Sample-1 proposal for thesis
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1.1.1 Aspect Oriented Programming(AOP)
AOP enhances OOP by inheriting its basic concepts; but also adds a few, very important ones at that. The primary concept, the aspect, is a piece of functionality that crosscuts the object hierarchy in a modular fashion. AOP enables developers keeping crosscutting functionality like access control, logging etc. cleanly separated through encapsulation mechanisms.
Aspects are, on the implementation level, constructs used to handle given points of execution in OO code called join points. Access to join points can be defined using pointcuts, which are mechanisms that allow declarative access to join points. So called advice code, which is standard code that has access to AOP implementation capabilities, can be added to the point cut, and be executed in relation to the join point occurrence.Use Case Driven Development provides modularity among the use cases throughout the software development life cycle. An Object Oriented application in its Analysis and Design phase has a well-defined structure, which involves actors and use cases, but in its implementation phase we rarely find one to one mapping of use cases with the software components. This results in a system where the tracking of which software components address which business requirement, becomes more blurred and as a result, makes validation of the final product against its requirements cumbersome and complex. In essence, we lose “Use Case modularity” at the implementation level. Due to the loss in modularity of use cases, future changes in the business requirements that can be easily incorporated in the design of use cases, become tedious and very difficult to implement at the code level.
1.2.1 AOP and OOP
1.3. Questions
1.7. Method
1.8 Limitations
The test application for this thesis will be a distributed application using Java and AspectJ. AspectJ is an Aspect Oriented extension to Java which was developed by the PARC team at Xerox.
1.9. Thesis Structure
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Sohail shah
January 15, 2013
Applying To: Business Administration Department
Business has always interested me as an undergraduate. In business, we study the results of people's actions. Over time, however, I have become more interested in the motivations behind those actions. At this point, I have decided against an academic career in business and have made a commitment to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology.
In developing my honor's thesis, "The Effects of the Political Action Committee Donations on Personal Character and Leadership: A Comparative Study," I was able to yoke business and psychology by exploring the origins of personality as a means of understanding that leader's subsequent administrative methods. While completing my business degree, I have also been preparing for a future in clinical psychology. I have taken undergraduate content courses, including experimental, developmental, abnormal, personality, and social psychology, as well as psychology research courses.
Research work
My research courses, under the direction of Dr. Jim L'levac, have focused on the impact of inter-and intra-personal functioning of adolescents and young adults by identification as children of alcoholics. These courses have allowed me to apply the research techniques and statistical skills that I have developed in both my political science and psychology classes. My duties in this research project have included creating a coding scheme for the data, working with undergraduate assistants to insure the data were coded and corrected in a timely fashion, and writing the SPSS-X programs required for data analysis. I have enjoyed being part of a research team in this exciting area of psychology.
In graduate studies at Duke University, I hope to continue research involving family systems and adolescent adjustment. I am particularly interested in learning about family therapies for borderline and identity-disordered adolescents. I recognize the importance of relying on empirically based therapies with a wide range of populations in conducting research. In reviewing the research interests of your faculty, I believe Dr. Craighead and Dr. Lochman would be particularly helpful, considering their research interests in adolescents and parent training, respectively.
After completing my Ph.D., I would like to teach at a research-oriented university where I can practice clinical techniques, conduct research, and instill in students my enthusiasm for research and the study of clinical psychology. In the long term, I am interested in the possibility of using my understanding of political science to impact public policy in the area of mental health. I envision a career in clinical psychology as a culmination of my varied interests and would appreciate the opportunity to pursue this at Duke University.
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How to Write a Statement of Purpose
If you've decided to apply for graduate studies, almost all universities will require you to write a Statement of Purpose (SoP). This letter, usually 2-3 pages in length, can make or break your application. Regardless of your grade point average, work experience, test scores, or undergraduate mastery of your potential future area of study, your Statement of Purpose is very influential at most institutions when determining your candidacy for admission. Please note that these instructions are more specific to admission into a PhD program.
Steps:1. Start early. Give yourself at least a month to gather the information described below and produce a final version of your Statement of Purpose.
2. Investigate the current research trends of the university to which you are applying. Read faculty publications, current interests, and all the admission requirements (specifically those of
your Statement of Purpose).
3. Talk out the details of your life with a friend or trusted acquaintance. Recall small details, anecdotes from childhood, service you might have given at earlier times, the rich palpable
details of your life. You will recall items you have forgotten or deemed minor, one of which may add energy and meaning to your Statement of Purpose.
4. Think carefully about what you want to research as a graduate student. Note that this may change during the course of your studies, but you will want to enter grad school with a
solid idea of what you want to do and what you can provide to the university.
5. Create a strong opening paragraph of five sentences or less. Briefly explain who you are, where you're from, why you have chosen the particular field to which you're applying, and why
the university is among your first choices. Be specific. Don't tell the faculty how wonderful their university is or that you want to study there because it's the best in the state/nation/world.
The faculty already knows this and you're just wasting their time.
6. Mention faculty members with whom you could conduct research by name along with their areas of expertise. For example, "I am interested in working with Dr. Margaret Jones on
sociolinguistic comparison because..." or "I have seen Dr. Allara's publications on the use of genetic markers in biochemical reactions and would like to investigate..."
7. Tell the university why they should choose you over someone else. Explain what you can contribute to that particular field or specialty. Keep in mind that college faculty will accept you
if they believe you can further their reputation. Plan how you will accomplish that task and include it in your Statement.
8. Fill the rest of your essay with more detailed information about your undergraduate education, work experience, and potential research topics.
9. List all the enclosures you will include in your application and give a very brief description of your portfolio.
10. Thank the admissions committee for their time. Chances are they are reviewing hundreds of applications along with yours.
11. Provide your contact information.
12. Go back and revise, edit, revamp, etc. Have someone else edit it. You'll probably cut out a lot of stuff. Then edit some more. Remember to include everything above while aiming for 2-
3 pages maximum. This is where being very concise and to the point is important. After the letter is perfect, edit some more.
13. Print your letter, sign it, and include it as the first item of your application portfolio (although be aware that some schools will want you to send it electronically).
Tips:
Remember that your first paragraph should be no longer than four or five sentences, but it should give a summary of the entire Statement of Purpose. Many graduate committees will
read your first paragraph to decide if the rest of your application is worth reading as well.
Keep it clear and concise, yet detailed and specific when it comes to faculty and areas of potential research.
Don't tell the admissions committee how amazing you are. Avoid empty phrases like "I'm talented", "I'm very intelligent," "I'm a great writer/engineer/artist" or "I had the highest GPA in my department as an undergrad." Show them through your professional Statement of Purpose and application portfolio and let them decide if you are amazing enough to attend their institution.
Incase You attempt to explain how "amazing/aspects" you are, make sure that you justify it. Yet, you must remain humble. For example: "I believe that I have the confidence in myself to strive
for the furthest goal."
Use short anecdotes to highlight your strengths. After committee members have read a few dozen statements, they all start looking alike; some specific and interesting details can help a candidate to stick out. Of course, it helps if these anecdotes are related to the broad point you're making in your statement.
Focus on your previous and future research experiences. Many students make the mistake of summarizing their CVs. Committees that bother to read your application know already that you're a good student; they now want to see whether you'll make the transition to a more unstructured and self-directed form of learning in graduate school. They look for evidence of this by seeing how you describe your past research experiences and your future
plans. The key is not particularly the topic you propose--the committee will expect this to change after you get some more experience. Instead, they will look to see whether you have a
realistic and well-informed sense of what a graduate student would expect to do in a degree.
Remember that a Statement of Purpose is only one, albeit extremely important, part of your graduate school admission portfolio. Carefully examine all the requirements on the
university's admissions webpage before you submit an application.
Apply to as many schools as you can afford to pay their application fees. Four distinct Statements of Purposes for four different universities should be your minimum.
Warnings:
Avoid sending the exact same Statement of Purpose to all the universities to which you're applying. The admissions committee will easily spot a cookie-cutter essay and more than likely reject you. Admissions committees also notice whether or not you include specific references to people, labs, etc., within their departments.
Don't be overly specific about your research goals if you are actually somewhat flexible. If there are no faculty in a particular department working in your described area who are taking
students in a given year, you might be rejected even though you are considered "above bar".
