Hey gradcafe forums,
I am in my 5th year as an undergraduate. I messed up but I still have ambitions of getting a PhD from a top university. My major is Information and Computer Science with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence and a minor in Philosophy. My GPA is 2.8 right now but by the time I graduate it will be (barely) above 3.0. My CS GPA is 3.4. My Philosophy GPA is 3.7. My junior/senior years GPA is 3.4. However in Calc1 I got an F, retook it and got another F, retook it and got a B-. In Calc2 I got a C+ (this all happened during my 2nd year due to immaturity reasons. I am actually good at math). I have not taken any other math classes, instead I took advanced logic courses.
I go to a (read: the) school with a department of Logic and Philosophy of Science. I've secured 3 positive to strong letters from faculty in this department along with 1 strong one from a CS AI professor with whom I have done research. I have strong test taking skills and I expect my GRE scores to be high. No publications. I've done about 5 term-long projects/independent studies.
Here is my plan: Apply to Carnegie-Mellon's BS in logic, computation, and methodology. It is in their philosophy department and they teach exactly what I am interested in. I could not find a more appealing program I feel like I am a great fit. However I don't know if my 3.0/math weakness will be good enough to get me in.
From there go to UC Berkeley's PhD program in logic and methodology of science. However I don't know if a MS from CMU will be enough to get me in. This program suggests undergrad applicants had majored in philosophy/math and I have an extremely weak math background.
From there go on to be a university (not community college!) level professor in logic or something. However I don't know if such a unique PhD program would land me any jobs, let alone tenure track, at a university. Berkeley does not release placement data for this particular PhD program. What kind of departments would I be looking at? Math? CS? Philosophy at a school like CalTech or CMU?
I'm not applying until December 2010 so I have plenty of time to think about things. But I would like feedback from you all. Can I get into Carnegie-Mellon's BS program with my GPA/math weakness? Will the MS I earn be enough to get me into Berkeley? I know it is a good idea to have many options, so what are other programs I can apply to if I want to study logic but I have a weak math background and I didn't major in philosophy? What are some things I can do from now until then to improve my chances?
Thanks for your consideration,
1f3_2Kf2 (my favorite chess opening)