Hi all!
I'm hoping to apply for CS PhD programs next year for Fall 2012 admission; so I was wondering if I could get suggestions on how I can spend the next year strengthening my application.
My undergraduate degree is in an entirely unrelated field, but I graduated with a 3.7 and was part of 2 prestigious scholarship programs.
My current masters degree is in computer animation & effects, involves a considerable amount of CS (tho it is not a CS degree). My grad GPA is a 3.93.
I have participated in research as an undergrad (though in my undergraduate major, so unrelated to CS), and do have one published abstract from that period.
As a grad student, my degree is more of a professional program, so I haven't been involved yet with research, but I have obtained 2 grants to work on a current production. I haven't decided on my thesis yet, but I'm hoping to have it deal more with visual computing than computer animation, since I'm interested in visual computing and graphics.
I last took the GRE 3 years ago and got a 720Q, 660V, and 3.5 AW (I didn't study for it, hated the writing, sooo... yeah). I'm fairly confident I can easily boost my scores when I retake it next year.
What expectations should I have when applying to PhD programs/ what should I focus on to boost my chances?