At the same time, there's no point pretending to be interested in a broader range of topics than you are.
Don't be too technical, i.e., using words or jargon-style expressions that are unfamiliar to you. If you use them incorrectly, chances are you'll end up sounding like some thing over or exaggerated.
Don't use superfluous descriptions or poetic phrases unless you're applying to study arts like creative writing.
Be prepared for rejection. Graduate school is a competitive world and even the best undergrad students get rejected from somewhere.
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What Makes a Good Statement of Purpose for Graduate School?
The statement of purpose is a critical part of the application process for graduate school. Three experienced admissions officials from Harvard, NYU, and Yale offer their thoughts and wisdom on writing a great statement of purpose.
Career Center (CC): How important is the statement of purpose in the overall application process?
David P. Giovanella (DG), New York University, Graduate School of Arts & Science, Graduate Enrollment Services - The statement of purpose is one of the most important parts, if not the most important part, of the application.
Gregg Glover (GG), Associate Director of Admissions, Harvard Graduate School of Education - For our process at HGSE, it is very important. We often announce that it's the most important single item in an applicant's application.
The essay can make or break a person's chances for admission, which is probably true at most schools. We are not test score driven in our process, so the statement takes on much more weight. Remember, the statement is the only part of the process that you have complete control over: you cannot change your GPA, or create the content of your letters of reference, but you can determine the finished product of your statement.
Dr. Liza Cariaga-Lo (LCL), Assistant Dean, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - The personal statement is very important, as it is often (in cases where there is no interview requirement) the only opportunity for the student to share information about themselves that they think is relevant to their pursuit of graduate study.
Career Center (CC): How should an applicant deal with discrepancies in their record (grades, test scores, etc.)? (DG): Applicants should either include this in the personal statement or add an amendment paragraph briefly describing the situation. (GG), The statement of purpose can be a useful place to discuss discrepancies in your record if no other appropriate place in the application exists to do so. For example, one can explain further why a GPA declined one year due to a severe personal hardship. While some applications provide a separate space for such explanations, the statement provides the opportunity to elaborate on specific situations if they are relevant.
Try not to leave any doubts or questions in the minds of the admissions committee. Admissions committees are, at some level, trying to determine if the applicant will succeed, and hopefully thrive, in their program, and the statement can allow you the chance to present your case most accurately and fairly. But do not dwell on discrepancies, either.
(LCL), Assistant Dean, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: You should mention any discrepancies in your academic record briefly (1-3 sentences) and perhaps provide an explanation of the circumstances as to why this happened and how you have addressed these issues. You may wish to ask one of your recommenders to briefly provide some explanation as to why there
are issues in your record.
CC: What are you looking for in the statement of purpose?
DG - NYU: It should be typed. The applicant should outline their goals and aspirations. Present information chronologically, and show your writing skills and style.
GG - Harvard: The statement of purpose should demonstrate excellence in writing and clarity of thinking. It functions as a writing sample, often the only one you submit. Make it as solid a piece of writing as possible. It can also function as your interview if none is required. It is a chance to introduce yourself and describe who you are, what your background is, and what is important to you.
Perhaps more importantly, the statement is an opportunity for an applicant to describe his or her purpose in pursuing graduate study. Why this school, and/or this specific program? What are your reasons for graduate study? What is your plan in pursuing this degree? In the statement we look to see how well the candidate knows the school and justifies their reasons for studying there.
Another way to think about it is to consider "focus and fit": are your interests in graduate study focused, and is there a good fit with your interests and theparticular program or school? This requires carefully researching the school or program to which you are applying. Read about the program's emphasis, thenature of the required courses, the work or research of its faculty. The more you know about the program to which you are applying, the better. You will sound more knowledgeable and more convincing in your essay.
Admissions committees at our school are trying to determine what the school or specific program can offer to the applicant, and what the applicant can potentially offer in return. It's a two way street: do we have what the applicant wants and needs? If admitted , how will this person contribute to our community? The essay allows you to express this.We also look for an applicant's commitment to the field of education, and the statement of purpose is an excellent place for an applicant to describe what fuels that commitment and where the source of his or her passions lie.
For essays to research-based doctoral programs, it's important to remember the following issues: Have you clearly articulated your potential research interests?
Have you determined if the particular department, or specific faculty members in it, can support your research? We prefer that our doctoral applicants identify potential faculty with whom they might work to produce the dissertation. This requires you to carefully research the scholarly interests of the faculty and to
clearly think through your own research ideas. You do not have to identify your specific dissertation questions, but it is important to focus your interests and argue that you will be well supported.
LCL - Yale: The goal of the statement of purpose is to provide (concisely, thoughtfully and in a well-organized, easy to read format) information about the student's path to pursuing graduate study in this particular field. The statement should cover the following areas: (1) his/her motivation for applying to graduate school, (2) relevant experiences and academic coursework that have prepared him/her for graduate study in the field, (3) characteristics and strengths that make him/her particularly well-suited to graduate study in the discipline and within the graduate program he/she is applying to, (4) academic plan for graduate study, (5) future career objectives, and (6) extenuating circumstances that may have resulted in less than ideal academic credentials for graduate school.
CC: What would you consider red flags?
DG - NYU: It's a red flag when the statement is not typed, not well thought out, or an edited statement designed for another school.
GG - Harvard: Poor grammar and usage in an essay certainly signal a red flag to admissions committees, as does an inappropriate fit with program. It's not a good sign if the applicant demonstrates little knowledge of program or school, or worse, names another school in the essay by mistake! Presentation matters:
have others read the essay for grammar and ideas.
Similarly, if an applicant demonstrates a lack of relevant experience, sounds naïve, inexperienced, or unfocused and unprepared for graduate study in an essay, it can hinder his or her application. For doctoral essays, poor articulation of research interests can also hurt an applicant's chances.
LCL - Yale: Too much personal information that is not directly relevant to why you want to pursue graduate study in a discipline area (e.g., lengthy stories about your childhood), unexplained gaps in a student's educational pathway, and demonstrated lack of understanding about a particular field or the program/institution you are applying to (e.g., making naive or erroneous remarks regarding research) are all red flags.
CC: Are there any special topics that should be covered in the statement of purpose?
DG: Applicants should discuss educational objectives, career plans, how their past experience contributed to future goals, why the particular program interested them, and how they will relate to the program. The applicant should show that she/he has researched the program.
LCL: You should definitely discuss your specific research interests in the program you are applying to and how your interests match with the interests of faculty and or resources that the particular program has to offer. You should include a brief discussion of relevant research experiences which have allowed
you to clarify your educational and career objectives in the field, as well as your understanding of the current relevant research literature in your field. Also, clearly explain your career objectives and what you hope to accomplish once you receive a PhD. These objectives should be realistic and well-informed, not idealistic and vague.
CC: What should you not include in the statement?
DG: The applicant should not repeat him or herself, be grandiose, or be too long.
GG: It is not wise to include irrelevant or excessive personal information, or to try to be overly humorous. Also, the essay should always keep to the required length.
LCL: If you are applying to PhD programs, you should not spend a lot of time describing your extracurricular and/or volunteer activities unless it is directly relevant to the PhD program of study you are applying to. PhD admissions committees are interested in whether or not you have the ability to become an outstanding scholar in the field and whether or not you are a good fit with the academic environment and resources offered within their program.
CC: How personal should you get?
DG: This is up to the individual applicant.
GG: It's acceptable to offer insights to an admissions committee about who you are and what is important to you, or what is driving your desire for graduate study. At our school, the reasons for pursuing programs in education can often be personal ones, derived from an applicant's personal or professional experiences. It is fine to describe these, and sometimes powerful to do so. An applicant may benefit by describing one's "passion," but only in a context that is
relevant to the proposed graduate study.
One shouldn't, however, get too personal or offer too much biography in the statement. For example, four pages of biography in a five-page essay are too much! Do not include a laundry list of activities or repeat one's resume. Include the resume instead, and highlight an important experience or two. I would only
include personal information that is 1) relevant and 2) compelling and important to one's desire for graduate study. Personal information should not outweigh a discussion of an applicant's plan or reasons for graduate study in an essay.
