DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 45

DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE - Essay Example Certain managerial structures are not fit for a particular organization. Thus these organizations need to make adjustments to custom fit managerial tactics which would be effective not just for the administrative part but also for the workforce. An effective management does not only look after the betterment of its administration. It should also be taking care of its workforce as this is the sector responsible for the output that which gives income to the company. For a management to be effective, it should be able to communicate with the workers who would be carrying out the majority of the work in the organization. As stated earlier, with the companies exploring the international market, traditional management is not applicable anymore because there would be workers who would be coming from locations where managers are not able to visit on a daily or weekly basis. Therefore, management should be flexible to answer the needs of its workforce without sacrificing the other aspects of the company. Flexibility is the key towards effective management to cope up with the changes in the market and within the organization

The Goal A Process of Ongoing Improvement Essay Example for Free

The Goal A Process of Ongoing Improvement Essay The two authors are finalising the first comprehensive bibliography on the Theory of Constraints (TOC)[23] which is to be published by North River Press, the publishers of several works on TOC, most notably Eli Goldratt’s seminal works [l l-171, such as The Goal, It’s Not Luck, and Critical Chain. Based on our extensive search of the literature, this talk will draw on examples of applications of TOC, and summae important findings on the theory and practice of TOC. Although initially a manufacturing method, TOC has now developed into a theory about management: a powerful systemic problem structuring and problem solving methodology which can be used to develop solutions with both intuitive power and analytical rigour. TOC is increasingly being applied to situations outside the manufacturing context, including distribution, marketing, project management, accounting in fact, any situation involving change to a system. 1 Introduction The main motivation for the research reported in this paper was the realisation that TOC is growing very rapidly, and we simply did not know what was â€Å"out there†; ie what had already been tackled. Hence our mission two years ago was to conduct a literature search to identify recent works (mostly post 1990). This search has culminated in an annotated bibliography, which is to be published shortly by North River Press [23]. Alongside this literature research grew a Masters thesis, pulling all this material together, both the theory and the practice. [2] This paper will first briefly outline the background to TOC, and then report on the practice-related material from the survey of published applications and the findings. Readers wishing to gain the benefit of a fuller treatment of this material for a review of the entire TOC field are referred to [2]; while those wishing to obtain a copy of the bibliography are referred to [23]. In its brief 20-year history, TOC has developed rapidly in terms of both methodology (see for example [6], [S]) and area of applications (see for example, [ 191, 271). In the late 1970’s, the founder of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), Eliyahu Goldratt, Israeli physicist turned business guru, developed a revolutionary method for production scheduling [lo] which was in  stark contrast to accepted methods available at the time, such as MRP. Central to the TOC philosophy was that any organisation (or system) has a constraint (or small number of constraints) which dominate the entire system. The secret to success lies with managing these constraints, and the system as it interacts with these constraints, to get the best out of the whole system. The Drum-Buffer-Rope schedulingsystem, together with the general principles espoused in The Goal, were elements of TOC that became part of successful manufacturing management. Even so, some companies failed in their attempts to adopt OPT, the software package based on Goldratt’s method [lo]. Such failure was usually diagnosed as an inability or unwillingness by the organisation to discard old traditions, and embrace the new philosophy and the new measures that were concomitant with successful adoption. The most common measures that need to be reviewed are accounting measures, as TOC promotes the use of global system-wide measures, rather than local measures. The motivation for this is that if a system as a whole is to achieve its goal, it is best for the system’s individual parts to work as a team in â€Å"sync† rather than at their own individual speeds. Given that the major constraint to improvement was the resistance to changing these measures, it is not surprising therefore that this is the direction that TOC followed, to tackle this biggest constraint to adoption behaviours. Thus the TOC Thinking Processes were born: a suite of tools that allows people to learn and use the thinking processes that enable them to develop their own solutions to complex problems. This suite of tools enables analysis of a situation, using the rigour of cause and effect thinking following strict logic rules, combined with the intuition and knowledge of the persons owning, or intimately involved with, the problem. The TP’s enable more complex problems (â€Å"messes†) to be tackled, and have much in common with other soft systems approaches such as SSM and SODA/cognitive mapping. In our opinion, these thinking processes now offer much to OIUMS practitioners (as well as the more traditional users from the Operations Management field). 