Statement of Purpose for Physics Masters Degree Application

[Foracle]

This is only me guessing, but maybe the institution's faculties's research interests do not impress you, or you just have difficulty in naturally appreciating the set of research interests. So your school department DOES conduct research but you find that particular set of research interests, dull.

Yes, they do research and I find that their research topic is uninteresting. By the way, I forgot to mention that the research I listed were conducted in 2015-2017, I can’t find any research more recent than that on the web. My point is research opportunity is very rare.

Anyway, is it necessary to talk about field of interest for masters degree application? Don‘t students choose their field of interest mid-way through their degree anyway?

 

[Choppy]

Anyway, is it necessary to talk about field of interest for masters degree application? Don‘t students choose their field of interest mid-way through their degree anyway?

While in most cases you won't be held strictly to what you say in your application, in my experience departments do factor in student desires and intentions.

For example, if a department has four professors who are willing an able to take on new students in its condensed matter group, but no one in its astrophysics group can take on a student that year, those students who indicate a preference to work in the condensed matter group are likely to be favored in the admissions process.

And there's also a question of establishing purpose in such a letter. Which application looks better? One from a student who has rigorously investigated the program, spoken with potential supervisors and graduate students, read the recent papers from one group and indicates a specific interest in working with them on a project they're planning to do? Or a student who does not indicate what group or project they would want to work with/on?

That said, a lot depends on the specifics of the program. Course-based master's degrees can be a lot more flexible with who they admit, for example.

 

[StatGuy2000]

That is a concept I need to learn about more. I have been unaccustomed to such an idea. Does that passage mean, undergraduate "College" offers programs up to Bachelors' degree and that "University" offers either Bachelor and Master degree; or Bachelor, Master, and PhD?

Generally speaking that is true, but it's not always that straightforward, since in the US, the words "college" and "university" can be used interchangeably to any post-secondary educational institution that offers at minimum a 4-year undergraduate bachelor's degree (unless the word "community college" is used, which refers to post-secondary institutions that offer 2-year associate diplomas or technical training, similar to how the term is used in Canada, where I live). And many such "colleges" can also potentially offer graduate degrees.

I should also add that the word "college" can also be used in the US (and some universities in Canada) to refer to specific sub-divisions that offer specific programs within a larger university (e.g. College of Engineering and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan -- my father's alma mater).

And to further complicate matters:

1. In Canada and the UK, the term "college" has been used to refer to private secondary schools (e.g. Eton College in the UK, Upper Canada College in Canada). In the US, the more common term is "academy" (e.g. Philips Exeter Academy).

2. In the UK, the term "college" can refer to full-fledged universities that offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees (e.g. Imperial College London).

BTW @symbolipoint , as an aside, I was wondering if you are not from the US. I ask because of your unfamiliarity with the way the above terms are used in the US.

 

[Foracle]

This is my statement of purpose that I have written for my M.Sc application. I haven't done the closing part.
Please tell me if I need to correct anything and please don't hold back.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why is the universe so large compared to the parameters of the Standard Model? Why is the gravity so weak? How can the charge of proton and electron be so fine tuned to be exactly the same up to 30 orders of magnitude; by which a small deviation would not let matter to form? These questions were raised by Prof. Savas Dimopoulus from Stanford University in his lecture on Beyond the Standard Model, which immediately piqued my interest. I knew at that time that I wanted to learn more about that specific field of physics, which is why I am applying for MSc in physics, particularly in particle physics, as a stepping stone for my PhD in the future.

I attend my undergraduate studies at a university which is good in instrumentation physics, but unfortunately is lacking in the theoretical side. My lecturers didn’t get deep enough in core subjects like statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. But never once was I discouraged by this to learn more about physics. I self-studied the topics that my lecturers didn’t cover by using textbooks and online resources, and it was quite a success as I managed to win a silver medal in the National Physics Competition in 2021, which tested us on the following subjects : Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Quantum Mechanics.

I admit that without having been guided by an expert, my understanding in physics must still be incomplete. Therefore, My objective to undertake this M.Sc program is to develop a solid understanding in physics, particularly in the theoretical field, as well as to get the opportunity to do research (which I never managed to get the chance to due to the scarce opportunity available in where I live), which will give me not only a good understanding of the field, but also the chance to actually contribute to physics. Moreover, I would be able to get a first-hand experience on how physics research is done, which I project myself to do in the future.