Remember, writing essays for graduate applications is about making choices --what to include, what to highlight, what to elaborate upon.
LCL: Do not spend a lot of time talking about your personal life story; and mention it only briefly if it's relevant to your motivation for graduate study.
* Article Adopted from UoCalifornia, Berkley, career Website.
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Tips on Writing Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement Essays:
Personal statements and statements of purpose are perhaps the most important parts of applications. There is little you can do to change your GPA or your curriculum vitae (the academic version of a resume), but these statements can be written in many different ways, emphasizing different aspects of your interests, goals, personality, and style. To present the unique qualities that make you the candidate that a committee wants to select, and a good statement of purpose can also affect those professors who will write letters of recommendation for you. Consequently, you need to pay particular attention to their composition.
Admissions and approval committees have been known to accept candidates with uneven academic records or reject otherwise excellent candidates on the basis of these statements.
Essays for law school and medical school applications have their own unique characteristics.
While many of the tips outlined here are useful for these essays, the demands of graduate school and fellowship essays are different. Law school and medical school essays are closer to the type of essay you wrote for undergraduate admissions. Admissions committees are usually not that interested in how much you know about law or medicine, since they don’t expect you to know very much, and research, while important to write about, is not as crucial as for graduate programs. For law, you are expected to demonstrate that you can reason and write, and that you have some kind of intellectual capacity and drive and a sense of human connections, and that you are motivated to become a lawyer. For medicine, you are expected to recount any experience with medicine (such as shadowing doctors), that you have compassion, in addition to demonstrating that you can reason and write. Again, the tips here are primarily directed at graduate school and fellowship essays, and if you are interested in these professional schools you can extrapolate from these suggestions – and consult with the appropriate staff at UAP.
Read the description of the essay carefully, and make sure that you answer the question in the way that it is worded. Pay attention to the word length indicated in the instruction and do not exceed it. These essays are usually very short, and you need to be concise and strategic about which interests or goals you decide to highlight. Do not try to “fudge” the prompt: Answer the question as stated (although most will simply say something like “Write a short statement of purpose”).
Some fellowship applications may require a personal statement that addresses concerns of the fellowship. For example, the Udall asks for an essay responding to Sen. Udall's speeches and writings concerning the environment, the Soros seeks a personal account of what it means to be a New American and how the Constitution and Bill of Rights affect your life, and the Truman asks a series of interlocking questions. Such essays call upon all your critical capacities to present an analysis, opinion or personal reflection, and they are similar to other essays you have written in college.
Statements of purpose are required of all fellowship and graduate school applications. These essays require you to describe clearly your interests, your proposed intellectual projects leading towards major research or dissertation, as well as your plans for the future. They are the committee's introduction to you as a scholar and potential colleague.
A statement of purpose or interest is very different than the personal essay you wrote for undergraduate applications. It is NOT a general biographical sketch, nor is it primarily a personal reflection upon your decisions to enter a field, nor does it focus on your extracurricular activities (unless those activities pertain to your scholarly interests). You will not be asked something like “View a photograph and describe it.” Being a scholar, researcher or teacher will demand your best communication skills, so your essay should reassure the committee that you can communicate effectively and with a deep understanding of your field. You should write in a personable manner but this is somewhat different than writing a personal essay for undergraduate admissions.
Keep in mind that you are writing to a particular audience, usually of faculty in your field (unlike your undergraduate admissions essay, which was directed to a general admissions committee). In other words, if you are applying for a chemistry PhD program, you will be addressing fellow chemists, for history, fellow historians, etc. If you are applying to an interdisciplinary program (e.g., History of Consciousness at Santa Cruz), your audience is a diverse group of scholars (literature, history, philosophy, etc.) all united by a similar concern. If you are applying to a fellowship, your audience is liable to be more general or interdisciplinary.
Be prepared to produce many drafts. These essays are among the most difficult pieces of writing you may do related to graduate school (other than your dissertation and your first job letter) because you must make so many strategic decisions on how to present yourself in such a short amount of space. Allow yourself a lot of time for drafts, and do not get frustrated because of the many times you will need to rewrite. Making multiple revisions is an inevitable part of the process.
Show your drafts to faculty members, particularly those writing letters of recommendation, fellow students, and others. Accept criticisms with as little defensiveness as possible. On occasion you will get conflicting opinions on the presentation of your ideas and you will have to decide which direction to take. If you have a leading faculty mentor, you may defer to his or her opinion over others.
The “trick” of this essay is to transform supplication into conversation, to change begging into exchange. Readers want to get a feeling of your intellect, and in a successful essay they will want to continue the discussion you’ve initiated, which they can only do if they admit you into their program. They will want you to be a part of their community of scholars because you have something to offer. They ask: “Would I be interested in talking to this student about her research over lunch?”
Concentrate on demonstrating what you know about your field and what you hope to accomplish in graduate school and even beyond. Is there a particular area of the field that you find interesting? What do you hope to contribute to the field? Avoid digressions.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the field by making appropriate references to leading scholars, major writers, and current debates or concerns, employing appropriate technical terminology. Avoid jargon that you believe is fashionable in order to appear flashy: most committees can tell superficial use of buzz words. You usually do not need to explain concepts in depth, since admission committees are usually already familiar with the field (although brief explanations for a more general reader may be necessary for fellowship applications). If you do write about an aspect of the field that may be somewhat unusual or controversial, your ability to briefly explain technical or theoretical aspects is a crucial component of how your essay is judged. You are not simply offering a summary of a field, so your ability to present your own arguments demonstrates how creatively you engage the entire field.
Make concrete references to the program you are applying to and to the faculty you would like to study with. However, make sure these references are sufficiently broad so that you do not sound as if you want to study with just one person or have an excessively narrow interest in the field. You may not realize it, but that one person you want to study with may be on sabbatical for two years. Very often, the question is not whether or not you are capable, but
whether or not you are a good “fit.” So, don’t make your interest with the program so narrow as to allow any excuse for an awkward fit. Investigate the program – review their web site, talk to graduate students, visit in person, if you can – to discover its focus, how graduate students are involved in research, its “politics” vis-à-vis the field.
Do not inadvertently position yourself on one or other side of a controversy within the department or field. Often, the discussion of the particular program is at the very end of the essay (which allows you to simply place the appropriate paragraph for each school). This is a regular convention of this genre, everyone expects it, and you do not need to worry because you too write your essay this way. However, you can write it differently: references to a particular program can be woven into the body of the text, as well. This is far more difficult – and requires an original essay for each school – but it can be very effective.
While you should discuss the particular area of your field from which you may develop a dissertation topic, do not present an overly detailed proposal of your anticipated dissertation.
Most young scholars do not have their dissertation topics determined yet, and admission committees anticipate that. Many committees will regard a detailed description of a dissertation topic with suspicion, even deciding that a young scholar who has so determined his or her topic without advanced work is not open-minded enough to other influences in the field. One of the pleasures faculty have is in molding their graduate students. If you seem to have a closed mind, they may find this unappealing. However, if you do have areas of interest, you should explain them – just refrain from writing a detailed proposal.
You are fashioning a “fictional” version of yourself. While your account is always based on truth, you have a great deal of freedom in constructing the image of who you are. You decide what goes in and what does not, and in what order. The notion that you are writing fiction can allow you some distance; the idea that this is “fiction” can free you up to be more creative and less uncomfortable that you are “baring your soul.” However you construct yourself, never lie. Not only is lying wrong, but lies are usually easily detected and self-defeating.
Construct coherence. No matter how different your intellectual or other relevant experiences may be, seek out some way to bring everything together as a coherent whole. This is tricky and difficult – but everything can be described as part of one sort of process or development or another; there are always underlying connections. Trying to determine these questions is an excellent topic for brainstorming with other people who can see you more clearly because they have more distance. Techniques for writing drafts. There are many ways to open your essay, many choices on the order in which to present your involvement in the field, many different aspects of your academic career to highlight. However, many people get hung up on producing an exciting opening.
In your initial drafting process, experiment with presenting yourself and highlighting your interests in many different ways before settling on which approach is most compelling.
