Chances for top CS PhD?

[achapiro]

Hi everyone! I've poster a similar thread in College Confidential allready, but I'd like more opinions, so here I am!

I'm a student from Brazil, and I really want to get into a "great" Computer Science or Applied Mathematics (I want to work with Computer Graphics) PhD program in the US. My current list of favourites includes:

Berkeley

Princeton

Harvard

Cornell

NYU

U. of Toronto

U. of British Columbia

... and maybe a few others. (I'd like to try MIT and CALTECH as well, but I'm worried that I'm not competitive enough to get anywhere near an acceptance there...)

I know most of these to get into, so I'd like to know what someone with more experience in these things than me could tell me about my odds. Here's some info about me:

I am 20 years old.

In high school, had a research scholarship in astronomy during the senior year. Won 2 national public school mathematics olympic gold medals (being 9th and 95th from ~6 million students). Have a gold medal in the brasilian astronomy olympiad.

Finished university in Juiz de Fora (mathematics), with 85/100 average score, being the first in my class. (also finished the 4 year program in 3 years). I've also done a lot of computer science subjects, especially in Computer Graphics, all with good grades.

During these 3 years I've had several government funded research scholarships, first in mathematics (from the olympics), then theoretical physics, then partial differential equations. I've also participated in the Computer Graphics group from the 2nd semester, and managed to publish 2 papers with the group, both in A rated international conferences (ICIP and ICCS).

Currently I'm getting my master's in Computer Graphics at IMPA (probably Brazil's most famous school). I just began in january this year, but I'm hoping to be able to finish the master's program by july/2011, thus allowing me to pursue a PhD in the US in fall/2011. So far my average on the master's program is between an A- and a B+.

I'm most likely going to get 1 really good recommendation from my Graphics advisor from university (the one I published the papers with) and 2 moderate/good recommendations from teachers at IMPA.

I haven't taken the GRE or TOEFL yet, but I expect something above 100 on TOEFL and about 500 V and 750+Q on the GRE.

I'm not sure if I can take the specific GRE, since I live in Brazil and the nearest test center is far away, but I'll probably try to do the math one, since that's the area of my undergrad studies.

Do you guys think I have good chances of getting into one of the programs I cited above?

Thanks in advance!!!

[OH YEAH]

I'm not sure why you would fear MIT and Caltech with Berkeley/Princeton/Cornell on your favorites. If you like MIT and Caltech, by all means, apply.

If you contributed novel work (and weren't just a grunt) to those 2 papers you have a good chance of getting in. Here are my recommendations to you:

- Get to know your professors better. "Moderate" recommendations aren't worth much.

- In your SOP don't talk so much about your Olympiad junk, or your 3 year program, your GPA, or whatever. Emphasize the research you have done. Period.

- If your math research went somewhere, I would hype that up--computer graphics is all math.

- I don't think taking the Math GRE matters too much... I'd take the CS one if you really care about doing this. After all, you have a masters in CS--taking the Math GRE to me just makes it seem like you are afraid :/

Hi everyone! I've poster a similar thread in College Confidential allready, but I'd like more opinions, so here I am!

I'm a student from Brazil, and I really want to get into a "great" Computer Science or Applied Mathematics (I want to work with Computer Graphics) PhD program in the US. My current list of favourites includes:

Berkeley

Princeton

Harvard

Cornell

NYU

U. of Toronto

U. of British Columbia

... and maybe a few others. (I'd like to try MIT and CALTECH as well, but I'm worried that I'm not competitive enough to get anywhere near an acceptance there...)

I know most of these to get into, so I'd like to know what someone with more experience in these things than me could tell me about my odds. Here's some info about me:

I am 20 years old.

In high school, had a research scholarship in astronomy during the senior year. Won 2 national public school mathematics olympic gold medals (being 9th and 95th from ~6 million students). Have a gold medal in the brasilian astronomy olympiad.

Finished university in Juiz de Fora (mathematics), with 85/100 average score, being the first in my class. (also finished the 4 year program in 3 years). I've also done a lot of computer science subjects, especially in Computer Graphics, all with good grades.

During these 3 years I've had several government funded research scholarships, first in mathematics (from the olympics), then theoretical physics, then partial differential equations. I've also participated in the Computer Graphics group from the 2nd semester, and managed to publish 2 papers with the group, both in A rated international conferences (ICIP and ICCS).