After watching Prof. Dimopoulus’ lecture on Beyond the Standard Model, I went to look for study material for particle physics. Conveniently, Alex Fluornoy, a teaching professor from Colorado School of Mines, has posted his lectures on the subject along with the problem sets and exam problems online, which I had utilized to study. Having no research activity, I have a lot of free time which I currently use to study higher level subjects like quantum field theory utilizing the book by M. Peskin. I also plan on learning about General Relativity in the next few months before I begin taking course in the M.Sc program. With this, I believe that I will be ready to undertake graduate level courses.

I am currently working as a computational physics laboratory assistant, which began during my second year of undergraduate. I guide students starting from the basics of programming languages like Pascal, C++, Matlab, and Mathematica to solving differential equation with them. I am also responsible for arranging their coursework, like writing project problems and grading their work.

(Closing)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Vanadium 50]

Why are you going for a Masters? What I get is "a stepping stone towards a PhD" and "you like particle physics". This is a Statement of Purpose. Where's the Purpose?

I would also be wary of badmouthing your present institution. You don't want people thiniking "he did it to them; so he'll do it to us."

 

[Foracle]

Why are you going for a Masters? What I get is "a stepping stone towards a PhD" and "you like particle physics". This is a Statement of Purpose. Where's the Purpose?

Thanks for the response.
I have written my purpose in the 3rd paragraph, which is to get a solid understanding in in physics and to get a chance to do research. That's basically my purpose in doing M.Sc, as a stepping stone to PhD. Is this not enough?

I would also be wary of badmouthing your present institution. You don't want people thiniking "he did it to them; he'll so it to us."

I am trying to convey that I managed to overcome a challenge, which is to be able successfully study on my own despite having poor lecturers, and it's proven by me achieving silver medal. But you are right, I will try to write it in a way that doesn't badmouth my institution.

 

[hutchphd]

I have written my purpose in the 3rd paragraph, which is to get a solid understanding in in physics and to get a chance to do research. That's basically my purpose in doing M.Sc, as a stepping stone to PhD. Is this not enough?

I would read the subtext here as "when I get my master's from you guys I will apply to a really good school for my PhD". That seems like what you mean, so maybe you need to reconsider...

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am trying to convey that I managed to overcome a challenge,

Is this a Statement of Purpose? Or a Statement of Challenges I Have Overcome?

 

[Foracle]

Thanks hutchphd and Vanadium. I think I kinda get what I should write. I will try to update this in a short time.

Any other advice is highly appreciated

 

[Foracle]

I have updated the 3rd paragraph of my statement of purpose, which is the part where I elaborate my purpose of doing M.Sc.
After some long soul-searching on why I want to do M.Sc, it is really to get the skills needed to do PhD, and it pretty much sounds like

"when I get my master's from you guys I will apply to a really good school for my PhD".

But isn't this an okay reason to do M.Sc? This time I try to elaborate more on this

I have also corrected my 2nd paragraph to make it less aggressive towards my present institution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I attend my undergraduate studies at a university which is excellent in instrumentation and materials physics, but unfortunately is not as good in the theoretical side. Although my lecturers did an amazing job covering the basics of core subjects like quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, they didn’t get into more advanced topics like phase transition, Landau theory and perturbation theory. Nevertheless, I wasn’t discouraged at all to learn about this on my own, which was done with the help of textbooks and online resources, and it was quite a success as I managed to win a silver medal in the National Physics Competition in 2021, which tested us on the following subjects : Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, and Quantum Mechanics.

I admit that without having been guided by an expert, my understanding in physics must still be incomplete, hence I know I am not ready to begin my PhD program yet. Therefore, my primary objective to undertake this M.Sc program is to develop a solid understanding in the framework of physics, particularly theoretical physics, necessary to conduct research. Secondly, I want to get the opportunity to do research (which I never managed to get the chance to due to the scarce opportunity available in where I live), preferably in particle physics, with the guidance of an expert of the field. This experience will not only boost my understanding in the field, but also, more importantly, provide me with the additional skills that a physics researcher should have (e.g. efficiently utilize programming tools to solve problems). These skills that I obtain from this M.Sc program will provide me a solid grounding to start my PhD program in the future, where I project myself to finally start working on the specific field that I want to work on , which is particle physics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this is not a good reason to do M.Sc, should I try to write something else which does not actually reflect my actual intention of doing M.Sc?

