Things To mention In SOP for Data Science

1. A good reason to choose data science as a subject.
2. The reason for choosing this particular university and its region.
3. Academic Performance
4. Speak about your life experience as a student or an employee.
5. If you’re still experienced, list the other skills and expertise that you want to learn.
6. Write about your plans for the future.
7. What the course will help you reach your potential goals.

It would not be incorrect to conclude that the current age is dominated by data—both raw and actionable, with our travel schedules, educational programs, and shopping patterns manipulated by this incredibly influential agency. For any online and offline operation producing humongous volumes of informative data, it is necessary for practitioners to formulate highly tailored strategies for assimilation, interpretation, analysis and amalgamating the insights. Masters in Data Science is therefore the perfect coursework that will allow me to make strides in this incredible niche area in addition to deploying engineering, computation, mathematics and business principles to improve practical problem-solving skills. With a Master’s degree in Data Science, I can enable various industries and sectors, such as healthcare, insurance, management and banking in developing strategies that work. Finally, with internet streaming services such as Netflix using consumer data to build personalized recommendation engines, it is incredibly interesting to discover the field of data science and analytics and other technology to focus on.

While I primarily talked about the target points leading to my course selection, what motivated me the most is my undergrad project selection! The moment I took up and started exploring more about predicting earthquakes with Machine Learning at the helm, I slowly started realizing the true power of data. What piqued my interest further was how the data sets were treated before putting to use, concerning normalization and outlier removal. I started learning that every moment can be predicted, provided the available data sets are procured, improved upon, and used for deriving visuals and insights. Not just that, another motivator was the Kaggle website which did clear out my concepts regarding Data Science as a domain.

During my undergrad degree program, specifically in terms of domain selection, subjects relevant to my Master’s program, and the major motivators behind the same. To begin with, I started with a Bachelor’s in Engineering with Computer Science as my domain of expertise. During the coursework, I invested a lot of time in subjects like Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Software Testing, Database Systems, Object-Oriented System Development, Data Warehousing, Artificial Intelligence, Information Security, Digital Image Processing, and more. In addition to that, I also indulged myself quite actively towards learning more about Python, Java, Social media analytics, Cloud Computing, and Big Data Analytics. My inclination towards IT as the preferred domain of study comes from the fact that computing technologies have always intrigued me. Since my formative years, I have been highly positive about the application of these ideas in the tech industry. Therefore, when I actually had the chance to uncover the applications and mysteries of this field, I welcomed Information Technology with open arms and open minds.

It would be wrong to put every undergrad topic at par when I was slightly more inclined towards subjects like Big Data Analytics, Web Programming, Programming Languages, Data Structures, Data Mining and Warehousing, and Design and Analysis of Algorithms. Not just the theoretical aspect of these subjects, I even took a keen interest in the practical applications of the same during the lab courses. The willingness to study and learn more about the unexplained helped me qualify as one of the top class performers.

My undergrad thesis was therefore focused on the most relevant project I took up during my coursework i.e. Earthquake Prediction using Machine Learning. This project primarily targeted earthquake predictions where the concerned individual was required to input the available data and incidences for the existing algorithms to work. While insights could still be procured, the project did involve data cleansing techniques for improving the accuracy of inferences and deductions. The results were followed by a detailed prediction graph. In terms of internship and industrial visiting experiences, my short yet rewarding stint at the [Company] deserves a special mention. The three-month-long internship program helped me understand more about Full-stack web development while making way for deeper insights in regard to Node JS, Angular JS, MongoDB, Express JS, and other involved technologies. Apart from that, I also gained a lot of relevant experience by mentoring freshers at the workplace.

Now, as I discussed job placement, it would be unfair not to write about my work experience. For a year or so, I have been affiliated with Accenture in Hyderabad, a business that focuses solely on Brunei Australia, thereby designing solutions for the company concerned. During my time off work, I’ve heard a lot about personalized professional growth specifications, automated testing, R Programming, Python, and Agile Methodologies. My affiliation with this product-centric business has made it possible for me to learn more about the existing solutions and their application with respect to the possibilities for self-checking in the travel, finance and retail market. In brief, my career experience has been immensely satisfying and I have also had the ability to connect with professionals of diverse educational and cultural backgrounds.

I realized that pursuing a Masters in Data Science would come forth with a lot of rewarding opportunities especially when the career goals and industry-specific implementations are concerned. As every sector requires data visualization to draw actionable insights and increase existing revenues, Data Science comes across as a highly relevant domain of study. For me, however, a Master’s Degree in Data Science would help me realize the short-term goal of proper resource utilization pertaining to a specific industry. The long-term goal of working alongside a company of repute is also possible to achieve if I can fulfil the responsibilities and rigours of this international Data Science curriculum.

Besides academics, I would also like to write about my extracurricular indulgence, where I won awards at singing and story writing competitions. The leadership factor, however, needs to be addressed in-depth as I was elected vice president of the social wing during my undergraduate program. These skills, though, have been brought along as I have effectively lead a three-member Hackathon. I was also an integral member of the CSR business, which focused mainly on educating underprivileged children from various walks of life. In addition, I was also elected as acting President of the CSR concerning blood donation, plantation drives and the Swachh Bharat (Keep India Tidy & Clean) Movement.

From my goals perspective, right up till now, I have gathered many skills technically and professionally. And I think MS, Data Science at New york University is the right choice to harness my skill set. The curriculum and research facility at your university will empower me to train with machine learning algorithms and use them with data mining to develop real-time applications. Another thing that caught my attention was the research that is being conducted here. The research done by the [Lab]  led by [Professor] is exceptional and aligns with the research I undertook during my undergrad. I am particularly interested in the work done by [Professor] on [Topic]. And if I get an opportunity to work under his guidance, I am sure that I will contribute and learn a lot from his research works which will help me to become a proficient Data Scientist.  

Note: The sample is for reference only, and students do not copy the letter to fill it in with their data. It does not express the specific facets of your profile and therefore reduces the chances of approval. Click here to see what happens if the content is copied