One technique is to write separate, independent paragraphs or groups of sentences describing different aspects of your work (such as your research projects) or experiences without worrying about how they connect or flow. At least in this way you can begin to articulate the important elements of your essay and you have material to work with. You can experiment by avoiding any opening and writing the body of your essay; or you can experiment with trying to write one short paragraph that concisely says everything. Be playful in your experiments before you settle on one approach.
Openings. Openings tend to get people hung up. Everyone wants to make a good, first impression. But, often, once someone sets upon an opening, it tends to shape the rhetorical flow of the rest of the essay, even distorting the essay. One suggestion is NOT to have an opening but simply to start – avoid the high-stake gambit altogether. An opening that uses an anecdote about your interest in the field is very popular. It can be very effective, and it’s a common way that people can express their interests. But it’s so popular that it may come across as trite, unless it is a very powerful, appropriate anecdote, and it must be short. (Often, people need to write an anecdote in order to get themselves going, and when the anecdote is done, take a look at what happens next: that may, in fact, be your opening.) Opening with a personal narrative (e.g., how I became passionate about this subject) can be effective, but, again, this approach is very popular and even overdone (“When I was six I was hit on the head at the playground, and ever since then I’ve wanted to be a neuroscientist”). If you do use personal narrative, make it very brief and to the point. Don’t spend half your essay relating a story.
Another popular approach is to present a chronology of your development. While a chronological account may be tempting – and may be necessary for you to do at an early stage of writing – it is a fairly low-level rhetorical mode.
Another possibility is to open with at the most sophisticated level of your development, such as the advanced research or honors thesis you are currently completing, and then describe how you got to that point in the field. Often, an analysis of some aspect of your research interest or of your own development can provide you with a way to discuss your overall development.
Present your interests according to an underlying theme, framing idea or argument that then draws from the history of your involvement to illustrate your idea. No matter how different your activities may be, you can draw a coherent picture of your development. At first you may not think that climbing Mount Everest connects readily to a doctorate in mechanical engineering or medieval studies – but if presented the right way, it could. Don’t reject any experience out of hand. And don’t leave out things which you think are obvious. For example, your honors thesis or research may show up on your c/v, but you give the meaning or “spin” to that reality in your essay.
Do not present a complete list of courses in the field you have taken or an undifferentiated, comprehensive description of your interest. You will need to make strategic decisions on how you present your interest, deciding what is primary, secondary, etc., and making such decisions may be difficult, even painful. You will have a transcript in your application, so you don’t need lists that don’t “spin” explanations.
Address any anomalies in your transcript. If you have any lapses, unusual low grades, withdrawals or anything else that seems strange, explain them in as non-defensive a way as possible. For example, the fact that the first two years of college you were a mediocre student until you discovered your intellectual passion or you withdrew from classes one quarter because of illness or family problems. If you spent time in jail or joined a guerrilla army, you need to figure out how to explain your history. In many respects, you do not need to explain everything and some things may be none of an admissions committee’s business but you do need to say
something. If you do not explain the situation, your readers will invent explanations for themselves – and their fantasies will probably be far worse than the reality.
Avoid excessive, unreasonable enthusiasm. Extreme effusion backfires. For example, statements such as "I love 19th century British literature so much that I feel that I live in the 19th century" or "I AM Nietzsche" or “I live and breathe sea urchins” suggest possible psychosis, not reasonable enthusiasm. For the most part, exclamation points should be avoided.
Check your writing style for unconscious attempts at forced sincerity or authenticity. This is a form of “begging” and it’s tough to spot, since you often don’t see if for yourself. For example, check to see if your adjectives are excessive (“I took an amazing/astounding/awesome class”).
Often, no adjective is fine or a more restrained one has a better effect. Review “triples” or “doubles” to see if they are indeed necessary and reveal important information. For example, if the flow of rhetoric has you saying “I am dedicated, hard working, and committed,” you should note that dedicated and committed are almost identical and the repetition has the effect of undermining your sincerity. The reader gets a subliminal message flashing of “Baloney!” Don’t follow rhetorical flow; follow the logic of your underlying coherence.
Be conscious of inflammatory or biased language. You may hold strong opinions about the field or be motivated by particular causes. Do not mask your opinions, but be aware of presenting yourself in a tactful, judicious fashion. You can express various views in such a way as to present yourself as having an opinion yet remaining open-minded. You want to avoid coming across as an extremist or as a crank that cannot enter a dialogue with others.
No jokes. Humor and sarcasm depend upon a shared field of reference and you have no idea if you and your readers have such a mutual understanding. Most of the time, self-deprecating humor comes across as simply deprecating yourself, and sarcasm can easily be misunderstood.
One student who spent ten years working as a writer for situation comedies refrained from using humor: if she refrained – and she knows the business – you can too. This doesn’t mean that you should be leaden or dull, but avoid jokes or smirks or a wise-guy tone.
Do not write what you think the committee wants to read. Be yourself. Often, applicants believe they should write according to some image of proper "academic" seriousness or style.
Your personal style and passion should shine through the essay. Although this is a formal essay and you should avoid slang or overly casual constructions, its tone should be engaging, even personable (though not personal).
Proof read the essay. While this is not a grammar test, excessive typos and other mechanical errors indicate poor work habits and do not make a good impression. Most admissions committees allow one typo (such as “to” for “too”), but when the typos start adding up you’re sending a bad message.
After all this advice and warning, keep in mind that this is actually an exciting process.
Perhaps for the first time in years you are attempting to present a coherent intellectual portrait of yourself. In the process you may actually gain a clearer vision of your interests and goals – and feel even more confident that graduate study is the direction you want to go.
Leave out aspects of themselves that they think are obvious or not important when in fact they are very valuable.
(Adapted from original text by Hilton Obenzinger)
(page .1)
proposal for Master of Science Thesis
Aspect-Oriented Programming compared to Object-
Oriented Programming for use
case driven development
(page2)
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The importance of use cases in software industry has been more realized in the last few years. From capturing the business requirements till the software testing, use cases play an important role in the software development life cycle. This has led to the concept of Use Case Driven Development or Feature Driven Development.
The importance of use cases in software industry has been more realized in the last few years. From capturing the business requirements till the software testing, use cases play an important role in the software development life cycle. This has led to the concept of Use Case Driven Development or Feature Driven Development.
Object Oriented Programming has been in
industry for quite a long time. The current industry standards are focusing on
Use Case
Driven software development using Object Oriented Programming as the backbone, but software developers and architects are still having a hard time delivering a well-designed, modular and maintainable application and most of the applications have to face these problems eventually.
· A software component usually contained not only code to realize a piece of the dominant use case but also pieces of many other use cases. This is generally known as Code Tangling.
· A use case is sometimes realized by code allocated to several interconnected components. This is known as Code Scattering.
Now a new concept of programming is starting to get a lot of attention in the software development community, because it introduces a whole new way of looking at software problem domains. The concept is aspect-oriented programming (AOP).
Driven software development using Object Oriented Programming as the backbone, but software developers and architects are still having a hard time delivering a well-designed, modular and maintainable application and most of the applications have to face these problems eventually.
· A software component usually contained not only code to realize a piece of the dominant use case but also pieces of many other use cases. This is generally known as Code Tangling.
· A use case is sometimes realized by code allocated to several interconnected components. This is known as Code Scattering.
Now a new concept of programming is starting to get a lot of attention in the software development community, because it introduces a whole new way of looking at software problem domains. The concept is aspect-oriented programming (AOP).
1.1.1 Aspect Oriented Programming(AOP)
AOP enhances OOP by inheriting its basic concepts; but also adds a few, very important ones at that. The primary concept, the aspect, is a piece of functionality that crosscuts the object hierarchy in a modular fashion. AOP enables developers keeping crosscutting functionality like access control, logging etc. cleanly separated through encapsulation mechanisms.
Aspects are, on the implementation level, constructs used to handle given points of execution in OO code called join points. Access to join points can be defined using pointcuts, which are mechanisms that allow declarative access to join points. So called advice code, which is standard code that has access to AOP implementation capabilities, can be added to the point cut, and be executed in relation to the join point occurrence.Use Case Driven Development provides modularity among the use cases throughout the software development life cycle. An Object Oriented application in its Analysis and Design phase has a well-defined structure, which involves actors and use cases, but in its implementation phase we rarely find one to one mapping of use cases with the software components. This results in a system where the tracking of which software components address which business requirement, becomes more blurred and as a result, makes validation of the final product against its requirements cumbersome and complex. In essence, we lose “Use Case modularity” at the implementation level. Due to the loss in modularity of use cases, future changes in the business requirements that can be easily incorporated in the design of use cases, become tedious and very difficult to implement at the code level.
