academics and drama to sports in
school and college as well . Scoring a perfect 100 on 100 in physics in class 12
Examination with a 90+ aggregate percentage highlight my academic abilities before
joining my undergraduate institution .I also served as the sports captain of the school
and colIege I attended. I was also an active member of the quizzing society at school
and college and represented them in various competitions. I also studied Spanish as a
subject from class 9 to 10 which makes me a bilingual and might prove to be a mental
benefit and would help me globally as well.

23. Example 3: An extracurriculars paragraph example*
❌ Lots of grammatical issues
❌ Lots of non-technical details that are not relevant to the program: look like ‘SOP fillers’. Also, way
too many experiences that are just touched briefly.
I have been highly involved in all the activities from academics and drama to sports in
school and college as well . Scoring a perfect 100 on 100 in physics in class 12
Examination with a 90+ aggregate percentage highlight my academic abilities before
joining my undergraduate institution .I also served as the sports captain of the school
and colIege I attended. I was also an active member of the quizzing society at school
and college and represented them in various competitions. I also studied Spanish as a
subject from class 9 to 10 which makes me a bilingual and might prove to be a mental
benefit and would help me globally as well.

24. When is it appropriate to include non-technical
experiences (volunteering, mentorship, etc.) in your SOP?
•Most of your essay content should talk about your relevant technical experiences.
•For PhD, avoid deviating to non-technical experiences.

•For MS:
•If you have a Personal History statement requirement along with SOP, keep your SOP technical
and talk about other experiences in your personal history.

•If you are only supposed to submit an SOP, optionally include at max 1 paragraph about your
non-technical experiences.
•If possible, try to relate them to your story/motivation or link them to the university that you
are applying to.

25. Example 3b: An extracurriculars paragraph example: Better*
As an undergraduate student, I faced multiple challenges in my journey, which have
made me sensitive to the concerns of the community and motivated me to contribute. I
was an active member of Awaaz, the student media body of IIT Kharagpur. I led a team
of 50 members, where we worked on the betterment of the student community through
constructive journalism by addressing essential student issues like basic amenities,
food and healthcare infrastructure. If given a chance, I want to contribute to Stanford
Daily, which would also help me work on similar goals and play a part in the betterment
of Stanford University.

26. Example 4: Explaining some issues in your SOP*
The COVID-19 pandemic really messed up my GPA. Everything went online, and I just
couldn't study from home because it was so hard to stay motivated. I also caught
covid during my sophomore year, and my grades suffered as a result. I hope you'll look
past my low GPA and give me a chance to prove myself in a better learning
environment.

27. Example 4: Explaining some issues in your SOP*
The COVID-19 pandemic really messed up my GPA. Everything went online, and I just
couldn't study from home because it was so hard to stay motivated. I also caught
covid during my sophomore year, and my grades suffered as a result. I hope you'll look
past my low GPA and give me a chance to prove myself in a better learning
environment.
❌ Casual language.
❌ Gives a negative overview of your personality. The paragraph highlights more of your flaws than
the obstacles you faced.
❌ You simply asked for a chance to prove yourself, but did you really do something since then to
improve your situation?

28. Example 4b: Explaining some issues in your SOP: Better*
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my GPA suffered a decline. The sudden shift to remote
learning and the accompanying disruptions posed significant challenges that affected
my academic performance. My home did not provide an appropriate environment to
study and my family also caught covid during my sophomore year. However, I made up
for the major courses that I could not perform well on by retaking them on Coursera. I
also decided to work on a research project on Machine Learning, where I ….
✅ Formal Language.
✅ Talks about how you actually overcame the challenges that you faced, gives the university
more confidence in your abilities to handle obstacles well in your graduate program.

29. Example 5: Sample concluding paragraph
In conclusion, driven by a deep passion for my field and an insatiable curiosity, I am
eager to immerse myself in your esteemed institution's vibrant intellectual environment.
With a solid foundation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and unwavering dedication, I am
confident in my ability to make significant contributions through innovative research
and impactful projects, fostering growth as a scholar. Thank you for considering my
application, as I am excited to embark on this transformative academic journey.

30. Example 5: Sample concluding paragraph
In conclusion, driven by a deep passion for my field and an insatiable curiosity, I am
eager to immerse myself in your esteemed institution's vibrant intellectual environment.
With a solid foundation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and unwavering dedication, I am
confident in my ability to make significant contributions through innovative research
and impactful projects, fostering growth as a scholar. Thank you for considering my
application, as I am excited to embark on this transformative academic journey.
❌ Generic statements. The admissions committee hears these all the time.
❌ Doesn’t talk about what you want to do in the future.
❌ Doesn’t talk about how the program will help you achieve your future aspirations.
❌ Doesn’t go university specific.

