ovaltine_jenkins

For the sake of argument, assume I've given enough thought to my motivations for wanting to get a PhD. What I'm really getting at is whether or not my profile is severely lacking for a program that is not a top 50 program. On the surface, my intuition is that even without the core CS courses I'd still be competitive but I'd just have to make up those courses once I start (this happened to a few people when I was in grad school for math). Is this a long shot or does it seem reasonable that I'd be admitted?

I am pursuing the PhD because I want to do research (just not within academia). I would not be opposed to starting in the MS program and segueing that into the PhD program, if that's what you are implying. I would not want to just get a MS as that wouldn't really change anything career-wise for me and my interest is in doing research, not collecting a degree.

I am planning on applying to a PhD program that is outside of the top 50 programs, doing research in machine learning. There is a professor in the department whose interest match up almost exactly with mine and I don't have the option of moving cities. While it may not be glamorous, I'm really excited at the possibility of doing research with this professor. I would consider my background a little atypical: I've been working for the past 5 years (3.5 as an actuary, 1.5 as a software engineer) BS math, BS physics, MS applied math (undergrad GPA 3.46, grad 3.75 from decent schools. Grad school was top 30) What kinds of things should I be considering to strengthen my profile? I really have no idea how competitive programs are at this range in terms of being admitted. My current plan is: Taking some courses to fill in required undergrad coursework I never took (algorithms, computer design, etc.) - my hope is I can use some of these to get letter of rec. Trying to do some smaller research projects with the professor I want to work with and hopefully get a letter of rec. out of that as well Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks in advance!