1.2. Problem
One reason for this problem is the lack of the built-in support of extension relationship in the Object Oriented Programming Languages. But since at the time when this thesis is written no comparison exists which clearly demonstrates what advantages and disadvantages does the Use Case Driven Development approach achieve from Aspect Oriented Programming as compared to Object Oriented Programming. The thesis aims to solve this problem.
One reason for this problem is the lack of the built-in support of extension relationship in the Object Oriented Programming Languages. But since at the time when this thesis is written no comparison exists which clearly demonstrates what advantages and disadvantages does the Use Case Driven Development approach achieve from Aspect Oriented Programming as compared to Object Oriented Programming. The thesis aims to solve this problem.
This thesis aims to investigate a concept
that is starting to get a lot of attention in the software development
community, because it introduces a whole new way of looking at software problem
domains. The concept is aspect-oriented
programming (AOP).
1.3. Questions
So, the question now is how Aspect Oriented Programming complements Use
Case Driven Development as compared to Object Oriented Programming.
1.4 Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the following will hold for the AOP application version compared to the OOP version of the comparison application:
The hypothesis is that the following will hold for the AOP application version compared to the OOP version of the comparison application:
·
The mapping of use cases in
design an implementation phase will be much better in the AOP version.
·
Functionality will be more
modular, and hence more reusable in the AOP version. This means that future
development projects will have a greater chance of reusing code from the AOP
application than from the OOP application.
· The AOP version will be more
complaint with Use Case Driven Development compared to OOP version.
1.5. Purpose
The purpose of the thesis is to explore how Aspect Oriented Programming and Use Case Driven Software Development contribue to the software development process. This research could be useful for the software engineers, researchers and project managers who want to evaluate Aspect Oriented Programming for software development. The focus is on the effect aspect-oriented analysis, design and implementation has on real-world enterprise software development while following the use case driven software driven development approach.
The purpose of the thesis is to explore how Aspect Oriented Programming and Use Case Driven Software Development contribue to the software development process. This research could be useful for the software engineers, researchers and project managers who want to evaluate Aspect Oriented Programming for software development. The focus is on the effect aspect-oriented analysis, design and implementation has on real-world enterprise software development while following the use case driven software driven development approach.
1.6 Goals
The goal of the thesis is to investigate how Aspect Oriented Programming
work in each phase of use case driven software development including
Requriements, Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing and Maintenance. The
thesis should provide the results of how the Aspect Oriented Programming and
Object Oriented Programming contributes to Use Case Driven Software development
in terms of the following:
·
Clean
Mapping of Use Cases in Design and
Implementation
·
Modularity
and Maintaibility
·
Reusability
·
Development
Time
1.7. Method
To achieve the
goal of the thesis, deductive approach will be followed and a test application
will be implemented in two versions, one using strictly typical OOP methods, one using AOP methods and the AOP
enhancement to Java called AspectJ.
The two
resulting application versions will be analyzed to see what advantages and
disadvantages each approach may have during the analysis, design,
implementation, testing and maintenance phase of use case driven software
development.
1.8 Limitations
The test application for this thesis will be a distributed application using Java and AspectJ. AspectJ is an Aspect Oriented extension to Java which was developed by the PARC team at Xerox.
The results of the thesis may vary when the experiement is applied for
other programming languages like C++, other archiectures like client/server or
using other Aspect Oriented Frameworks.
In this document AOP will be described more. The emprical data collected
from the experiment will be discussed. The data collection methods will be
mentioned. Then the data collected in each phase, i.e. Requirements, Analysis,
Design and Implemation will be discussed and analyzed.
In the conclusion section, the results of the experiment will be discussed
and conclusion will be derived in terms of modularity, re-usability and
maintainability of use cases. Then the deficiencies of the experiement shall be
described. Then the potential future work will be discussed for someone who
would like to continue the research in this area.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(sample copy)
Statement of PurposeSohail shah
January 15, 2013
Applying To: Business Administration Department
Business has always interested me as an undergraduate. In business, we study the results of people's actions. Over time, however, I have become more interested in the motivations behind those actions. At this point, I have decided against an academic career in business and have made a commitment to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology.
In developing my honor's thesis, "The Effects of the Political Action Committee Donations on Personal Character and Leadership: A Comparative Study," I was able to yoke business and psychology by exploring the origins of personality as a means of understanding that leader's subsequent administrative methods. While completing my business degree, I have also been preparing for a future in clinical psychology. I have taken undergraduate content courses, including experimental, developmental, abnormal, personality, and social psychology, as well as psychology research courses.
Research work
My research courses, under the direction of Dr. Jim L'levac, have focused on the impact of inter-and intra-personal functioning of adolescents and young adults by identification as children of alcoholics. These courses have allowed me to apply the research techniques and statistical skills that I have developed in both my political science and psychology classes. My duties in this research project have included creating a coding scheme for the data, working with undergraduate assistants to insure the data were coded and corrected in a timely fashion, and writing the SPSS-X programs required for data analysis. I have enjoyed being part of a research team in this exciting area of psychology.
In graduate studies at Duke University, I hope to continue research involving family systems and adolescent adjustment. I am particularly interested in learning about family therapies for borderline and identity-disordered adolescents. I recognize the importance of relying on empirically based therapies with a wide range of populations in conducting research. In reviewing the research interests of your faculty, I believe Dr. Craighead and Dr. Lochman would be particularly helpful, considering their research interests in adolescents and parent training, respectively.
After completing my Ph.D., I would like to teach at a research-oriented university where I can practice clinical techniques, conduct research, and instill in students my enthusiasm for research and the study of clinical psychology. In the long term, I am interested in the possibility of using my understanding of political science to impact public policy in the area of mental health. I envision a career in clinical psychology as a culmination of my varied interests and would appreciate the opportunity to pursue this at Duke University.
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How to Write a Statement of Purpose
If you've decided to apply for graduate studies, almost all universities will require you to write a Statement of Purpose (SoP). This letter, usually 2-3 pages in length, can make or break your application. Regardless of your grade point average, work experience, test scores, or undergraduate mastery of your potential future area of study, your Statement of Purpose is very influential at most institutions when determining your candidacy for admission. Please note that these instructions are more specific to admission into a PhD program.
Steps:1. Start early. Give yourself at least a month to gather the information described below and produce a final version of your Statement of Purpose.
2. Investigate the current research trends of the university to which you are applying. Read faculty publications, current interests, and all the admission requirements (specifically those of
your Statement of Purpose).
3. Talk out the details of your life with a friend or trusted acquaintance. Recall small details, anecdotes from childhood, service you might have given at earlier times, the rich palpable
details of your life. You will recall items you have forgotten or deemed minor, one of which may add energy and meaning to your Statement of Purpose.
4. Think carefully about what you want to research as a graduate student. Note that this may change during the course of your studies, but you will want to enter grad school with a
solid idea of what you want to do and what you can provide to the university.
5. Create a strong opening paragraph of five sentences or less. Briefly explain who you are, where you're from, why you have chosen the particular field to which you're applying, and why
the university is among your first choices. Be specific. Don't tell the faculty how wonderful their university is or that you want to study there because it's the best in the state/nation/world.
The faculty already knows this and you're just wasting their time.
6. Mention faculty members with whom you could conduct research by name along with their areas of expertise. For example, "I am interested in working with Dr. Margaret Jones on
sociolinguistic comparison because..." or "I have seen Dr. Allara's publications on the use of genetic markers in biochemical reactions and would like to investigate..."
7. Tell the university why they should choose you over someone else. Explain what you can contribute to that particular field or specialty. Keep in mind that college faculty will accept you
if they believe you can further their reputation. Plan how you will accomplish that task and include it in your Statement.
8. Fill the rest of your essay with more detailed information about your undergraduate education, work experience, and potential research topics.
9. List all the enclosures you will include in your application and give a very brief description of your portfolio.
10. Thank the admissions committee for their time. Chances are they are reviewing hundreds of applications along with yours.
