Getting into a top graduate school
I graduated from university last spring with a B.A. in computer science. I am currently working at a software company. I would like to attend a top graduate school in 2-3 years once I am more certain of my area of study. I'm not sure what steps I should take to achieve this. I was not passionate about CS until my final year of university so I haven't completed any research/internships. Could anyone with experience point me in the right direction?
4 comments
I'm a mathematics professor. I'll tell you how it is in math. You can probably extrapolate to CS, although work experience might count for more there, depending on your field of study.
In math, rec letters are the most important, and whether rightly or wrongly, math professors don't give a damn about the word of anyone other than other math professors.
Figure out how you will be spending your first two years, and the coursework in particular. At good programs it will be killer hard. Are you prepared for this? Your rec letters need to come from people who thoroughly understand how difficult graduate work is, and who can credibly assert that you will succeed in it. This needs to be based on your past success, presumably in your coursework.
In particular, top programs look for not only talent but also thorough preparation. Have you gone far beyond your university's requirements, and absolutely excelled?
If you want to get a Ph.D., and don't get into top schools, you can probably go to a mid-tier place, and if you are really thriving, file transfer applications your second year. Or just finish at the mid-tier place. I went to a non-top-ten university for my Ph.D. and am doing very well now.
Good luck to you!
In math, rec letters are the most important, and whether rightly or wrongly, math professors don't give a damn about the word of anyone other than other math professors.
Figure out how you will be spending your first two years, and the coursework in particular. At good programs it will be killer hard. Are you prepared for this? Your rec letters need to come from people who thoroughly understand how difficult graduate work is, and who can credibly assert that you will succeed in it. This needs to be based on your past success, presumably in your coursework.
In particular, top programs look for not only talent but also thorough preparation. Have you gone far beyond your university's requirements, and absolutely excelled?
If you want to get a Ph.D., and don't get into top schools, you can probably go to a mid-tier place, and if you are really thriving, file transfer applications your second year. Or just finish at the mid-tier place. I went to a non-top-ten university for my Ph.D. and am doing very well now.
Good luck to you!
I'm going to add to this, your letters of recommendation are critically important.
Furthermore, getting into grad school is the same thing as any other job. It's not about what you know, it is about WHO you know.
People will get you into grad school IF they want you, and they only know if they want you, if they know you. Simple as that. Face time really matters, so if you want to get into grad school but don't have fantastic letters of rec for whatever reason, make an impression on some of the faculty at the school. Go to conferences and attempt to meet professors in the schools that you are interested in.
Also, as stated above, you can always move into a top their school later in the game. For example, I went to a state school for my undergrad and PhD, but I've since moved onto Cornell, Columbia and Rockefeller. The school matters at some level, but you can make stuff happen when you apply yourself. As with anything else, it's not trivial, but it's kind of a fun game:) Best of luck, Keith
Also, as stated above, you can always move into a top their school later in the game. For example, I went to a state school for my undergrad and PhD, but I've since moved onto Cornell, Columbia and Rockefeller. The school matters at some level, but you can make stuff happen when you apply yourself. As with anything else, it's not trivial, but it's kind of a fun game:) Best of luck, Keith
Thanks for the advice. I'm currently living and working in the same city where I received my undergrad degree from so I could try to go back for a Masters and see where I'm at after that.
Best of luck with OmniSci!
Best of luck with OmniSci!
Thanks for the advice!
Based on what you said, I think I'm going to have a tough time getting accepted into a graduate program. My first three years at college were spent bouncing between majors, so I don't have strong relationships with any of my CS professors. The only time I would say I excelled was my senior year where I completed 8 cs classes with good marks, but that doesn't seem nearly as impressive as completing undergraduate research/an internship.
Do you think open source work/self studying in the field I choose will have a large impact on my potential acceptance?
I regret not focusing in on CS and math earlier.
Do you think open source work/self studying in the field I choose will have a large impact on my potential acceptance?
I regret not focusing in on CS and math earlier.
You might have a tough time getting into a top graduate program. But there are plenty of reasonably good graduate programs which are not quite as selective.