31. Example 5b: Making SOP university-specific
In conclusion, driven by a deep passion for my field and an insatiable curiosity, I am
eager to immerse myself at Stanford University’s vibrant intellectual environment. I want
to join Stanford because the university offers various interesting courses such as
Database Management, Deep Learning and Computer Vision. I am also interested in
working with professors like Prof. Keith Winstein and Prof. Matei Zaharia and labs like
Stanford Platform Lab. With a solid foundation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and
unwavering dedication, I am confident in my ability to make significant contributions
through innovative research and impactful projects, fostering growth as a scholar. I also
intend to pursue a PhD in the future. Thank you for considering my application, as I am
excited to embark on this transformative academic journey.

32. In conclusion, driven by a deep passion for my field and an insatiable curiosity, I am
eager to immerse myself at Stanford University’s vibrant intellectual environment. I want
to join Stanford because the university offers various interesting courses such as
Database Management, Deep Learning and Computer Vision. I am also interested in
working with professors like Prof. Keith Winstein and Prof. Matei Zaharia and labs like
Stanford Platform Lab. With a solid foundation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and
unwavering dedication, I am confident in my ability to make significant contributions
through innovative research and impactful projects, fostering growth as a scholar. I also
intend to pursue a PhD in the future. Thank you for considering my application, as I am
excited to embark on this transformative academic journey.
❌ SOP still doesn’t look university-specific. The added lines look like a convenient fill-in-the-
blanks question. The courses are very general and offered by every university. The SOP
mentions some professors and labs but doesn’t talk about why the applicant actually wants to
work with them.
Example 5b: Making SOP university-specific

33. How to make your application university-specific?
Clearly, there has to be a reason why you decided to apply to a specific university. Talk about it.
•Any research labs that you are interested in
•Any professors whose research aligns with you, or with whom you are interested to work with:
talk about what you like about their research

•Any special courses that you are interested to take

•Any clubs that you want to join

•Any university-specific reasons (for example: Stanford is known for its entrepreneurship culture)

•… and so on.

34. Example 5c: Sample concluding paragraph: Better
I want to pursue a Master's in Computer Science to explore systems in greater depth, especially research at
the intersection of systems and ML. I am fascinated by the prospects of creating intelligent network systems
using such integrations. I want to join Stanford University because of the relevance of the courses that the
university offers to my career trajectory and the strong alignment of my research interests with some
professors. The various courses offered by Stanford like Advanced Topics in Networking, The Modern
Internet, Visual Computing Systems and Principles of Data Intensive Systems have highly interesting content
and would help me bridge the gap between my existing knowledge and my field of interest. I am inspired by
the work of Stanford Platform Lab. I liked the research goals of their ‘Systems and Machine Learning’ division
and I believe that my research interests perfectly align with these goals. I found Prof. Keith Winstein’s
research, such as Puffer video-streaming and Netkernel, extremely exciting. My final-year research was also
developed on similar grounds as Puffer, discussing real-world efficiency of adaptive video-streaming models.
If given a chance, I want to work with him on developing intelligent deployable network systems. Prof. Matei
Zaharia’s research on ML-based systems and video analytics motivates me intensely to work with him in
these fields. My future goal is to work in academia through a PhD and develop innovations in networks and
their applications that can potentially transform the internet. I believe that the Master's program would be an
ideal stepping stone towards the same. Stanford University is undoubtedly one of the pioneers in Computer
Science and would offer an unparalleled educational experience and a tight-knit research community. I can
assure you that my strong ethics, hard work and ardor towards research will be an asset to the university.

35. But… We have AI. Can I
use it to write my essay?

36. ChatGPT/Bard?
‘Hey ChatGPT, here is my CV. Use this to write a statement of purpose that I
can submit for the MS CS program at Stanford University’
•It will never be able to write your story authentically: your CV won’t talk
about the challenges you faced, your motivation to apply, and your future
aspirations.
•AI beats AI: There are a bunch of AI tools now to detect essays that have
been written using AI. This could be a big red flag on your application.
•Plagiarism

37. ChatGPT/Bard?
‘Hey ChatGPT, here is my CV. Use this to write a statement of purpose that I
can submit for the MS CS program at Stanford University’
•It will never be able to write your story authentically: your CV won’t talk
about the challenges you faced, your motivation to apply, and your future
aspirations.
•AI beats AI: There are a bunch of AI tools now to detect essays that have
been written using AI. This could be a big red flag on your application.
•Plagiarism

38. Use AI as a supporting tool, but write your SOP yourself
•ChatGPT/Bard could be used in case you are facing issues in framing some
sentences.
•Tools like Grammarly can be used to find grammatical and vocabulary issues
in your essays.
•While Grammarly’s free version is decently good, their premium is pretty
amazing.
•You could purchase a shared subscription or your university may provide a
premium subscription to Grammarly or some other grammar checker.

39. Final Tips

40. More Tips
•Don’t read anyone else’s SOP until you complete your first draft. Reading
SOPs beforehand creates a bias and could lead to loss of originality.
•Don’t copy ‘cool’ lines from any old SOPs. Plagiarism detectors could easily
track them and would be a red flag on the application.
•Expect your first draft to be totally terrible: it is fine! You’ll see it evolving as
you get it reviewed.
•Start early!

41. Thank you