Statement of purpose

1. Lecture 6

2. Statement of purpose

Strategies

3. Write stories

“I used to work in a multinational software company in the
development team, and I had to do the same job every day: code
stuff. There was nothing new for me to learn at work, and there was
nothing very exciting about going to the office. One day I decided
that I had to get out of there, so I applied to college to study higher
courses and get a better job.”

4.

“Late in the night on Monday, I had found
myself in the middle of a deserted office, and
fifteen thousand lines of code. Full of caffeine in
my bloodstream, and an empty life beyond the
office, I realized that the computers started
coding my brain, and controlling my life. No
longer wanting to let the machines feed on me,
I decided that college would be my salvation.”

5. Quantify Your Stories

“During my engineering days, I helped a local NGO by
joining as a math tutor, where I taught basic math concepts
to school children.”

6.

“During my second year of engineering, I joined ‘Teach Math’, a local
NGO, where I was a part of the Math tutoring team. For a period of
10 months, I taught basic math like algebra, geometry, and
arithmetic to more than thirty 5th and 6th grade students. And
every single student I taught to, secured an A in math that year. I’ve
never been prouder in my life.”

7. Be Specific

“I chose this degree because I love this field”
“I want to change the world”
“I want to find my inner self”

8. Be Specific why? skills/experience

9. Customize Your Essay

target
university
do research
culture
don`t waste
time

10. Use a Formal But Conversational Tone

• avoid using casual language
• occasional humor is okay
• don`t try to sound too smart
• slightly formal language
• a tinge of fun and uniqueness

11. And Learn How to Portray Indirectly

• convey attitude, personality, character
• maintain a good rapport
• speak volumes
• demonstrate knowledge of the field
• use related jargon
• be yourself
• address your problems

12. Some technical considerations in writing your statement

13. Brevity

make effective
use of a single
full page
avoid fluffy
verbosity
limit discussions
of the
commonplace

14. Clarity

express ideas
effectively
immediately
readily
consistently

15. Spelling

just get this write…
Spelling

16. Extra

use transition
words, sentences
and paragraphs
skip a line after each
paragraph
refrain from starting
neighboring paragraphs
the same way

17.

1. Reflect on your intellectual development.
• what and when were the major moments in your life
• current research interest(s) and
school/department/program?
2. Why did you choose your research
topic(s)/field/school?
3. Why did you choose your undergraduate major?
4. What are your career goals?
• • What do you hope to accomplish?
• • What drives you? What motivates you?

18.

19. Best - Board of European Students of Technology 95 countries 7-14 days 20-25 students certificate BEST.eu.org best-spbstu.ru

20. International programs

• Academic reference
• Proof of English proficiency
• Application form
• International passport + copy
• Photo 3x4
International programs

21. Erasmus+ (15 feb- 15 sep)

TRANSPORTATION
+ TRANSFER 180 1100 EUR
MONTHLY
SCHOLARSHIP 800
EUR/MTH
4.5
В2 – UPPER
INTERMEDIATE

22. 5 - 100 - 2020 funding

• Basic requirements
• Financial support determined by a committee
• QS World University Rankings
• CWTS Leiden Rankings
• Times Higher Education World University Rankings

23. GLOBAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

• Russian federation government-sponsored funding program
• Costs covered:
- tuition fees and living expenses
- Total: 2,76 mln. Russian rubles per year
• Upon completions participants have to get employment in Russia
from the approved list of organizations for a period of 3 years

24. English, average score, research articles, time of application, admission

25.

• Exchange programs
• Double diploma
• Research programs