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I was wondering if other people agreed with this. I'm not making a decision, just curious. As for examples, I meant specific faculty or research going on. Thanks!

Thanks! Do others agree with this? Any examples?

I I did browse their websites, but wanted opinions from people on this forum who may know about this.

Hey guys, What do you guys think of the ML programs at UCSD and Columbia? Where are the relative areas of strengths/weaknesses for each of these ML programs? Thanks so much!

Just curious, which were the three profs from Columbia you compared them to? Also, what's a quick way to count citations? Thanks!

I guess one of the main differences is that Columbia has a very strong vision group, and Princeton doesn't currently have a dedicated vision person, but Funkhouser and Rusinkiewicz do work on vision projects to a lesser extent. I definitely have an interest in vision which makes me think Columbia, but I guess Princeton might be just as good, except I'd more be working in graphics/vision. Also, vision isn't my only interest, so I'm worried about basing the whole decision on this. I really am interested in many projects going on at both places but was wondering if one would offer better opportunities, especially for academic positions afterwards. Does anyone else have an opinion/advice?

My interests are machine learning and vision/graphics. Which of Columbia or Princeton would you choose? Princeton maybe has a better name and a higher CS ranking, but Columbia has some really strong research and professors, although I'm not sure 100% what prof I'd end up working with there yet (although it seems flexible). I like the research and professors at both places, but was wondering if one might offer better opportunities afterwards, particularly since I may want to work in academia. Thanks!

No, I didn't get into all of them. I was just curious about some of them. Thanks. Did any other schools I listed have respectable programs, or are those the main ones?

Are any of the following schools active and well-respected in natural language processing research? How about data mining research? USC UC Irvine UCSB UC Berkeley UCSD Columbia Princeton UCLA Caltech Harvard Thank you.

Yes I thought I'd heard that. Thanks! Any other areas they're known for?

Someone told me that Princeton is not very big into AI research. Is this true? In which areas of computer science research is Princeton especially active and well-respected? Thanks!

I'm an engineering student with no clue how to write this diversity statement. I'm not particularly diverse either. I'd be happy if some kind essay rock star would take a look at what I've written so far. It's due tonight. My main goal is that the essay is clear and that I don't come across as an idiot. But any help is appreciated. I would be happy to take a look at an essay of yours. Even though I'm an engineer, I'm pretty good with grammar and making essays more concise, although for some reason I can't do this with my own essays. Just give me a private message, and let me know your "qualifications."

I have high stats for GPA and GRE, but not too much research experience and no published papers. I want to get into a good PhD program. Undergrad GPA 3.9 at a top 15 CS program Master's GPA 3.8 at a top 5 CS program GRE Math 800, Verbal 660, Writing 5.0 A req from one famous professor in my area, but it will only talk about course projects in my area of interest and our interactions in the course, not incredibly significant results A req form another pretty famous professor, also talking about course projects in my area of interest A req from a lecturer whose course I tutored and know very well. It is a very positive letter about my attitude, drive, and the impact I made on his course, which is not in my area of interest I have done a summer internship on the research team of a silicon valley company, but I'm not getting a letter from them. I will mention this internship in my statement. Although I was on the research team, I didn't get a lot of actual research experience, I was used more as a programmer. What chance do I have of getting into a top 30 school? Top 20? 10? Also, which schools in California do you think I should apply to if my area of interest is computer vision? What are my chances of getting into these? Currently I'm planning on applying to many schools because I'm not sure what to expect. I could maybe cut down on the number if someone could give me some insight into this. Thanks so much!

I am applying for computer science PhDs as a current Master's student. I have narrowed down the broad research area I'd like to work in, and I have some ideas for specific projects that interest me, but I'm more interested in securing a spot as a PhD in the broader area than working on these exact specific project interests. In my statement of purpose, should I mostly talk about why I'm interested in and qualified to work in a broader research area? I feel like if I talk too much about specific projects, I will be rejected from any program where the professor might not be interested in that particular project project. On the other hand, I feel like if I can't really tangibly explain the potential of what I might be able to accomplish as a PhD if I don't talk about these project ideas. But then again, if they see me as a good candidate for a project of their choosing, they will already understand the potential of what can be accomplished, so I don't know if this is that important. Please give me advice on this, especially if you know first hand what most CS professors will be looking for.

