

Getting into a top graduate school - jrokisky

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?
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impendia
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!

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omnisci
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

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jrokisky
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!

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Irishsteve
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.

~~~
impendia
I'm pretty sure this is false.

In math, anyway, graduate applications are evaluated by math faculty.

~~~
Irishsteve
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

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mstockton
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.

~~~
jrokisky
Thanks for the tips! I didn't realize that online programs existed for grad
school.

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argonaut
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.

