What grad school program or school could I get into?

[NMD_student]

I wanted to see if I could get some advice on whether or not I could get into grad school. 

I studied statistics and computer science at Harvard for my undergrad, and graduated last year.

I never really considered grad school because my gpa: 3.4. I recently got my score back for GRE and found out I had a perfect score. I was hoping that this might redeem my application. Would it?

I don't have any research experience outside of medical research I did in high school, but I can get 3 okay letters of recommendation from past professors. I have some class projects and strong industry internships.

Which programs would take me for a computer science or computational biology program? Are there any other areas of study that might value my background in statistics and computer science? I'm not international, does this make a difference?

Edited October 29, 2023 by NMD_student
personal details

[katsamac]

Hi! So I can't answer if you could get into grad school or not, and computer science/computational biology is not my expertise. Hopefully some folks will jump in and give some thoughts on that. And if you are seriously thinking about it, I would reach out to past professors, and have a conversation with them about what they think. They know how you think and work. Plus, if it is even a possibility, you want to stay or get in touch with professors so you aren't asking for recommendations out of the blue. 

But that leads me to why I am answering this question: Why do you want to go to graduate school? Is it for career options ? Do you have particular research you really want to do? Knowing why you want to continue on in a subject is huge and admissions offices can tell the difference. I am not saying you have to know exactly what you want to research, or exactly what you want to do with a MS/PhD, but I would say don't rush into it unless you know your "WHY". I am biased in the sense that I took 5 years between undergrad and my MPA and another ten before I am applying to PhD's programs this year. But I can tell you that you don't want to go to grad school just because. You should have a clear goal in mind, even if it is just to be able to complete deeper research in a field. 

[NMD_student]

That's great advice. Thank you for being so thoughtful.