2 The Survey The literature search has uncovered over 310 items on TOC, including 32 books. The majority of these were developing/discussing the methodology from a theoretical viewpoint. Many claims were made regarding the benefits of TOC. These included increased throughputs, reduced inventories and lead-times, which in turn would lead to higher sales, and improved profits, quality, and customer satisfaction. However we felt it would also be useful to collect together and analyse the actual reported data on the benefits of TOC, to verify or disprove these claims. The literature search identified over one hundred case studies or vignettes that contained information on the results of applications of TOC. Not all cases or vignettes provided quantitative data on the results of applying TOC. In total, we were able to collect quantitative data on the application of TOC to seventy-seven different companies. The types of organisations covered by these cases varied from giant multi-national corporations and industry leaders like Boeing and GM, to military organisations lie the US Aii Force, to small town bakeries. The vast majority of TOC applications were in the manufacturing sector. Within this sector, there are significant clusters of applications in the aerospace, apparel, automotive, electronics, furniture, semiconductor, steel and heavy engineering industries. Most of these focused on the manufacturing operations of each organisation. However, there were several instances of application to administrative functions. Analysis of the frequency of article and book publications per year shows a considerable growth of publications in recent years. This is partially due to the formation of the Constraints Management Special Interest Group within the influential APICS. This year, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of books published on TOC, withnine new books hitting the shelves, including [6], [21], [26]. This takes the total number of books on TOC to 32, since the release of The Goal [ 151 in 1984. TOC is a complex methodology requiring skill and cooperation to implement. This may be why there have been few â€Å"complete† applications of the methodology reported in the literature. Most applications involve components of the overall philosophy, predominantly the operations management technique, DBR, and the constraint oriented continuous  improvement technique, the Five Focusing Steps. This is significant as many of the results of applications, summarised below, are the result of only the partial power of TOC. The case survey methodology [20] used for data collection has limitations, the main one being the lack of consistency in the reporting conventions. Authors used a range of different frames and methods for reporting results. Thus, there were limitations to the types of data that were usable. However, sample size of 78 applications provided sufficient data for robust conclusions for most variables, the only exception being changes in profitability; the small sample size for this is thought to be due to commercial sensitivity. However, this deficiency is made up by a reasonable sample of organisations reporting changes in revenue resulting from the application. In total, a sample of twenty-five -data points were gathered for changes in financial performance. Inherent within the case survey methodology is the potential for bias on the part of the authors themselves, and academic journal editors. However the latter bias may be mitigated in part, as articles relating to TOC were published in some 83 different journals and magazines. The great majority of applications reported in the literature were conducted in North America. A number of European applications were reported, with only a few cases emerging from the UK and Australasia. 2.1 Data Analysis This research exercise is believed to be the first published examination of the actual performance of the Theory of Constraints’. The table in Appendix 1 gives a selection of the results2. We were initially concerned that there were so many apparent gaps in the data, as it could be argued that these omissions indicate that these factors were not improved, or that only a few factors in each case improved, perhaps even to the detriment of other factors. However, on reflection we recognised there are many valid reasons for such omissions. Firstly, several of the measures used are essentially measuring the same  effect: eg Lead-time, Cycle Time and Due Date performance all measure the company’s ability to respond speedily to customer orders. Thus one would not expect authors to report all measures. Secondly, many companies do not wish to report factors such as financial results, for competitive reasons. Thirdly, many companies adopt TOC with a particular focus, such as to improve due date performance and may fail to give much attention to effects outside this focus. Furthermore, it is often difficult to collect hard data: people do not always take measurements before they make changes: they may not envisage how effective this approach