Parag Mehta

Comments from RPI Professor

What the statement of purpose is not

• Many students (particularly foreign students) think that the statement of purpose is about character. While honesty, sincerity, conscientiousness, etc. are important attributes, I assume students with good academic records applying to graduate school have these traits.

• Many students think that the statement of purpose should be an autobiographical sketch. Believe me, the story of your first computer when you were 10 years old and how it inspired you to devote your life to Computer Science does not make particularly interesting reading, nor does it tell me the things I want to know.

Questions that your statement of purpose should answer

When I read a statement of purpose (which I think is one of the most important parts of a graduate application), I have the following questions in mind.

Don’t structure your statement with these questions! (I can just see the applications pouring in now with my questions used as section headings.)
Your statement of purpose should be a cohesive piece of prose. (Some use of section headings is OK, but not with my questions.) It should present yourself to the reader. One way you can think of your statement is as an extended (and somewhat more formal) answer to the interview question, “Tell me about yourself…”

While some of my questions below can (and should) be answered directly, the rest should be addressed by relating relevant experiences and accomplishments.
• Why do you want to get a PhD (or MS)?
• What are your research interests?
Be as specific as possible, but keep in mind who will be reading your application. In the Rensselaer CS department, research groups read applications — the one(s) you specify on your application. At other schools, a department committee may read all applications and decide upon admissions on behalf of the whole department.

For the Rensselaer CS department, unless you are an exceptional student with a broad range of experience/accomplishments, you should target your application to just one research group — a student who specifies interest in robotics and networking, for example, may not be taken seriously by either group.

Multiple faculty within a research group will read your application.

• Why are you interested in these research topics?
Don’t write an autobiography!
• Do you have the motivation/perseverance to complete a PhD?
• If you have an undergraduate degree in something other than
Computer Science or Computer Engineering, then another question
is: do you have the background to pass the PhD qualifiers?

The statement of purpose is also an opportunity to describe some of your accomplishments and their significance. The reader will not be familiar with the programs, competitions, examinations, etc. for all parts of the United States, not to mention other countries.

Other things to keep in mind

• Format: Single spaced (or maybe even “one and a half” spacing, but definitely not double spaced) with at least a 10 point font and reasonable margins (at least 1 inch on all sides, preferably more on the left and right with a 10 point font).

• Length: Definitely not more than 2 pages! (Who has time to read more than that?)

When I was applying to graduate schools, I was advised to keep my statement of purpose to a single page. I now think that this was not good advice — one page tends to be too short if you’re covering everything you should.
Don’t try to “cram” more into your two pages using typographical tricks (line spacing, font size, margins, etc.) You’re not fooling anyone. Inability to write a concise statement of purpose indicates a lack of critical thinking skills.
I should duly note that most undergraduate Computer Science students confuse “concise” with “short”. “Concise” means that you have given thought to the composition of your statement to make it a clear and cohesive piece of prose (with a natural/logical flow) that covers all the necessary points and doesn’t cover unnecessary points. “Short” pieces of writing are usually too short because they omit important points, aren’t cohesive, etc.

• Spell check it! Get someone else to proofread it!

Special note to Chinese (and some Indian) faculty…

For crying out loud, stop saying that every student is your favorite student! I never really believe it anyway…

What Is It, and How Does It Work?

So you’re researching grad school, and like a lot of your peers, you’re not sure how to pay for it. In the course of your research, you’ve heard the phrase “teaching assistantship” tossed around–you might even remember TAs from your undergraduate days–but what is it really like on the teaching side of the classroom? And what can a teaching assistantship do for you? “Basically, being a teaching assistant means I have to teach a 101-level class every quarter and go to a weekly advisor check-in with other new TAs,” says Carrie Graf, a first-year master’s student in English Literature at Western Washington University. “We also attend a Teaching Methods class our first quarter. In return, I get my tuition waived, a monthly stipend–nothing extravagant, but it’s enough to live on–and health insurance. Some schools offer other perks like free parking; mine’s not one of them.”