11. Provide your contact information.
12. Go back and revise, edit, revamp, etc. Have someone else edit it. You'll probably cut out a lot of stuff. Then edit some more. Remember to include everything above while aiming for 2-
3 pages maximum. This is where being very concise and to the point is important. After the letter is perfect, edit some more.
13. Print your letter, sign it, and include it as the first item of your application portfolio (although be aware that some schools will want you to send it electronically).
Tips:
Remember that your first paragraph should be no longer than four or five sentences, but it should give a summary of the entire Statement of Purpose. Many graduate committees will
read your first paragraph to decide if the rest of your application is worth reading as well.
Keep it clear and concise, yet detailed and specific when it comes to faculty and areas of potential research.
Don't tell the admissions committee how amazing you are. Avoid empty phrases like "I'm talented", "I'm very intelligent," "I'm a great writer/engineer/artist" or "I had the highest GPA in my department as an undergrad." Show them through your professional Statement of Purpose and application portfolio and let them decide if you are amazing enough to attend their institution.
Incase You attempt to explain how "amazing/aspects" you are, make sure that you justify it. Yet, you must remain humble. For example: "I believe that I have the confidence in myself to strive
for the furthest goal."
Use short anecdotes to highlight your strengths. After committee members have read a few dozen statements, they all start looking alike; some specific and interesting details can help a candidate to stick out. Of course, it helps if these anecdotes are related to the broad point you're making in your statement.
Focus on your previous and future research experiences. Many students make the mistake of summarizing their CVs. Committees that bother to read your application know already that you're a good student; they now want to see whether you'll make the transition to a more unstructured and self-directed form of learning in graduate school. They look for evidence of this by seeing how you describe your past research experiences and your future
plans. The key is not particularly the topic you propose--the committee will expect this to change after you get some more experience. Instead, they will look to see whether you have a
realistic and well-informed sense of what a graduate student would expect to do in a degree.
Remember that a Statement of Purpose is only one, albeit extremely important, part of your graduate school admission portfolio. Carefully examine all the requirements on the
university's admissions webpage before you submit an application.
Apply to as many schools as you can afford to pay their application fees. Four distinct Statements of Purposes for four different universities should be your minimum.
Warnings:
Avoid sending the exact same Statement of Purpose to all the universities to which you're applying. The admissions committee will easily spot a cookie-cutter essay and more than likely reject you. Admissions committees also notice whether or not you include specific references to people, labs, etc., within their departments.
Don't be overly specific about your research goals if you are actually somewhat flexible. If there are no faculty in a particular department working in your described area who are taking
students in a given year, you might be rejected even though you are considered "above bar".
At the same time, there's no point pretending to be interested in a broader range of topics than you are.
Don't be too technical, i.e., using words or jargon-style expressions that are unfamiliar to you. If you use them incorrectly, chances are you'll end up sounding like some thing over or exaggerated.
Don't use superfluous descriptions or poetic phrases unless you're applying to study arts like creative writing.
Be prepared for rejection. Graduate school is a competitive world and even the best undergrad students get rejected from somewhere.
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What Makes a Good Statement of Purpose for Graduate School?
The statement of purpose is a critical part of the application process for graduate school. Three experienced admissions officials from Harvard, NYU, and Yale offer their thoughts and wisdom on writing a great statement of purpose.
Career Center (CC): How important is the statement of purpose in the overall application process?
David P. Giovanella (DG), New York University, Graduate School of Arts & Science, Graduate Enrollment Services - The statement of purpose is one of the most important parts, if not the most important part, of the application.
Gregg Glover (GG), Associate Director of Admissions, Harvard Graduate School of Education - For our process at HGSE, it is very important. We often announce that it's the most important single item in an applicant's application.
The essay can make or break a person's chances for admission, which is probably true at most schools. We are not test score driven in our process, so the statement takes on much more weight. Remember, the statement is the only part of the process that you have complete control over: you cannot change your GPA, or create the content of your letters of reference, but you can determine the finished product of your statement.
Dr. Liza Cariaga-Lo (LCL), Assistant Dean, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences - The personal statement is very important, as it is often (in cases where there is no interview requirement) the only opportunity for the student to share information about themselves that they think is relevant to their pursuit of graduate study.
Career Center (CC): How should an applicant deal with discrepancies in their record (grades, test scores, etc.)? (DG): Applicants should either include this in the personal statement or add an amendment paragraph briefly describing the situation. (GG), The statement of purpose can be a useful place to discuss discrepancies in your record if no other appropriate place in the application exists to do so. For example, one can explain further why a GPA declined one year due to a severe personal hardship. While some applications provide a separate space for such explanations, the statement provides the opportunity to elaborate on specific situations if they are relevant.
Try not to leave any doubts or questions in the minds of the admissions committee. Admissions committees are, at some level, trying to determine if the applicant will succeed, and hopefully thrive, in their program, and the statement can allow you the chance to present your case most accurately and fairly. But do not dwell on discrepancies, either.
(LCL), Assistant Dean, Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences: You should mention any discrepancies in your academic record briefly (1-3 sentences) and perhaps provide an explanation of the circumstances as to why this happened and how you have addressed these issues. You may wish to ask one of your recommenders to briefly provide some explanation as to why there
are issues in your record.
CC: What are you looking for in the statement of purpose?
DG - NYU: It should be typed. The applicant should outline their goals and aspirations. Present information chronologically, and show your writing skills and style.
GG - Harvard: The statement of purpose should demonstrate excellence in writing and clarity of thinking. It functions as a writing sample, often the only one you submit. Make it as solid a piece of writing as possible. It can also function as your interview if none is required. It is a chance to introduce yourself and describe who you are, what your background is, and what is important to you.
Perhaps more importantly, the statement is an opportunity for an applicant to describe his or her purpose in pursuing graduate study. Why this school, and/or this specific program? What are your reasons for graduate study? What is your plan in pursuing this degree? In the statement we look to see how well the candidate knows the school and justifies their reasons for studying there.
Another way to think about it is to consider "focus and fit": are your interests in graduate study focused, and is there a good fit with your interests and theparticular program or school? This requires carefully researching the school or program to which you are applying. Read about the program's emphasis, thenature of the required courses, the work or research of its faculty. The more you know about the program to which you are applying, the better. You will sound more knowledgeable and more convincing in your essay.
Admissions committees at our school are trying to determine what the school or specific program can offer to the applicant, and what the applicant can potentially offer in return. It's a two way street: do we have what the applicant wants and needs? If admitted , how will this person contribute to our community? The essay allows you to express this.We also look for an applicant's commitment to the field of education, and the statement of purpose is an excellent place for an applicant to describe what fuels that commitment and where the source of his or her passions lie.
For essays to research-based doctoral programs, it's important to remember the following issues: Have you clearly articulated your potential research interests?
Have you determined if the particular department, or specific faculty members in it, can support your research? We prefer that our doctoral applicants identify potential faculty with whom they might work to produce the dissertation. This requires you to carefully research the scholarly interests of the faculty and to
clearly think through your own research ideas. You do not have to identify your specific dissertation questions, but it is important to focus your interests and argue that you will be well supported.
LCL - Yale: The goal of the statement of purpose is to provide (concisely, thoughtfully and in a well-organized, easy to read format) information about the student's path to pursuing graduate study in this particular field. The statement should cover the following areas: (1) his/her motivation for applying to graduate school, (2) relevant experiences and academic coursework that have prepared him/her for graduate study in the field, (3) characteristics and strengths that make him/her particularly well-suited to graduate study in the discipline and within the graduate program he/she is applying to, (4) academic plan for graduate study, (5) future career objectives, and (6) extenuating circumstances that may have resulted in less than ideal academic credentials for graduate school.
CC: What would you consider red flags?
DG - NYU: It's a red flag when the statement is not typed, not well thought out, or an edited statement designed for another school.
GG - Harvard: Poor grammar and usage in an essay certainly signal a red flag to admissions committees, as does an inappropriate fit with program. It's not a good sign if the applicant demonstrates little knowledge of program or school, or worse, names another school in the essay by mistake! Presentation matters:
have others read the essay for grammar and ideas.