I'm leaning towards doing the PhD now. Thanks!

I am currently enrolled in a top Master's program for Computer Science. I was planning on going on for a PhD to become a professor, but realize that I'm not that interested in research, mostly teaching. It seems like a bit of a waste to spend 4+ years in a PhD program if I want to just teach. During my undergrad years, the MA-only teachers were sort of looked down upon by the research professors, couldn't advance much in their careers, and had difficulty getting the courses they wanted. In my current top research university, there are no professors that I know of that don’t have PhDs or aren’t currently working towards a PhD. I was wondering, then, if it might be better to become a teaching professor at a small, non-research, possibly private university. From undergrad I know it's possible to become a MS-only professor (lecturer or instructor). I've also heard that it is easier to do in engineering than in the arts or sciences. How difficult would it be for me to get a teaching position with good career prospects at a small, non-research university with only a Master's degree? How would I go about applying for this job? I know a friend who will be getting a MS-only teaching position but the school was his alma mater and he is close with the faculty. Would I be better off just doing the PhD? Please give me some advice! Thanks a lot!

Thanks for the reply. So it basically sounds like the top 10 schools are about 5% acceptance rate, the top twenty are 10%. I was curious about how the numbers fall off after that, top 30, 40, etc. Are there any good resources for getting these numbers? Thanks a lot!!

Hi, I am thinking of computer science PhD programs to apply to. I am already applying to most schools in California. I want to select a few outside California also so I have more options. Because I would much rather stay in California, I really wouldn't go to another school unless it was a big name school, but I've noticed some schools barely take any students, for example, Yale takes like 8 CS PhDs a year. So I am trying to find how likely it is to get into each of these schools before I decide which out of state schools to apply to. Does anyone have an idea of the admission rates/relative difficulty of getting into the following schools for computer science PhD? Please don't comment about Masters admissions. Cornell Harvard UIUC CMU MIT Princeton WUSTL University of Washington Columbia Rice Brown University of Pennsylvania Thanks a lot!

Thanks for the response! What kind of emails should I write them? Just tell that I'm interested in their research and will be applying soon? I guess I'm just worried that I'd strike the wrong tone and just sound like some kid who's desperate to get into their program. Also, I've seen requests on websites of professors that potential students NOT contact them. I guess I shouldn't contact those ones? Do you have any suggestions for the tone/content of the emails to potential advisors? Thanks!

Let's say I was able to work a bit more on one of the course projects and get it published, which they said might be possible. Would that be enough to show that I can do research? Or would I still need to seek other research opportunities? I thought it might be better to focus on one of the projects I've already begun so I can make better use of what I've already done in the time I have before PhD applications.

Hello, So I'm a current MS student at Stanford but I am planning on applying for PhD in the Fall. I still haven't really had research experience except for several projects in my classes that were designed to be like research projects. I was wondering if I had the professors of those classes write recommendations if that would show enough research experience. I also feel like I should talk to them soon even though it's a long time from now that applications are due! I am seriously very worried about the application process for PhD because I hear about so many people that don't get in anywhere. I'm hoping to get a PhD in a school in California. My area of interest is in Computer Vision or Graphics. I am wondering if people could comment on my chances for getting into PhD schools in California, like the UCs, Stanford, or Caltech, or if anyone has any advice for me. Thank you!

Hello. I'm a CS master's student at Stanford. I have not had any research experience at all but have decided during my first quarter as a master's student that I'd like to do research and apply for PhDs. I am most interested in AI type stuff that has applied math or linguistics. I am a little bit worried because Stanford MS degree doesn't really focus on research and I'm having difficulty getting involved with research here. I do plan on trying to do the distinction in research if I can arrange a project. Also, I talked to a member of the PhD acceptance committee here and he said that they look for two recommendation letters from research supervisors who are very enthusiastic about having done research with the applicant. I have only a year before I would want to apply for PhD, and I haven't taken too many of the advanced courses in my area of research, so haven't come up with a lot of ideas for research projects yet. I was wondering if anyone had advice for me about what I should do to get the research experience to make for a strong PhD application in time for next year. About how much time do I have to be doing research before I should apply PhD? Thanks!