will be often they have tried other methods before, and the results have not been noteworthy, so why should this method be any different? Sometimes the results are simply too hard to calculate: eg to calculate the Inventory figures using Goldratt’s definition (see [6], [ 161 or [27]) is problematic if the company’s accounts are prepared using normal cost ’ To our knowledge, the only other published survey of applications to date is that by Noreen, Smith and Mackey [27], which reported in depth on 25 organisations that were using TOC. ’ The complete table runs to some 7 pages, so is not included here due to the page limit.accounting conventions (GAPP), as experience with Expozay showed [22]. Or they may have changed the way they measure Inventory as part of the change to TOC, and hence any reported figures would be misleading. Another reason might be that people would prefer not to know how bad things really are at the start. Finally, when taken in context of the articles themselves, it is apparent that the authors considered TOC to be a success. For all these reasons, the gaps in the data are not considered to be unreasonable. The data available was analysed using Exploratory Data Analysis methods. 2.2 Findings of the analysis The results of the analysis of reported changes in operational and financial performance, resulting from the application of TOC, are summarised below: Lead-Times: Mean Reduction 69 % A mean reduction in lead-time of 69% emerged from the sample of thirty-two  observations, all of which reported reductions. Over three quarters of the sample experienced reductions in lead-time greater than 50% Cycle-Times: Mean Reduction 66% In every case where changes in cycle-time were reported, the reports showed a decrease, or improvement in cycle-time. Fourteen observations made up the sample for change in cycle-times. Due-Date-Performance: Mean Improvement 60% Improving due-date-performance is synonymous with meeting delivery promises to customers. A mean improvement of 60% emerged from the sample. Twelve observations made up the sample for change in due-date-performance. Several organisations experienced improvements of over 100%. Inventory Levels: Mean Reduction 50% Reducing inventory is associated with reducing lead-times in a DBR system. A mean inventory reduction of 50% resulted from the sample of 28 observations. Lead-Time and Inventory Reduction: Correlation 0.77 Goldratt and Fox (1986) claim that when DBR is applied to a manufacturing system, the reduction in lead-time is strongly correlated with the reduction of inventory level. This research verifies the claims of Goldratt and Fox, as shown by a 0.77 Spearrnan’s Rank Correlation. This analysis was conducted on a sample of thirteen observations where organisations provided data on changes to both lead-times and inventory levels. Revenue / Throughput: Mean Increase 68% (outlier exclusive) This variable represents the amount of money coming into the organisation. All reports represented increases in revenue or throughput. The impressive mean increase of 68% excludes one outlier, a 600% increase at Lucent Technologies achieved within one year. Five organisations, from the sample of eighteen, reported increases in revenues in excess of lOO%, within one financial year.Combined Financial Variable: Mean Increase 82 % A sample of twenty-five observations for the combine revenue / throughput / profit variable revealed a mean increase of 82%, excluding the 600% increase at Lucent Technologies. 2.3 Conclusions from this analysis: l In the survey of over 100 cases, no failures or disappointing results were reported. l Some substantial improvements in operational variables as well as financial variables were reported. On average, inventories were reduced by 50%, production times (measured by lead-times, cycle times or due date performance) improved by over 60%, and financial measures improved by over 80%. In addition, inventory reductions were accompanied by lead-time reductions a feat not matched by JIF. l The vast majority of cases reported only partial applications of TOC. We are left to wonder whether improvements would have been even greater had more of the methodology been applied. l The entire survey revealed over 300 articles and books on TOC, of which only a handful contained negative comments, and none of these related to actual applications of the methodology.  While there were several papers reporting computer simulations comparing TOC with other scheduling methods, typically MRP and JIT, none showed TOC to be inferior to other methods; most showed a significant advantage on most measures. l TOC evokes some emotive responses, which is not surprising given that TOC challenges some fundamental notions. l The technical solution to dramatically improving financial and operational performance, is comparatively simple to identify (especially in hindsight4) l The major difficulty is overcoming the behavioural tendency of resistance to change. l TP applications commonly find that underlying core problems are erroneous or deficient measurements, policies and/or training’. Often these are found to be outdated, and no longer consistent with the company’s goal. l Not surprisingly, our enquiries and experience have identified a great number of other applications that have not been published: in many instances the results will never be published, because the focus is on internal change management for competitive advantage.