Similarly, if an applicant demonstrates a lack of relevant experience, sounds naïve, inexperienced, or unfocused and unprepared for graduate study in an essay, it can hinder his or her application. For doctoral essays, poor articulation of research interests can also hurt an applicant's chances.
LCL - Yale: Too much personal information that is not directly relevant to why you want to pursue graduate study in a discipline area (e.g., lengthy stories about your childhood), unexplained gaps in a student's educational pathway, and demonstrated lack of understanding about a particular field or the program/institution you are applying to (e.g., making naive or erroneous remarks regarding research) are all red flags.
CC: Are there any special topics that should be covered in the statement of purpose?
DG: Applicants should discuss educational objectives, career plans, how their past experience contributed to future goals, why the particular program interested them, and how they will relate to the program. The applicant should show that she/he has researched the program.
LCL: You should definitely discuss your specific research interests in the program you are applying to and how your interests match with the interests of faculty and or resources that the particular program has to offer. You should include a brief discussion of relevant research experiences which have allowed
you to clarify your educational and career objectives in the field, as well as your understanding of the current relevant research literature in your field. Also, clearly explain your career objectives and what you hope to accomplish once you receive a PhD. These objectives should be realistic and well-informed, not idealistic and vague.
CC: What should you not include in the statement?
DG: The applicant should not repeat him or herself, be grandiose, or be too long.
GG: It is not wise to include irrelevant or excessive personal information, or to try to be overly humorous. Also, the essay should always keep to the required length.
LCL: If you are applying to PhD programs, you should not spend a lot of time describing your extracurricular and/or volunteer activities unless it is directly relevant to the PhD program of study you are applying to. PhD admissions committees are interested in whether or not you have the ability to become an outstanding scholar in the field and whether or not you are a good fit with the academic environment and resources offered within their program.
CC: How personal should you get?
DG: This is up to the individual applicant.
GG: It's acceptable to offer insights to an admissions committee about who you are and what is important to you, or what is driving your desire for graduate study. At our school, the reasons for pursuing programs in education can often be personal ones, derived from an applicant's personal or professional experiences. It is fine to describe these, and sometimes powerful to do so. An applicant may benefit by describing one's "passion," but only in a context that is
relevant to the proposed graduate study.
One shouldn't, however, get too personal or offer too much biography in the statement. For example, four pages of biography in a five-page essay are too much! Do not include a laundry list of activities or repeat one's resume. Include the resume instead, and highlight an important experience or two. I would only
include personal information that is 1) relevant and 2) compelling and important to one's desire for graduate study. Personal information should not outweigh a discussion of an applicant's plan or reasons for graduate study in an essay.
Remember, writing essays for graduate applications is about making choices --what to include, what to highlight, what to elaborate upon.
LCL: Do not spend a lot of time talking about your personal life story; and mention it only briefly if it's relevant to your motivation for graduate study.
* Article Adopted from UoCalifornia, Berkley, career Website.
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Tips on Writing Statement of Purpose and Personal Statement Essays:
Personal statements and statements of purpose are perhaps the most important parts of applications. There is little you can do to change your GPA or your curriculum vitae (the academic version of a resume), but these statements can be written in many different ways, emphasizing different aspects of your interests, goals, personality, and style. To present the unique qualities that make you the candidate that a committee wants to select, and a good statement of purpose can also affect those professors who will write letters of recommendation for you. Consequently, you need to pay particular attention to their composition.
Admissions and approval committees have been known to accept candidates with uneven academic records or reject otherwise excellent candidates on the basis of these statements.
Essays for law school and medical school applications have their own unique characteristics.
While many of the tips outlined here are useful for these essays, the demands of graduate school and fellowship essays are different. Law school and medical school essays are closer to the type of essay you wrote for undergraduate admissions. Admissions committees are usually not that interested in how much you know about law or medicine, since they don’t expect you to know very much, and research, while important to write about, is not as crucial as for graduate programs. For law, you are expected to demonstrate that you can reason and write, and that you have some kind of intellectual capacity and drive and a sense of human connections, and that you are motivated to become a lawyer. For medicine, you are expected to recount any experience with medicine (such as shadowing doctors), that you have compassion, in addition to demonstrating that you can reason and write. Again, the tips here are primarily directed at graduate school and fellowship essays, and if you are interested in these professional schools you can extrapolate from these suggestions – and consult with the appropriate staff at UAP.
Read the description of the essay carefully, and make sure that you answer the question in the way that it is worded. Pay attention to the word length indicated in the instruction and do not exceed it. These essays are usually very short, and you need to be concise and strategic about which interests or goals you decide to highlight. Do not try to “fudge” the prompt: Answer the question as stated (although most will simply say something like “Write a short statement of purpose”).
Some fellowship applications may require a personal statement that addresses concerns of the fellowship. For example, the Udall asks for an essay responding to Sen. Udall's speeches and writings concerning the environment, the Soros seeks a personal account of what it means to be a New American and how the Constitution and Bill of Rights affect your life, and the Truman asks a series of interlocking questions. Such essays call upon all your critical capacities to present an analysis, opinion or personal reflection, and they are similar to other essays you have written in college.
Statements of purpose are required of all fellowship and graduate school applications. These essays require you to describe clearly your interests, your proposed intellectual projects leading towards major research or dissertation, as well as your plans for the future. They are the committee's introduction to you as a scholar and potential colleague.
A statement of purpose or interest is very different than the personal essay you wrote for undergraduate applications. It is NOT a general biographical sketch, nor is it primarily a personal reflection upon your decisions to enter a field, nor does it focus on your extracurricular activities (unless those activities pertain to your scholarly interests). You will not be asked something like “View a photograph and describe it.” Being a scholar, researcher or teacher will demand your best communication skills, so your essay should reassure the committee that you can communicate effectively and with a deep understanding of your field. You should write in a personable manner but this is somewhat different than writing a personal essay for undergraduate admissions.
Keep in mind that you are writing to a particular audience, usually of faculty in your field (unlike your undergraduate admissions essay, which was directed to a general admissions committee). In other words, if you are applying for a chemistry PhD program, you will be addressing fellow chemists, for history, fellow historians, etc. If you are applying to an interdisciplinary program (e.g., History of Consciousness at Santa Cruz), your audience is a diverse group of scholars (literature, history, philosophy, etc.) all united by a similar concern. If you are applying to a fellowship, your audience is liable to be more general or interdisciplinary.
Be prepared to produce many drafts. These essays are among the most difficult pieces of writing you may do related to graduate school (other than your dissertation and your first job letter) because you must make so many strategic decisions on how to present yourself in such a short amount of space. Allow yourself a lot of time for drafts, and do not get frustrated because of the many times you will need to rewrite. Making multiple revisions is an inevitable part of the process.
Show your drafts to faculty members, particularly those writing letters of recommendation, fellow students, and others. Accept criticisms with as little defensiveness as possible. On occasion you will get conflicting opinions on the presentation of your ideas and you will have to decide which direction to take. If you have a leading faculty mentor, you may defer to his or her opinion over others.
The “trick” of this essay is to transform supplication into conversation, to change begging into exchange. Readers want to get a feeling of your intellect, and in a successful essay they will want to continue the discussion you’ve initiated, which they can only do if they admit you into their program. They will want you to be a part of their community of scholars because you have something to offer. They ask: “Would I be interested in talking to this student about her research over lunch?”
Concentrate on demonstrating what you know about your field and what you hope to accomplish in graduate school and even beyond. Is there a particular area of the field that you find interesting? What do you hope to contribute to the field? Avoid digressions.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the field by making appropriate references to leading scholars, major writers, and current debates or concerns, employing appropriate technical terminology. Avoid jargon that you believe is fashionable in order to appear flashy: most committees can tell superficial use of buzz words. You usually do not need to explain concepts in depth, since admission committees are usually already familiar with the field (although brief explanations for a more general reader may be necessary for fellowship applications). If you do write about an aspect of the field that may be somewhat unusual or controversial, your ability to briefly explain technical or theoretical aspects is a crucial component of how your essay is judged. You are not simply offering a summary of a field, so your ability to present your own arguments demonstrates how creatively you engage the entire field.
