Dear XX,
For the past three years, my undergraduate education has exposed me to thevarious sub-fields of Computer Science (CS). However, our syllabus has focusedmainly on "traditional" CS topics, such as Operating systems and single-CPUsystems. We have had barely a glimpse of the newer technologies that are likelyto change the way computing is done in not-so-distant future. The desire toexamine such subjects in greater detail is what has prompted me to opt forgraduate study.
Most of my interests are in the fields related to information systems andsharing of computing power and resources. I am interested in Database managementsystems. We have had a course on this topic in our undergraduate program and Iwould like to explore it greater detail. Another subject that I would like tostudy further is that of Distributed Operating systems, a topic which we studiedbriefly under the course on Operating systems. Networking is the third field Iconsider interesting enough to study in greater depth. We have not yet had acourse on this subject but I have a fair amount of knowledge through independentreading.
I have tried, throughout my undergraduate career, not to restrict myactivities to those imposed by the syllabus. I have been a member of theorganizing team of my college’s annual intercollegiate technical festival. Ihave participated in an Internet Workshop conducted by Indian Institute ofTechnology, Mumbai, whose aim was to explain the underlying concepts used in theNet such as routing, domain naming, protocols & also to give an overview ofInternet related languages such as HTML, VRML, java script and Java. I have alsoattended a seminar on E-commerce organized by Verifone India Ltd, an Indiansubsidiary of Hewlett-Packard. These seminars have given me " extra" informationwhich was not possible through the undergraduate program.
In addition, I have participated in Software Developing Competition where Ihad developed ‘Graphical Sorting Tutor’ in C along with my co-developers. Thisproject sought to demonstrate and explain the various sorting techniquesgraphically. I am also developing an Intranet e-mail Client and Server in Javaas my final year project. This will be developed using SMTP & POP3 protocolswith minimal MIME conformance. These projects have exposed me to the industrystandards in software development along with the invaluable experience I gainedfrom them.
The fact that more than five of the faculty of your department are workingon subjects that I would like to pursue further, especially information systems,parallel computing, and distributed systems, and that your department isnationally ranked has in large part determined my decision to apply to youruniversity. I also believe that I possess the capacity for hard work & themotivation required to perform well in an undergraduate program as competitiveas yours. Since my economic resources permit me to partially fund myself for theduration of graduate course, I request you to consider me for any form offinancial aid such as teaching and research assistantships.
In conclusion, it is my belief that a higher degree in CS from an esteemeduniversity like yours will prepare me for the challenges of the rapidly evolvingcomputer industry.
Yours sincerely,
XX