Reintroducing the Wolf to Yellowstone Essay examples -- Wolves Park An

Reintroducing the Wolf to Yellowstone Wolves have always been a symbol of the wild, free in spirit and roamers of the land. These animals are considered majestic and protectors of the wilderness. They have always roamed the western United States, although their population has fluctuated over time. Over the past 10 years wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park has been a controversial topic to those of the United States. As of 1995, wolves have been reintroduced into the park. This has come with some strong opposition and yet has prevailed. The future of the wolf in Yellowstone park is now looking bright, although not certain since there still are those who want them banished again. History Many hundreds of years ago wolves roamed the entire North American continent with no barriers and very few predators. As settlers moved into the United States, wolves became more and more scarce in the wild of America. As the wilderness areas of the United States declined, so did the population of the wolf, until there were only a few spots in the wild where wolves could still be found. Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area. As the United States matured, people realized that ... ...h. "History and current status of the Yellowstone wolf restoration." September 19, 1999. http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/wpages/yell-o.htm Maughan, Ralph. "Overview and history of the central Idaho wolf reintroduction." September 25, 1999. visted: October 4, 1999. http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/wpages/idaho-o.htm Moody, Joan. Ã ¬Historic Reintroduction Continues Despite Budget Cuts: Defenders Helps Fly Wolves to Yellowstone.Ã ® January 22, 1996. Visited: October 20, 1999. http://www.defenders.org/pr012296.html Noceker, Robert J. Ã ¬Congressional Research Service Report for Congress Reintroduction of Wolves.Ã ® August 1, 1997. Visited: October 17, 1999. http://www.cnie.org/nle/biodv-13.html The Abundant Wildlife Society of North America (AWSNA), Ã ¬An Argument against Wolf Reintroduction in Colorado.Ã ® visited: October 17, 1999. http://www.firstrax.com/antipro.htm Reintroducing the Wolf to Yellowstone Essay examples -- Wolves Park An Reintroducing the Wolf to Yellowstone Wolves have always been a symbol of the wild, free in spirit and roamers of the land. These animals are considered majestic and protectors of the wilderness. They have always roamed the western United States, although their population has fluctuated over time. Over the past 10 years wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park has been a controversial topic to those of the United States. As of 1995, wolves have been reintroduced into the park. This has come with some strong opposition and yet has prevailed. The future of the wolf in Yellowstone park is now looking bright, although not certain since there still are those who want them banished again. History Many hundreds of years ago wolves roamed the entire North American continent with no barriers and very few predators. As settlers moved into the United States, wolves became more and more scarce in the wild of America. As the wilderness areas of the United States declined, so did the population of the wolf, until there were only a few spots in the wild where wolves could still be found. Wolves used to thrive in the western United States. There was ample game to hunt and plenty of places to live and wander. Until people moved in, wolves were settled. As European settlement expanded to the west, it began to take its toll on the wolves and their habitat. Clearing of the forests came first, which was then accompanied by significant over-hunting in this area (Noceker). Slowly wolves became concentrated into smaller and smaller areas in the west. Finally, they were assumed to be bothers to the ranchers and farmers and maybe a threat to those people who lived in the area. As the United States matured, people realized that ... ...h. "History and current status of the Yellowstone wolf restoration." September 19, 1999. http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/wpages/yell-o.htm Maughan, Ralph. "Overview and history of the central Idaho wolf reintroduction." September 25, 1999. visted: October 4, 1999. http://www.poky.srv.net/~jjmrm/wpages/idaho-o.htm Moody, Joan. Ã ¬Historic Reintroduction Continues Despite Budget Cuts: Defenders Helps Fly Wolves to Yellowstone.Ã ® January 22, 1996. Visited: October 20, 1999. http://www.defenders.org/pr012296.html Noceker, Robert J. Ã ¬Congressional Research Service Report for Congress Reintroduction of Wolves.Ã ® August 1, 1997. Visited: October 17, 1999. http://www.cnie.org/nle/biodv-13.html The Abundant Wildlife Society of North America (AWSNA), Ã ¬An Argument against Wolf Reintroduction in Colorado.Ã ® visited: October 17, 1999. http://www.firstrax.com/antipro.htm

California Shoshone

California Shoshone are a Native American tribe that lived in central California, along the eastern border, at the base of the Sierra Nevadas. Their location dictated their lifestyle. Their houses were made in a cone shape using slabs of bark or brush. They also had sweathouses that they used to keep their skin clean. The main foods of the California Shoshone were pine nuts. They occasionally hunted buffalo, but relied more on salmon fishing, deer, and small game. as well as roots gathered by the women . Shoshone hunters used bows and arrows. Fishermen used spears, nets, and basket traps. In war, Shoshone men fired their bows or fought with war clubs and buffalo-hide shields. Shoshone women were in charge of the home. Besides cooking and cleaning, a Shoshone woman built her family's tepee and dragged the heavy posts with her whenever they moved. Shoshone men were hunters and warriors, responsible for feeding and defending their families. Only men became Shoshone chiefs, but both men and women took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. People of the California Shoshone wore rabbit or deer skins when they were available. Shoshone women wore long deerskin dresses with wide sleeves. Shoshone men wore breechcloths and leggings as well as buckskin shirts when the weather was cool. Men and women wore moccasins on their feet. Some other intrest of the Shoshone Indians were bead work, making baskets, and painting. The Shoshone tribe was ruled by a chief. Traditionally, Shoshone people only cut their hair when they were in mourning. Some Shoshones wore facial tatooes and painted their faces for special occasions.. I have learned that California Shoshone had houses, clothes, and food that were available where they lived. They were very fun to learn about.

