Writing a statement of purpose

[Fayd]

i'm applying for a MS in statistics at a state school.

i'm kind of lost here. i intend to use a degree as stepping stone to another degree. would the admissions board at said school be offended that i didn't intend to explicitly use their degree? I tried searching online for how to write a statement of purpose, but i'm not getting very far.

my current degree is BA: Economics. my intended path is MS statistics, then PhD Economics at another school. i'll only be explicitly using the MS in statistics for while i'm in school with the PhD in econ...which i suppose will be a while. (i'm not going directly for a phD because my undergrad gpa kinda sucked...)

i was going to say something to the nature of how i want to become an actuarial scientist(which isnt really far from the truth. job in actuarial science is good money, and skills transfer. i want to do economic research, and skills here are useful there) but the school actually has a program explicitly in actuarial sciences. not really what i'm looking at.

several people here have gone down this road several times, so that's why i'm asking. if anyone has any good resources that my google-fu failed to divine, that'd be awesome. words of wisdom are also awesome. if you want to tell me i suck, umm..thanks for bumping my thread?

 

[WildHorse]

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[Leros]

I just pulled mine up. The rough topics are:

Introduce myself (in relation to the field)
Talk about past experience
Why I want to attend grad school
My goals for grad school
What I want to do after grad school and how grad school will help
Summary

This was for a MSE in Software Engineering at a pretty high ranked school. It got me in.

 

[Fayd]

``

why'd you edit it out

I just pulled mine up. The rough topics are:

Introduce myself (in relation to the field)
Talk about past experience
Why I want to attend grad school
My goals for grad school
What I want to do after grad school and how grad school will help
Summary

This was for a MSE in Software Engineering at a pretty high ranked school. It got me in.

part of my problem is that i don't have a working experience within the field, and it's outside my undergrad field. (at least somewhat outside. i did have to study statistics in econ..)

basically from that outline i'm left with my goals for grad school and what i want to do after this program. which is why i'm curious if they'll find it insulting if i want to continue on to another school with another program. or if they'll be confused about what i intend, like my sister told me when i said this plan to her. "you don't need a masters to pursue a phD 0.o". though i'm hoping i'll have established that earlier in the essay.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Statement of Purpose: I'm in it for the nookie.

How could they deny you?

 

[Numenorean]

Who cares. Bullshit it and make it sound good. That's all they care about.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Have you spoken with any of the program's faculty? Maybe they don't want people who will use their MS in stats as preparation for a PhD program in another field. If they don't, you won't be happy there. If they do like students to stop by for an MS on their way to a PhD in a related discipline, tell them your plans.

I boggle at how people can even consider a graduate program of any stripe without actually talking to the people who will control their life for 2+ years...