rizwanhudda

Hello, I am interested in applying to top 15 schools in US for PhD in Computer Science (Theory ). I have done my Bachelors in CS from BITS, Pilani (Top 10 univ in India), and Currently doing a Masters in IIT Kanpur (Top Univ for Theory in India) , I am done with the coursework required for my masters(in last 2 semesters) and I will be working on my thesis for the next year. I am working on Dynamic Graph algorithms(Matching) from last 4 months under the supervision of a Prof with decent visibility in this field. I have a one year experience as Software Engineer at D.E.Shaw & Co. (India) in between my Bachelors and Masters. I am really passionate about theoretical cs and would like to get a phd from top school in the US. I am aware that to get into the top schools one has to publish in reputed journals. I haven't had any *real* research experience till now apart from term papers and course seminars. I am hopeful that I could get a publishable result in next 6 months or so as I will be solely working on my thesis. I have an option of working as RA under my supervisor for one extra year/Extend the duration of my masters program in case I want to wait for a year more after my masters before applying. So What is your opinion? Does the publication count so much? Or Is it also fine if I have the result and my advisor gives a strong recommendation? Also It might be premature without giving all the details of my application but do you think that I have a shot at Top 5? What can I do to boost my application? Undergrad GPA: 8.03/10.0 (CS Major:8.7/10.0) Masters GPA: 9.0/10.0 6 Months experience as Software Engineer Intern at Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd (Also I got an offer for Summer research from Max Planck Institut informatik in the Algorithms group through my advisor but I couldn't attend due to passport issues) I have been in top 10 of codechef monthly algorithm challenge a couple of times. You can look at my resume from here (In case it helps in evaluating my profile, I haven't tweaked it for PhD App though). Thanks, Rizwan Hudda. PhD Aspirant