PhD in ML/DL review request

[SHBL]

Looking at PhD programs for ML for Fall 2020. Please take a look and give me feedback!

Undergrad Institutions:

                                     School 1. small university in South Korea (dropped out after first semester)

                                     School 2. another small university in South Korea (dropped out after one year)

                                     School 3. Californian community college

                                     School 4. UCSB (Transfer)

Undergrad Major: Statistics and Data Science

Cumulative GPA: 

                                     School 1:   0.0 / 4.3

                                     School 2:   2.3 / 4.3

                                     School 3:   4.0 / 4.0

                                     School 4:   3.51 / 4.0  (Major GPA: 3.68)

Type of Student: International Asian Male

Relevant Courses(Undergrad): 
Lower Div: Calculus 1, 2, 3 (A+), Linear Algebra (A+), Differential Equations (A), Intro to Proofs (A+)

                    Intro to computer science (A+), Computer Science Theory and Practice 1,2 (A+), Object Oriented Programming in C++(A), Programming for Engineers in Matlab(A+)

                    Elementary Statistics (A), Data Science Principles (A)

Upper Div: Probability and Statistics I (A+), Probability and Statistics II (B+),  Stochastic Processes I (A-), Stochastic Processes II (B+),  Hypothesis Tests (B+), Regression Analysis (A-),

                   Stats Machine Learning (B), Advanced Hypothesis Tests (A-),  Stats Data Science (B+),  Design of Experiments (A), Time Series Analysis (A-)

                   Data Structures and Algorithms (B-)

                   Linear Algebra (B+), Advanced Linear Algebra (B+), Intro to Real Analysis (A-), Graph Theory (P)

                    

GRE General Test:
Q: 161
V:  156
W: 4.0

 

Research Experience: 

- One year of undergraduate research student in a computer science research lab. (Worked in Deep Learning, Human Computer Interaction, and Data visualization, analysis) No publications. 

- One year of statistics research with a PhD student in Reinforcement Learning and financial modeling. No publications either.

 

Work Experience:

- One summer internship in image recognition, deep learning, and computer vision.

- One year of senior software engineer at an early stage school startup.

 

Publications:

7 co-authored math reference books for Korean high school students. (South Korea)

3 published journals to an unknown magazine in Korea.(South Korea)

 

Teaching Experience: Tutored at a city college for 2 years.

Coding Experience: Proficient in Python, C++, Java, Matlab. Comfortable with Linux environment, and Git.

Letters of Recommendation:  Two from professors I took class with(one math one stats).  One from co-worker/mentor (retired mathematician from U of Mich who knows me VERY WELL)

Research Interests: 3D reconstruction with point clouds, AR, CV for Autonomous Driving.

 

Programs, Schools Applying: CS PhD

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Top Choice) 

University of Wisconsin - Madison

University of Utah

University of Colorado Boulder

UCI

Virginia Tech

UIC

Duke

UMASS Amherst

TTIC

 

(Am I aiming too high?)

Please give me feedback!

[RuiWangeEECS]

I guess all I know is TTIC is a far, far reach, the others, no so sure, but anything's possible

[Acronym]

GPA & GRE are filters; you are on the lower end of the range for the uber competitive field of ML. The key elements are research experience/publications and letters of recommendation. No letters from research advisors? Profs who write DWIC (did well in class) letters are not taken seriously, unfortunately. 

I think UIUC and some of the others will be a reach, but I hope you find a good fit with an advisor willing to take you on. I applaud your tenacity in continuing your education and pursuing your dreams!

Edited December 28, 2019 by relative_obscurity

[Gatech_ST]

One thing to consider is that ML/DL is a hot area right now and it is very competitive generally even on reach schools. Considering your research background, I would say you definitely would be able to get into some of those schools (UIUC could be a reach).