CompSciNovice

Thank you very much for the thorough reply. I agree with you. And you are right! I don't have the research experience. And I'm sorry for the colorful language. I know it isn't "weaseling". I think I am using minimizing language to distract from the fact that research isn't guaranteed in a masters program like it is in the PhD and that makes me uncomfortable. It's a massive decision so I find myself feeling for additional signals to inform it. Thanks a ton.

For what it's worth, my grandfather went and got his PhD in social work at Berkeley in his 70's. You aren't too late. He had strong connections to Berkeley staff though. I would argue that you have the same problem as anyone else trying to break into academia, you need strong LoR from within academia. If you can do that, (maybe through a masters?) then I think you'd be good to grab the degrees and recommendations you'd need to break into teaching.

Thanks for replying! Yeah, sorry I should have been more explicit. I want to check my assumptions here. I am assuming that Northeastern and BU's masters programs are really primarily designed for industry, and not for research. UMass Amherst has quoted to me that 25% of their students do go on to become PhD's. That seems high to me. It seems like, if I want to focus on research, that would be a better fit. HOWEVER, I don't actually know if the BU and NU programs are actually bad for transitioning into research and academia. So here are my questions: Do you (or anyone else!) know how the masters programs I have listed here end up working for someone who wants to transition to a PhD program? Other than weaseling into a lab in my research area, are their other criteria I should be considering? Do you know how hard it is to become a research assistant, even with no pay, at these respective programs? As for finances. I will be fine financially and I want to weigh that separately from the merit of the programs on their own. Although that instate tuition at UMass Amherst is calling my name.

I want to transition from my masters to a PhD doing research. Of the programs in the title, which do you think would give me the best chance of getting into a lab, doing good research in the ML space and then transitioning to a PhD at graduation. It seems like the best fit would be at Amherst, but I would be curious if anyone here has considerations or culture knowledge about those schools that I might not have considered yet? And are my assumptions here correct have any of you encountered anyone who has successfully transitioned from the masters at any of these schools to a research PhD in machine learning?

I also haven't heard anything from the UCSD cs department.

Hey there. I applied to a few PhD programs and a few masters programs. I got denied from all of the PhD programs including the Umass MS/PhD program, but they admitted me for the masters program. I want to eventually transition to ML research. My hunch is that the BU and NU programs are fine, but are really primarily designed for getting you into industry with that fancy masters degree which I don't really care about. I am already in industry with my fancy undergrad degree from NU. I am guessing that my ability to weasel my way into a lab would be higher at UMass Amherst and therefore my chances of getting good letters of recommendation a year later when re-applying for PhD programs would also be better. I am definitely an outsider to the world of computer science academia so any help here would be greatly appreciated.