Writing a brilliant statement of purpose for AI/ML-focused grad programs takes more than a sophisticated essay structure. It requires conveying an explicit direction in your career goals. You can’t simply say: “Hey, I majored in Computer Science and I made great grades and I want to become an ML …
Graduate School Applications
Word Cutting: 7 Editing Tricks for Your SOP Word Limit
I’ve never met an essay I couldn’t cut by 10%. This happens without fail. When an applicant freaks out and says, “I’ve looked 100 times but can’t find a way to cut 5 more words!” …I can usually cut 50. It’s a turbo-nerd skill, one all experienced line-editors share, like Max Perkins, who cut 90,000 …
How to Dominate your SOP’s Why This Program Section
When it comes to the graduate statement of purpose, most applicants face a difficult problem: articulating why a particular university is the right place for them. Astonishingly, many students don’t attempt this at all. They just list their credentials, hope for the best, and cry into their boba …
How to Show Fit in Your SOP
Recently, a noble PhD applicant asked me a brilliant question on Reddit about how to show fit in your SOP. It’s a tricky topic, one everybody struggles with, and it causes a lot of anxiety. Yet, the idea of “fit” isn’t a problem that only PhD students face. The most successful master’s applicants …
The #1 Most Important Sentence in Your Grad School SOP
Does your statement of purpose show any “purpose”? Does it specifically declare your goals for grad school? For your career afterward? If I read your grad school SOP today, will I know exactly what you intend to accomplish in the next few years? Will I know exactly who the heck you are and how you …
How to Write Your MFA Statement of Purpose: A Success Story
Though they may not realize it, Fine Arts students are cursed. (Believe me, I know, I was one.) Not only are they more stubborn than engineers, but often they suffer the misfortune of being shackled to creative self-expression. Of course, unbounded creativity is a necessary and glorious aspect of …
Grad School Rock Stars and Automatic Rejects: Which type are you?
Did you know that two thirds of all grad applicants have zero chance at admission? True story. It’s a sad state of affairs, but it’s not the universities’ fault. It’s the fault of the teeming hordes of students who send inappropriate applications each year. In every applicant pool there are grad …
How to Write Your Computer Science Statement of Purpose
Do you find it difficult to “sell yourself”? Most CS students do, at least in my experience. It’s a funny quirk. When you ask what they want to study in the future, too many respond with “Artificial Intelligence” or “Machine Learning”…and then they say no more. Very few respond with specific ideas …
The 6 Most Common SOP Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Have you ever wondered why every graduate program, in every academic field, makes you write an application essay? Biology, Engineering, Medicine, Art - they all want to see how you write, even if you’ll NEVER write anything in your eventual career. Why? Because poor writing is a sign of poor …
How to Email Professors (and What to Say in Interviews)
Most PhD applicants know they need to contact professors long before they submit their applications. It’s not exactly a bad idea for master’s applicants either - at least those applying to research- or thesis-based master’s programs with structured lab rotations. In either case, it’s …