Currently I'm getting my master's in Computer Graphics at IMPA (probably Brazil's most famous school). I just began in january this year, but I'm hoping to be able to finish the master's program by july/2011, thus allowing me to pursue a PhD in the US in fall/2011. So far my average on the master's program is between an A- and a B+.

I'm most likely going to get 1 really good recommendation from my Graphics advisor from university (the one I published the papers with) and 2 moderate/good recommendations from teachers at IMPA.

I haven't taken the GRE or TOEFL yet, but I expect something above 100 on TOEFL and about 500 V and 750+Q on the GRE.

I'm not sure if I can take the specific GRE, since I live in Brazil and the nearest test center is far away, but I'll probably try to do the math one, since that's the area of my undergrad studies.

Do you guys think I have good chances of getting into one of the programs I cited above?

Thanks in advance!!!

[OH YEAH]

I'm not sure why you would fear MIT and Caltech with Berkeley/Princeton/Cornell on your favorites. If you like MIT and Caltech, by all means, apply.

If you contributed novel work (and weren't just a grunt) to those 2 papers you have a good chance of getting in. Here are my recommendations to you:

- Get to know your professors better. "Moderate" recommendations aren't worth much.

- In your SOP don't talk so much about your Olympiad junk, or your 3 year program, your GPA, or whatever. Emphasize the research you have done. Period.

- If your math research went somewhere, I would hype that up--computer graphics is all math.

- I don't think taking the Math GRE matters too much... I'd take the CS one if you really care about doing this. After all, you have a masters in CS--taking the Math GRE to me just makes it seem like you are afraid :/

Hi everyone! I've poster a similar thread in College Confidential allready, but I'd like more opinions, so here I am!

I'm a student from Brazil, and I really want to get into a "great" Computer Science or Applied Mathematics (I want to work with Computer Graphics) PhD program in the US. My current list of favourites includes:

Berkeley

Princeton

Harvard

Cornell

NYU

U. of Toronto

U. of British Columbia

... and maybe a few others. (I'd like to try MIT and CALTECH as well, but I'm worried that I'm not competitive enough to get anywhere near an acceptance there...)

I know most of these to get into, so I'd like to know what someone with more experience in these things than me could tell me about my odds. Here's some info about me:

I am 20 years old.

In high school, had a research scholarship in astronomy during the senior year. Won 2 national public school mathematics olympic gold medals (being 9th and 95th from ~6 million students). Have a gold medal in the brasilian astronomy olympiad.

Finished university in Juiz de Fora (mathematics), with 85/100 average score, being the first in my class. (also finished the 4 year program in 3 years). I've also done a lot of computer science subjects, especially in Computer Graphics, all with good grades.

During these 3 years I've had several government funded research scholarships, first in mathematics (from the olympics), then theoretical physics, then partial differential equations. I've also participated in the Computer Graphics group from the 2nd semester, and managed to publish 2 papers with the group, both in A rated international conferences (ICIP and ICCS).

Currently I'm getting my master's in Computer Graphics at IMPA (probably Brazil's most famous school). I just began in january this year, but I'm hoping to be able to finish the master's program by july/2011, thus allowing me to pursue a PhD in the US in fall/2011. So far my average on the master's program is between an A- and a B+.

I'm most likely going to get 1 really good recommendation from my Graphics advisor from university (the one I published the papers with) and 2 moderate/good recommendations from teachers at IMPA.

I haven't taken the GRE or TOEFL yet, but I expect something above 100 on TOEFL and about 500 V and 750+Q on the GRE.

I'm not sure if I can take the specific GRE, since I live in Brazil and the nearest test center is far away, but I'll probably try to do the math one, since that's the area of my undergrad studies.

Do you guys think I have good chances of getting into one of the programs I cited above?

Thanks in advance!!!

[achapiro]

Thanks for your reply, OH YEAH!

The "moderate" recommendations I wrote about there are from professors with whom I've done 2 Computer Graphics specific classes each during master's, and had some contact with for the projects, etc., but no actual research together. The problem with getting to know them better is that since I'm planning on applying in december/2010, time's running out...

The other recommendation is probably going to be very good though. I'm even currently beginning a new project with this third professor that was my idea, so that'll probabaly look good.