Make concrete references to the program you are applying to and to the faculty you would like to study with. However, make sure these references are sufficiently broad so that you do not sound as if you want to study with just one person or have an excessively narrow interest in the field. You may not realize it, but that one person you want to study with may be on sabbatical for two years. Very often, the question is not whether or not you are capable, but
whether or not you are a good “fit.” So, don’t make your interest with the program so narrow as to allow any excuse for an awkward fit. Investigate the program – review their web site, talk to graduate students, visit in person, if you can – to discover its focus, how graduate students are involved in research, its “politics” vis-à-vis the field.
Do not inadvertently position yourself on one or other side of a controversy within the department or field. Often, the discussion of the particular program is at the very end of the essay (which allows you to simply place the appropriate paragraph for each school). This is a regular convention of this genre, everyone expects it, and you do not need to worry because you too write your essay this way. However, you can write it differently: references to a particular program can be woven into the body of the text, as well. This is far more difficult – and requires an original essay for each school – but it can be very effective.
While you should discuss the particular area of your field from which you may develop a dissertation topic, do not present an overly detailed proposal of your anticipated dissertation.
Most young scholars do not have their dissertation topics determined yet, and admission committees anticipate that. Many committees will regard a detailed description of a dissertation topic with suspicion, even deciding that a young scholar who has so determined his or her topic without advanced work is not open-minded enough to other influences in the field. One of the pleasures faculty have is in molding their graduate students. If you seem to have a closed mind, they may find this unappealing. However, if you do have areas of interest, you should explain them – just refrain from writing a detailed proposal.
You are fashioning a “fictional” version of yourself. While your account is always based on truth, you have a great deal of freedom in constructing the image of who you are. You decide what goes in and what does not, and in what order. The notion that you are writing fiction can allow you some distance; the idea that this is “fiction” can free you up to be more creative and less uncomfortable that you are “baring your soul.” However you construct yourself, never lie. Not only is lying wrong, but lies are usually easily detected and self-defeating.
Construct coherence. No matter how different your intellectual or other relevant experiences may be, seek out some way to bring everything together as a coherent whole. This is tricky and difficult – but everything can be described as part of one sort of process or development or another; there are always underlying connections. Trying to determine these questions is an excellent topic for brainstorming with other people who can see you more clearly because they have more distance. Techniques for writing drafts. There are many ways to open your essay, many choices on the order in which to present your involvement in the field, many different aspects of your academic career to highlight. However, many people get hung up on producing an exciting opening.
In your initial drafting process, experiment with presenting yourself and highlighting your interests in many different ways before settling on which approach is most compelling.
One technique is to write separate, independent paragraphs or groups of sentences describing different aspects of your work (such as your research projects) or experiences without worrying about how they connect or flow. At least in this way you can begin to articulate the important elements of your essay and you have material to work with. You can experiment by avoiding any opening and writing the body of your essay; or you can experiment with trying to write one short paragraph that concisely says everything. Be playful in your experiments before you settle on one approach.
Openings. Openings tend to get people hung up. Everyone wants to make a good, first impression. But, often, once someone sets upon an opening, it tends to shape the rhetorical flow of the rest of the essay, even distorting the essay. One suggestion is NOT to have an opening but simply to start – avoid the high-stake gambit altogether. An opening that uses an anecdote about your interest in the field is very popular. It can be very effective, and it’s a common way that people can express their interests. But it’s so popular that it may come across as trite, unless it is a very powerful, appropriate anecdote, and it must be short. (Often, people need to write an anecdote in order to get themselves going, and when the anecdote is done, take a look at what happens next: that may, in fact, be your opening.) Opening with a personal narrative (e.g., how I became passionate about this subject) can be effective, but, again, this approach is very popular and even overdone (“When I was six I was hit on the head at the playground, and ever since then I’ve wanted to be a neuroscientist”). If you do use personal narrative, make it very brief and to the point. Don’t spend half your essay relating a story.
Another popular approach is to present a chronology of your development. While a chronological account may be tempting – and may be necessary for you to do at an early stage of writing – it is a fairly low-level rhetorical mode.
Another possibility is to open with at the most sophisticated level of your development, such as the advanced research or honors thesis you are currently completing, and then describe how you got to that point in the field. Often, an analysis of some aspect of your research interest or of your own development can provide you with a way to discuss your overall development.
Present your interests according to an underlying theme, framing idea or argument that then draws from the history of your involvement to illustrate your idea. No matter how different your activities may be, you can draw a coherent picture of your development. At first you may not think that climbing Mount Everest connects readily to a doctorate in mechanical engineering or medieval studies – but if presented the right way, it could. Don’t reject any experience out of hand. And don’t leave out things which you think are obvious. For example, your honors thesis or research may show up on your c/v, but you give the meaning or “spin” to that reality in your essay.
Do not present a complete list of courses in the field you have taken or an undifferentiated, comprehensive description of your interest. You will need to make strategic decisions on how you present your interest, deciding what is primary, secondary, etc., and making such decisions may be difficult, even painful. You will have a transcript in your application, so you don’t need lists that don’t “spin” explanations.
Address any anomalies in your transcript. If you have any lapses, unusual low grades, withdrawals or anything else that seems strange, explain them in as non-defensive a way as possible. For example, the fact that the first two years of college you were a mediocre student until you discovered your intellectual passion or you withdrew from classes one quarter because of illness or family problems. If you spent time in jail or joined a guerrilla army, you need to figure out how to explain your history. In many respects, you do not need to explain everything and some things may be none of an admissions committee’s business but you do need to say
something. If you do not explain the situation, your readers will invent explanations for themselves – and their fantasies will probably be far worse than the reality.
Avoid excessive, unreasonable enthusiasm. Extreme effusion backfires. For example, statements such as "I love 19th century British literature so much that I feel that I live in the 19th century" or "I AM Nietzsche" or “I live and breathe sea urchins” suggest possible psychosis, not reasonable enthusiasm. For the most part, exclamation points should be avoided.
Check your writing style for unconscious attempts at forced sincerity or authenticity. This is a form of “begging” and it’s tough to spot, since you often don’t see if for yourself. For example, check to see if your adjectives are excessive (“I took an amazing/astounding/awesome class”).
Often, no adjective is fine or a more restrained one has a better effect. Review “triples” or “doubles” to see if they are indeed necessary and reveal important information. For example, if the flow of rhetoric has you saying “I am dedicated, hard working, and committed,” you should note that dedicated and committed are almost identical and the repetition has the effect of undermining your sincerity. The reader gets a subliminal message flashing of “Baloney!” Don’t follow rhetorical flow; follow the logic of your underlying coherence.
Be conscious of inflammatory or biased language. You may hold strong opinions about the field or be motivated by particular causes. Do not mask your opinions, but be aware of presenting yourself in a tactful, judicious fashion. You can express various views in such a way as to present yourself as having an opinion yet remaining open-minded. You want to avoid coming across as an extremist or as a crank that cannot enter a dialogue with others.
No jokes. Humor and sarcasm depend upon a shared field of reference and you have no idea if you and your readers have such a mutual understanding. Most of the time, self-deprecating humor comes across as simply deprecating yourself, and sarcasm can easily be misunderstood.
One student who spent ten years working as a writer for situation comedies refrained from using humor: if she refrained – and she knows the business – you can too. This doesn’t mean that you should be leaden or dull, but avoid jokes or smirks or a wise-guy tone.
Do not write what you think the committee wants to read. Be yourself. Often, applicants believe they should write according to some image of proper "academic" seriousness or style.
Your personal style and passion should shine through the essay. Although this is a formal essay and you should avoid slang or overly casual constructions, its tone should be engaging, even personable (though not personal).
Proof read the essay. While this is not a grammar test, excessive typos and other mechanical errors indicate poor work habits and do not make a good impression. Most admissions committees allow one typo (such as “to” for “too”), but when the typos start adding up you’re sending a bad message.
After all this advice and warning, keep in mind that this is actually an exciting process.
Perhaps for the first time in years you are attempting to present a coherent intellectual portrait of yourself. In the process you may actually gain a clearer vision of your interests and goals – and feel even more confident that graduate study is the direction you want to go.
Leave out aspects of themselves that they think are obvious or not important when in fact they are very valuable.
(Adapted from original text by Hilton Obenzinger)
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