How to Write an Sop for Grad School

HOW TO WRITE A WINNING STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR A GRADUATE SCHOOL Compiled by Shoukat Iqbal Khattak Faculty Member Bahria University of Management Sciences-Karachi campus E-mail:shoukat. [email  protected] edu. pk Developed & Created by Anthony O. Okobi using: STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Table of Content 1. Introduction:What, Why and How of Statement of Purpose. 2. Stage I: Do your Homework 3. Stage II:Reflect and Brainstorm (on paper) 4. Stage III:Outline your Statement of Purpose 5. Stage IV:Write Draft of Statement of Purpose 6. Stage V:Ask for Critique, Revise and Edit . Example:Sample Statement of Purpose Introduction A written statement of purpose is a standard requirement for graduate school admission. It is a tool for the faculty on graduate school admissions committees to assess the knowledge, experience, motivation, intellectual maturity and readiness of applicants to pursue graduate education at their institution. The statement of purpose is a crucial component of the graduate school admissions process. It can determine whether an applicant is accepted or rejected, irrespective of their other qualifications.This document outlines the 5 stages that a graduate school applicant should go through in order to write an impressive and successful statement of purpose. Stage I: Do your Homework 1. Browse through the websites of the schools/departments/programs of interest to you. Obtain brochures and booklets and read through them carefully. Highlight the aspects of the programs that appeal to you. 2. Read up on the research interests and projects of the faculty in the schools/departments/programs. Read publications from a faculty of interest. 3.Browse through recent articles from the research field of interest and try to get a general understanding of how the field developed and what are its current problems and challenges. Stage II: Reflect and Brainstorm (on paper) 1. Reflect on your intellectual development. †¢ What and when were the major moments in your life that have led you to your current research interest(s) and school/department/program? †¢ What or who influenced your decision or interest (i. e. role models)? †¢ What quality about them appealed to you? 2. Why did you choose your research topic(s)/field/school? . Why did you choose your undergraduate major? 4. What are your career goals? †¢ Where do you see yourself in 10 years? †¢ What do you hope to accomplish? †¢ What drives you? What motivates you? Stage III: Outline your Statement of Purpose 1. From the results of Stage II, determine a central theme/topic that stands out or dominates your reflections and brainstorm. 2. Using bullet points and brief comments/statements, organize your reflections and brainstorm ideas that strengthen the central theme/topic of your statement of purpose. Concentrate on your life experiences and give specific examples. †¢ Put down only those things that excite you. †¢ Do not make things up! 3. Your outline sh ould cover these areas and, preferably, in this order: †¢ What aspects of the school/department/program appeals to you? †¢ What are your research interest(s)? †¢ How did you become interested in your current research topic/area? †¢ How did you prepare or are preparing to address the issues in this research area/topic (i. e. research experiences, courses, etc. )? †¢ What are your future goals for graduate school (i. e. Ph. D. )? What are your career goals (i. e. professorship)? †¢ What characteristics of the school/department/program can help you accomplish your goals? †¢ What positive aspects do you bring to the school/department/program? Stage IV: Write Draft of Statement of Purpose 1. When writing your statement of purpose: †¢ Always use positive language when referring to yourself. †¢ Give detailed, but concise examples. †¢ Use transition words, sentences and paragraphs. Your statement must read smoothly. †¢ Skip a line after each paragraph. †¢ Refrain from starting neighboring paragraphs the same way. Avoid using vocabulary that you do not know. †¢ Refrain from repeating yourself. †¢ Have strong opening and closing paragraph. †¢ Stay within the 2 – 3 page limit! †¢ Thank the admissions committee for their time at the end of your statement of purpose. Stage V: Ask for Critique, Revise and Edit 1. When you are finished with your draft statement of purpose, read it out loud to yourself and make corrections. 2. Ask friends, colleagues and professors to read your edited draft. Taking their comments into consideration, revise and edit your draft. EXAMPLECourtesy of copyright  © 2012 Study Mode, Inc. The following is a shortened sample SOP (with technical details removed. ) Expert comments at the end of the paragraphs point out important features. After one year's work experience as a research technician at  [redacted], one of the US's leading research institutes, I want to return to academic study and undertake graduate studies in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics at the University of  [redacted]. 