 

[Vanadium 50]

You got some good advice from @Choppy , which you said you'd conside in #12. Why did you decide to go in another direction?

 

[hutchphd]

Reading your essay, I still do not understand why you are not applying for a PhD program directly. If you really intend to do high level research there will be several post-docs likely to follow PhD where you can be very specific in direction. Few folks entering grad school know exactly what they want.
To me this approach (MS only) would seem a bad choice on your part and as examiner of your application I would wonder. Better you should get a fast PhD (4 years is possible if you are lucky and clever) and proceed from there to the post-doc circus. Switching schools after the Master's is unusual, therefore cumbersome, and will likely add a year or more.

 

[CrysPhys]

Reading your essay, I still do not understand why you are not applying for a PhD program directly. If you really intend to do high level research there will be several post-docs likely to follow PhD where you can be very specific in direction. Few folks entering grad school know exactly what they want.
To me this approach (MS only) would seem a bad choice on your part and as examiner of your application I would wonder. Better you should get a fast PhD (4 years is possible if you are lucky and clever) and proceed from there to the post-doc circus. Switching schools after the Master's is unusual, therefore cumbersome, and will likely add a year or more.

Remember, in the US, a student with a BS can enter a PhD program. But in many other countries, a student needs an MS first to enter a PhD program. From previous posts, it appears that the OP is not in the US.

 

[Foracle]

You got some good advice from @Choppy , which you said you'd conside in #12. Why did you decide to go in another direction?

I actually did consider his advice while writing this. I compile all the useful advice I get from the web and wrote my SOP in accordance.

 

[Foracle]

Reading your essay, I still do not understand why you are not applying for a PhD program directly.

I didn't include this in my essay, but I feel like my chance of getting accepted into PhD right now is very slim due to not having research experience. Moreover, my current undergraduate school is pretty terrible, about 90% of the physics I learn during my undergraduate so far is from self-studying. I feel like I am not ready to take on PhD directly.

Switching schools after the Master's is unusual, therefore cumbersome, and will likely add a year or more.

Why is this the case? Are universities in the US less likely to accept PhD candidate with an M.Sc?

 

[hutchphd]

My opinion is yes (it depends upon the quality of your work...but it is a difficult thing to shine in a master's program). I invite other opinions as I out of academia.

 

[CrysPhys]

Why is this the case? Are universities in the US less likely to accept PhD candidate with an M.Sc?

It would be helpful if you would identify what country you're in, and what universities you're planning to apply to. As I mentioned previously, PhD programs in the US are structured differently from those in many other countries; and there is variation among other countries as well. So you need to be careful that the advice you follow is applicable to the country (and even the specific university in some instances) you are applying to.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I actually did consider his advice while writing this

And apparently rejected it. My question is "why?" Why don't you want to say (to quote @Choppy) "you have investigated the specific program you're applying to, understand what makes it unique, and what makes it a good fit for you"?

Without that I can guarantee you how this will be taken: "he doesn't really want to be here - he's shotgunning applications all over and we're just on the list".

And I agree with the others - if you make us guess as to where you are coming from and where you are trying to go to, you will get worse advice.

 

[Foracle]

It would be helpful if you would identify what country you're in, and what universities you're planning to apply to.

And I agree with the others - if you make us guess as to where you are coming from and where you are trying to go to, you will get worse advice.

Oh yeah, sorry I never specified this. I am from Indonesia, and it's also where I attend my undergraduate study. I am planning to apply for M.Sc at the universities in the US and Canada.

And apparently rejected it. My question is "why?" Why don't you want to say (to quote @Choppy) "you have investigated the specific program you're applying to, understand what makes it unique, and what makes it a good fit for you"?

I thought applicants don't specify their specific program for M.Sc (do they?) and choose their field they want to work on in the process of M.Sc.
But if it's something about why I am applying to that specific university, I do plan on writing about this just before the closing part. I have listed the universities I want to apply to (based on funding opportunity and whether they do research on HEP), but haven't yet looked them up closely.

 

[Vanadium 50]

but haven't yet looked them up closely.

That should be your very next step.