While a parking spot would be nice, getting your graduate degree (and healthcare and rent) without forking over any cash is a pretty sweet deal. In addition, you’re scoring university-level teaching experience, which plumps up your resume for almost any field.

Not all assistantships are born equal, however. At New York University, an assistantship in the MBA Finance program requires “an average of ten hours of work per week for fifteen weeks and pays a scholarship grant of $3,600.” That’s a decent wage, but considering the two-year program will cost you a little over $32,000 per year, an assistantship there might not take as big a bite out of your bills as you’d like.

If you’re not keen on teaching, keep in mind that there are assistantships for research too-good news for you happy-lab-rat types! And then there are fellowships; while the terms “assistantship” and “fellowship” are often used synonymously, in many cases, a fellowship is the same creature you knew in undergrad studies as a scholarship. One type of fellowship might offer no-strings-attached financial aid to students working on their dissertation, for example, and require nothing in return but the continuation of your program. Another might very well be tied to teaching or research obligations, like an assistantship–so find out what you’re getting into before you sign on.
If you’re interested in a teaching assistantship, here are three basic steps to take.

1.Research

“Definitely check the funding situation of schools you’re considering,” says Graf. “Ask how many assistantships they have. Some schools don’t have any. I thought a big school like the University of Washington would have a lot of TAs, but I was told they only give them to about a third of the students admitted to my program. Western Washington is a smaller school, but this year they granted assistantships to a large percentage of people admitted–fourteen or fifteen out of twenty–and it includes a full tuition waiver.”

Be sure to ask what your role and responsibilities as a TA would be. At some schools, assistants are just that; they grade papers or oversee quiz sessions. At others, a TA might be expected to teach two classes per term. While first-year TAs generally receive the springboard of a basic, structured curriculum and syllabus, you’re still going to spend a lot of time on lesson plans, background reading, grading tests, and meeting with students–which can be overwhelming when you’re trying to keep up with studies of your own. Assistantships can also create income-tax situations you’ll want to plan for; be sure to get the full specs on what an assistantship means at your school before you commit.

2.Apply

Most schools include an application form for assistantships in their general grad school application packet. Many assistantships require a letter of recommendation and/or short essay–separate from those required for the grad-school application itself–that explain your qualifications, what subject you want to teach, and why a life in academia is for you. Having volunteer experience as an instructor or tutor of some kind can be helpful here, as can real-life, workforce experience in your field of study and, of course, great references.

3.Decide
A teaching assistantship may be a great way to gain experience and save money, but it’s not for everyone. Is it more important to you to avoid racking up an unholy sum in student loans, or to attend a specific college that may not offer much aid? Are you excited (or at least willing) to stand in front of a class of jittery freshman to earn your keep, or would the pressures of teaching detract from your own coursework? Only you can make that decision–so go into it with as much information as you can!

really tired man…..came back from town today…….got my first big scholarship cheque for my Masters in US………

ya…..100K ka cheque finally haath mein boss………feels real good……..

but was real tired……traffic sucks big time…..bombay is gettin over over crowded……kuch karo BMC……..

newaays…..off to hagle’s house……..daru party…..hehe…..

Cheers!!!

Mannn……pity this guy Thakur man……..I mean he’s been our everything througout my engineering……..now off to US and will miss his coffee man…….

that guy came back from his village after some 10 days and the asshead police guys started looting him. 700 bucks in 2 days……..holy shit…….wat crap man…….and again came today for more…….he just said i have no more money and left……..

way to go Thakur Bhai……..

heyy…..long time haan…….but dunno man, somehow not gettin used to this blogging idea…….but keep convincing myself to do it……..

13 days to go and started packing and shit………saala every1 is down with viral infection in ma house…….lag gaye hai re………

mom’s gone mad cause she’s givin shit loads of foodstuff along…….hope immigration guys dont read my blog, else i’m gone…….hehe…….

neways…….off for now……..