Any comments are very welcome... I'm being a little neurotic right now thinking I'll get rejected from all these universities, so anything that helps me gauge my application's potential is really helpful.

[joro]

What areas of computer graphics interests you? Some schools are strong in certain areas, but lack in others. You don't want to go to a school that is particularly weaker in your area of interest.

[OH YEAH]

Thanks for your reply, OH YEAH!

The "moderate" recommendations I wrote about there are from professors with whom I've done 2 Computer Graphics specific classes each during master's, and had some contact with for the projects, etc., but no actual research together. The problem with getting to know them better is that since I'm planning on applying in december/2010, time's running out...

The other recommendation is probably going to be very good though. I'm even currently beginning a new project with this third professor that was my idea, so that'll probabaly look good.

Any comments are very welcome... I'm being a little neurotic right now thinking I'll get rejected from all these universities, so anything that helps me gauge my application's potential is really helpful.

"Did well in class" recommendations count for nothing, and plus, they already know you're good at CG from the guy you did actual research with. What about the math research? Can anyone attest to your skills?

[achapiro]

"Did well in class" recommendations count for nothing, and plus, they already know you're good at CG from the guy you did actual research with. What about the math research? Can anyone attest to your skills?

Well, I could get a really, really good recommendation from my math advisor from the university, with whom I've presented a conference poster and studied functional analysis, but he's in pure mathematics (PDE) and he's not "famous" at all... (he does little research) From what I was told by some people at IMPA, I shouldn't get a recommendation from him, since the CG professors in the US won't know who he is at all. I could get 4 recommendations though (the three I mentioned earlier and this guy's) , I guess.

So I guess it boils down to: what's better - a really good recommendation from a person no one knows or a moderately good recommendation from someone who is more known?

[OH YEAH]

Well, I could get a really, really good recommendation from my math advisor from the university, with whom I've presented a conference poster and studied functional analysis, but he's in pure mathematics (PDE) and he's not "famous" at all... (he does little research) From what I was told by some people at IMPA, I shouldn't get a recommendation from him, since the CG professors in the US won't know who he is at all. I could get 4 recommendations though (the three I mentioned earlier and this guy's) , I guess.

So I guess it boils down to: what's better - a really good recommendation from a person no one knows or a moderately good recommendation from someone who is more known?

I would pick the first one, and that seems to be the advice given by most professors I've seen. You can always get one recommendation from IMPA, and two research related recommendations?

[achapiro]

I would pick the first one, and that seems to be the advice given by most professors I've seen. You can always get one recommendation from IMPA, and two research related recommendations?

I see...

Thanks for the advice, OH YEAH, you're really helpful! =)

Any other comments on my chances are still very welcome!

[achapiro]

Just an update - I did the GRE this week and got a 800Q/600V. Any comments on my odds of getting into one of the schools above for a CS PhD are still very, very welcome.

[newms]

Just an update - I did the GRE this week and got a 800Q/600V. Any comments on my odds of getting into one of the schools above for a CS PhD are still very, very welcome.

Hi achapiro, GRE scores aren't considered very much by top schools, in fact I think I read that MIT doesn't even require the general GRE. That said, bad GRE scores can be problematic. You, however, got some good scores so I'd say that your chances are pretty much the same as they were before, which given the consensus so far, is that you definitely have a shot, especially if you get good letters of recommendation.

Edited August 29, 2010 by newms

[BKMD]

Like the other person said, they don't often care about the GRE, though as an international student, they might check your Verbal score - you have a good score, so you're in a good position there.

It seems like you have a decent chance for admission, but it's always hard to say. You still have a few months before you apply, so I think the best thing you can do in that time is 1) stay close to whoever will be writing your recommendation letters, because it is pretty important that they can say specific things about you, and 2) do more research if you have the opportunity (even if you have do it on your own).

[achapiro]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I've already asked the two professors from my undergrad school for recommendations and it seems they'll write me really good letters.

Now I guess only time will tell how my applications are going to fare...

[achapiro]

Just an update, my final scores are:

GRE 800Q, 600V and 4.5AW,

I got a 117 on TOEFL.

Thus far I have mostly 2 concerns - one is that I'm thinking about skipping the subject GRE altogether, since it's gonna be a lot of work and I'm currently trying to pursue a project that will result in a publication we're hoping to submit in november this year, and since a lot of schools "Strongly reccomend" it, it seems kind of troubling.

