confusedcow

Sure, happy to elaborate! I currently work on probabilistic inference, and I've really enjoyed learning about probabilistic models and understanding the theory behind how different inference methods work. I'm generally interested in uncertainty quantification and robustness for machine learning, although I'm open to other ideas as well. My potential Cornell advisor typically approaches scalable machine learning from an algo x systems perspective, the systems side of which I'm not currently thrilled by. There are a few professors that I'm interested in who work on decision-making under uncertainty / RL and causal inference, but they don't seem interested in taking me. I think that developing a solid stat/math background would make me more qualified to do this type of research, but I'm not sure if it would be possible for me to develop this during my PhD (while being expected to produce a high volume of research), or if I should focus on bolstering my background through a master's degree first.

(crosspost from Decisions for more visibility) I'm super grateful for my opportunities, and I feel like this is a bit of a weird dilemma to have, but I would love to to hear everyone's thoughts! Long story short (maybe not that short), I'm currently working as a software engineer, and I have come to the unfortunate realization that I'm not the biggest fan of writing code, so I'm interested in doing research. I have a CS undergrad and a pretty decent applied ML background, but I'm interested in pursuing more "theoretical work." However, I am also a confused human who needs to try something before deciding whether or not they like it (aka what I think I want and what I actually want can be very different things). Since I don't really have any experience with theory, my research direction is pretty unclear. I also barely took any math courses in undergrad so I feel a bit under-qualified to pursue a more "theorem and proof"-based research style. Cornell CS PhD (funded) a great program! am I crazy for thinking about turning it down?? potential advisor does not seem like the best fit in terms of research interests, but he does seem flexible to new ideas I think a few professors do really interesting work, but they did not seem super keen on taking me as a student due to my lack of theory/math bg I'm not sure if I actually like CS or if I'm just familiar with it? I've tried systems + applied work and felt m e h, and theory seems like the last thing to try so far from any cities (or airports) UIUC Stats Masters (also funded) gives me opportunities to focus on learning and figuring out what I want to do I'm open to pivoting and focusing on statistics, but I feel like I might be throwing away my experience in CS the courses seem really interesting, but what if I don't like them or what if I fail out LOL not as "reputable"? definitely not as rare of an opportunity as Cornell PhD I think would require either reapplying to PhDs in 2 years or transferring into UIUC Stat PhD in one year (if they take me) also in a cornfield, but my SO is there! Thanks for reading :)) I'd love to hear your initial impressions, and let me know if there's something really obvious that I'm missing l o l i've been overthinking this way too much and my brain is tired

I'm super grateful for my opportunities, and I feel like this is a bit of a weird dilemma to have, but I would love to to hear everyone's thoughts! Long story short (maybe not that short), I'm currently working as a software engineer, and I have come to the unfortunate realization that I'm not the biggest fan of writing code, so I'm interested in doing research. I have a CS undergrad and a pretty decent applied ML background, but I'm interested in pursuing more "theoretical work." However, I am also a confused human who needs to try something before deciding whether or not they like it (aka what I think I want and what I actually want can be very different things). Since I don't really have any experience with theory, my research direction is pretty unclear. I also barely took any math courses in undergrad so I feel a bit under-qualified to pursue a more "theorem and proof"-based research style. Cornell CS PhD (funded) a great program! am I crazy for thinking about turning it down?? potential advisor does not seem like the best fit in terms of research interests, but he does seem flexible to new ideas I think a few professors do really interesting work, but they did not seem super keen on taking me as a student due to my lack of theory/math bg I'm not sure if I actually like CS or if I'm just familiar with it? I've tried systems + applied work and felt m e h, and theory seems like the last thing to try so far from any cities (or airports) UIUC Stats Masters (also funded) gives me opportunities to focus on learning and figuring out what I want to do I'm open to pivoting and focusing on statistics, but I feel like I might be throwing away my experience in CS the courses seem really interesting, but what if I don't like them or what if I fail out LOL not as "reputable"? definitely not as rare of an opportunity as Cornell PhD I think would require either reapplying to PhDs in 2 years or transferring into UIUC Stat PhD in one year (if they take me) also in a cornfield, but my SO is there! Thanks for reading :)) I'd love to hear your initial impressions, and let me know if there's something really obvious that I'm missing l o l i've been overthinking this way too much and my brain is tired