1. Stating what you are doing now and what you are applying for is a simple, direct way of starting an SOP.After graduating with a first class degree from  [redacted], University of  [redacted], I felt I should gain some practical experience working in a research environment to gain first-hand knowledge of what the life of a research scientist entails. I have loved every minute of my work: especially the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge projects and discuss ideas with senior biologists. I soon realized that, although I enjoy handling the complex equipment and processing the results, I am not going to be satisfied with carrying out routine procedures under the direction of others.I want to be part of the team that directs the course of the project. My senior colleagues have encouraged my ambition and feel that I have the potential for gradu ate studies. 2. Notice how the student tries to analyze the reasons for her choices. My love of biology started in high school. We had a young and enthusiastic teacher, Mrs. [redacted], who took us on field trips and visits. She made sure we did as much practical work as was feasible, and demonstrated experiments that we hadn't the equipment or time to do ourselves. She also encouraged us to read.I remember the impact reading Maynard Smith's  The Theory of Evolution  had on me: I wanted to be able to explain such important ideas as clearly as he did. Quite naturally my first thoughts about a future career tended towards teaching – I wanted to be another Mrs. [redacted]. 3. It is good to explain how you became interested in your subject. However, don't go too far back! Notice that a specific example helps create interest. At undergraduate level, my interests became more focused. Although physiology and ecology came easy to me, it was biochemistry and cell biology that real ly captured my interest.We were fortunate to have good laboratories and excellent professors. I found that cell biology was an interdisciplinary undertaking: today you need a foundation in chemistry, physics and even IT to be at the forefront in this subject. This interdisciplinary aspect of the subject suits my abilities well. I have always performed well in all science subjects and find it challenging to apply the knowledge to practical problems. For this reason I chose to undertake a project in my final year on the behavior of protein molecules in high energy fields at  [redacted].The scientists at [redacted]  were impressed with my practical skills and were happy to give me a recommendation that led to my present job. 4. Details of courses and projects help to show focus. (This student went on to describe another important college project. She also gave a full description of her current scientific work. ) Many people have asked me why I did not proceed directly to graduate s tudies after graduating. The answer is that I wanted to make sure that I had chosen the right subject and the right place before embarking on a course of study that would involve many years of my life.The one-year gap has also given me time to work with the local Natural History Society: we take families on Sunday trips to the nearby National Park to help create awareness about environmental issues. I have also been a member and organizer of the  [redacted]  Film Society: we watch and discuss films from all over the world. I am looking forward to furthering my interest in film in the  [redacted]  Film club, at your university, and I also hope to use my passion for teaching in the  [redacted] Social Outreach program. . Explain the reasons for any unusual features of your career (taking a year out, poor performance, etc. ). Include social and extracurricular activities to show balance in your life or because they are relevant to the course. In selecting the University of   [redacted],  I have been influenced by the way your research program addresses biological questions at the levels of molecule, gene and cell. I am particularly looking forward to such courses as Developmental Biology and Bioinformatics.I am also excited to interact with Professors  [redacted]  and  [redacted]  whose work is closest to what I want to pursue for the original research component of the MS degree. I have been corresponding with  [redacted], a current student, from whom I have learned about the collaborative environment at  [redacted]  where I will interact with talented students, teachers and industry professionals. I believe that I will be able to contribute to and learn from the academically challenging environment at the University of  [redacted]. 6. Try to show that you are fully familiar with the course you are applying for.