

Ask HN: What to do after graduation? - bcb

I will graduate with a BA in computer science from a top-ranked university in the UK this summer and I am not sure what to do next. I applied to some PhD programs in the US but didn't get into any of these. My goal is to do get a Masters from Stanford, but I will have to wait another year until I can apply.<p>My question is: what do I do for one year? I am not looking for a job on this platform. I am not trying to get hired - yet. Instead, try to put yourself in my situation. Just got a BA in computer science in the UK, want to do a Masters in the US, but need to do sth for a year in between. What would _you_ do? Would you just travel around and take it easy? Would you try to get a job? If yes, what kind of job? A regular job? An internship at Google? Try to get a research internship at Stanford? Try to join a startup?<p>I realize that in the end I am the only one who can answer this question for myself. Yet, given that most of you guys are more experienced than I am (concerning startups and maybe life in general), I am curious as to what you would do if you were in my position.<p>I am sorry if I come across as unprepared. And I realize this question might be too generic. Yet, if someone can give some useful insight, I am all ears.
======
hga
Isn't a BA in the U.K. considered to be perhaps 3/4 of a US BA? That would
tend to indicate you should do some serious study, even better do some real
research and coding.

The best way to get accepted by a university's graduate program is to get one
of the professors to say "admit this guy". Arrange some research with a
professor at a target university for the next year and that could solve all
your problems.

~~~
bcb
Well, thinking of a BA in the UK as 3/4 of a US BA seems very naive to me, to
be honest. It's a completely different system of education. In the US, your
first year is spent on studying many things not related to your major, whereas
your BA in the UK focuses on your subject right from the beginning. I don't
see how research in the UK is less "real" than research in the US, maybe you
would care to explain.

Anyway, I think you're right about arranging some research with a professor.
Not sure how easy this is, though. I don't know if professors are willing to
accept students from outside their own university to conduct research with
them.

~~~
hga
Yes, I'm familiar with those details of the U.K. system, but even if you spend
your first year in US "studying many things not related to your major" you
probably still do _some_ core major requirements at a college level of rigor.

But mostly I'm just repeating what I've heard; if that perception is held by
others in the schools you applied to, it might help explain your failure to
get in their graduate programs (then again, the acceptance rate at the top
schools is _very_ low. At MIT it's like 12%? 2.5%? I forget exactly, but I
think more like the latter of those two figures).

The comment about real research wasn't linked with anything having to do with
the U.K. per se, just that you now have an serious opportunity to do "real"
research undistracted by school.

I'd approach professors not as a student pe se but more as a potential
research associate (e.g. full time lab worker) who's happy to do coding and
the like for free. Make it clear that you're establishing a foundation for
your post-graduate study, but focus on what you can do for them.

------
scorpioxy
Personally, I would either get a meaningful internship or spend it partly
relaxing and studying.

A meaningful internship doesn't have to be at MS or GOOG. It could be anywhere
where you'd build a real system so you'd get to see first-hand how such
systems are built(technical and non-technical challenges). Bonus points if you
can do something that relates to field you wish to pursue(so distributed or AI
or graphics...)

If the internship is a no-go, I would spend the time relaxing a bit and
preparing. Most MS students that I've met are bright when it comes to academic
questions but don't have a clue about how software is built. So I would use
the time to build what I would've built in that internship. Preferably on an
open source project so you'd get to interact with people.

------
PostOnce
Start a startup? You have the education and you have the tools.