Another concern is that a friend of mine said that currently foreign students have no chance of getting into public schools in California (Like Berkeley) since they're short on funding and funding for foreigners is a lot more expensive than for locals there. I'd really like to take a shot at Berkeley though, but since I have no funding of my own I'm afraid I'll just be wasting my time... Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[newms]

Just an update, my final scores are:

GRE 800Q, 600V and 4.5AW,

I got a 117 on TOEFL.

Thus far I have mostly 2 concerns - one is that I'm thinking about skipping the subject GRE altogether, since it's gonna be a lot of work and I'm currently trying to pursue a project that will result in a publication we're hoping to submit in november this year, and since a lot of schools "Strongly reccomend" it, it seems kind of troubling.

Another concern is that a friend of mine said that currently foreign students have no chance of getting into public schools in California (Like Berkeley) since they're short on funding and funding for foreigners is a lot more expensive than for locals there. I'd really like to take a shot at Berkeley though, but since I have no funding of my own I'm afraid I'll just be wasting my time... Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

If it comes down to a choice between getting a paper published and doing the subject GRE, spend the time to get the paper published. This will help your application a lot more than the subject GRE. The very top schools don't pay much attention to the subject GRE, so if you can get your paper published in a respected journal/conference that would be the way to go.

[achapiro]

If it comes down to a choice between getting a paper published and doing the subject GRE, spend the time to get the paper published. This will help your application a lot more than the subject GRE. The very top schools don't pay much attention to the subject GRE, so if you can get your paper published in a respected journal/conference that would be the way to go.

Yea, that's what I thought too... I would only be able to send it though, the replies on whether it got in or not would probably come in mid-january.

[newms]

Yea, that's what I thought too... I would only be able to send it though, the replies on whether it got in or not would probably come in mid-january.

At least you would be able to list it on your CV as submitted and you will be able to describe the research in your SoP. Also, in January, should the paper be accepted, you could mention this to the department - it is probable that they wouldn't have made their decisions by then.

[achapiro]

At least you would be able to list it on your CV as submitted and you will be able to describe the research in your SoP. Also, in January, should the paper be accepted, you could mention this to the department - it is probable that they wouldn't have made their decisions by then.

Sounds good, thanks! Any clue on the California thing?

[newms]

Sounds good, thanks! Any clue on the California thing?

You mean Berkeley? Sorry I'm not too familiar with Berkeley.

[achapiro]

You mean Berkeley? Sorry I'm not too familiar with Berkeley.

Allright... Thanks a lot anwyays!!

[BKMD]

Any clue on the California thing?

My understanding (someone correct me if I'm wrong), there is a tuition difference between residents of California and non-residents (I think this is true of any state school), but I don't see that there would be a tuition difference between American students from other students and international students. And since most of the American students come from other states anyway, there is probably not a difference in the way they perceive domestic vs foreign. I could be wrong about this but that's my impression. Berkeley's budget situation is perhaps worse than many other public schools, so this might be an bigger factor here. I would apply if you want to (though keep in mind, the application fee is a bit expensive, and admission here is definitely very very competitive).

Overall, I would say your test scores are very good. I don't think they will necessarily help you, but they are good, so I wouldn't worry about that. I think you have a decent chance at top schools but you should apply around, because your application doesn't seem exceptional (it's good and you should apply to good schools, but I don't think it stands out enough for #1 schools).

[achapiro]

So I did manage to submit that paper to a strong conference, but I was told I can't put any information about it on my curriculum because it's a "double blind" style submission. So basically it will count for zero. Possibly less than zero, since I didn't have time to prepare for the subject GRE.

Sucks to be me.

[newms]

So basically it will count for zero.

Not necessarily true. If the paper gets accepted before decisions have been made, say in early January, then you could let the department know this. Also, the paper getting accepted could help you in the case that you end up on a waiting list. So it won't count for zero if the paper gets accepted.

[achapiro]

So it won't count for zero if the paper gets accepted.

I sure hope it does then... hehehe

[achapiro]

I've got another question.

I wrote my SoP a while ago, but I didn't mention anywhere that I completed a 4 year bachelor's degree in 3 years. Should I mention that? Do you think it will be seen as a good thing, or a bad thing?