Self study probably won't help you get into good programs initially, but if you get accepted to a second-tier program, it will certainly help you get the ground running and get the most out of it, whether you try to transfer out or not.
Good luck!
Self study probably won't help you get into good programs initially, but if you get accepted to a second-tier program, it will certainly help you get the ground running and get the most out of it, whether you try to transfer out or not.
Good luck!
Not really answering the specific question you've asked... but all the same it could be useful.
A 'top graduate school' is actually somewhere that probably gets a large number of applications from students (Stanford etc.)
That means when you apply for a phd in that school, you are really trying to appease the admissions department, you may not be allocated to a 'phd supervisor' yet.
But if you find which area you'd like to go into and the various 'leaders' in that field, you will probably notice they are not aligned to a 'top graduate school' and possibly deal with admission enquiries directly. (To quantify a leader check someones h-index score on google scholar then take with big pinch of salt)
What's different in this case is that they will most likely appreciate any additional work you've done which shows how interested you are in that particular field.
An admissions department on the other hand will probably look for GRE, GPA, awards, scholarships as ways to differentiate people.
A 'top graduate school' is actually somewhere that probably gets a large number of applications from students (Stanford etc.)
That means when you apply for a phd in that school, you are really trying to appease the admissions department, you may not be allocated to a 'phd supervisor' yet.
But if you find which area you'd like to go into and the various 'leaders' in that field, you will probably notice they are not aligned to a 'top graduate school' and possibly deal with admission enquiries directly. (To quantify a leader check someones h-index score on google scholar then take with big pinch of salt)
What's different in this case is that they will most likely appreciate any additional work you've done which shows how interested you are in that particular field.
An admissions department on the other hand will probably look for GRE, GPA, awards, scholarships as ways to differentiate people.
This is a very good answer! I also want to add. Reference letters are extremely important! If you can get top researchers/professors to write you an awesome reference letters, your chance will be increased greatly! Another way is to contact the prof you are interested in working with directly and try to work with him/her. Many profs like to accept students who have already worked with them
I'm pretty sure this is false.
In math, anyway, graduate applications are evaluated by math faculty.
In math, anyway, graduate applications are evaluated by math faculty.
Actually I made an assumption which was wrong to do.
But in my experience, students approach the PI directly, and the PI makes the decision themselves.
There is no formal application process. This is in non 'top grad schools' but the PI would have 40+ h-index
But in my experience, students approach the PI directly, and the PI makes the decision themselves.
There is no formal application process. This is in non 'top grad schools' but the PI would have 40+ h-index
One possible option for you is to do a CS graduate degree part-time while still working. Some of the top schools offer great online programs where you take the exact same classes as the students on campus (for example, University of Illinois offers this: http://cs.illinois.edu/online)
I graduated with an MS in CS from Illinois in about 3 years while continuing to work full-time. When I attended, you could apply via the normal application process. Alternatively, I know of students who were able to take and complete 2-3 classes as non-degree students before submitting their formal application to the program. They could then apply and transfer these credits towards the program -- I'm guessing it's easier to get in too once you have a few decent grades for classes in the program.
I graduated with an MS in CS from Illinois in about 3 years while continuing to work full-time. When I attended, you could apply via the normal application process. Alternatively, I know of students who were able to take and complete 2-3 classes as non-degree students before submitting their formal application to the program. They could then apply and transfer these credits towards the program -- I'm guessing it's easier to get in too once you have a few decent grades for classes in the program.
Thanks for the tips! I didn't realize that online programs existed for grad school.
Let me add that there is a huge difference between PhD and Masters admissions. Masters admissions is typically FAR easier and less research and less rec-letter dependent. Strong work experience is sometimes all that's needed to get into a good Masters program.
For example, a school like Stanford is notorious for having a Masters program that is easier to get into than the undergrad program and is generally not terribly difficult to get into as long as you can pay.
For example, a school like Stanford is notorious for having a Masters program that is easier to get into than the undergrad program and is generally not terribly difficult to get into as long as you can pay.