For New CS Applicants

[csperson]

My friend gave me these advice links when I was applying to CS PhD programs. Just thought it would be useful for sharing these with new applicants.

Most of these come from professors at top CS programs.

UMASS prof

http://prisms.cs.uma...r/cs-admissions

Virginia prof

http://www.cs.virgin...rospective.html

CMU prof

www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf

UMD prof

http://www.cs.umd.ed.../gradstudy.html

Wisconsin

http://pages.cs.wisc...e/GradSchoolFAQ

UIC student

http://www.cs.uic.ed...c/uic-apply.txt

UCSD prof

http://idleprocess.w...of-your-dreams/

Brown prof - this is for recommendation writers, but still has useful info for applicants

http://www.cs.brown....d-School-Recos/

U Washington prof

http://www.cs.washin...mmendation.html

Cornell prof

http://www.cs.cornel...2-gradapps.html

Columbia dept

http://www.cs.columb...d/faqs/applying

Edited July 10, 2011 by csperson

[Amogh]

Thanx..

[OH YEAH]

I love advice links, especially on writing. I save all of those to my computer.

However, big warning: it is easy to get caught up in reading all the advice you can. This happened to me a number of times... There are a few fundamental basics that you need to know about applying to a PhD program. After a certain point, you should stop reading stuff and actually work on your application--reading advice links is NOT the same as finishing your SoP!

[symbolic]

This is a really useful guide on applying for the big science fellowships (NSF, NDSEG, Hertz), from a PhD student in CS at Stanford:

http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/fellowship-tips.htm

[mewtwo]

also http://www.cs.princeton.edu/academics/ugradpgm/gsg.php

[newms]

Awesome idea. I'm sure this will be helpful for a lot of applicants. Here's another link from a prof at University of Utah:

http://matt.might.net/articles/how-to-apply-and-get-in-to-graduate-school-in-science-mathematics-engineering-or-computer-science/

[newms]

I love advice links, especially on writing. I save all of those to my computer.

However, big warning: it is easy to get caught up in reading all the advice you can. This happened to me a number of times... There are a few fundamental basics that you need to know about applying to a PhD program. After a certain point, you should stop reading stuff and actually work on your application--reading advice links is NOT the same as finishing your SoP!

Great point...this almost happened to me last year as it took me longer than I wanted to finish my SoP.

[csperson]

Awesome idea. I'm sure this will be helpful for a lot of applicants. Here's another link from a prof at University of Utah:

http://matt.might.ne...mputer-science/

This Utah prof offered some very helpful info. However, I bet many profs would disagree with what he thought about GPA. I mean, how many profs are wiling to take a student with a 2.0 GPA?

[newms]

This Utah prof offered some very helpful info. However, I bet many profs would disagree with what he thought about GPA. I mean, how many profs are wiling to take a student with a 2.0 GPA?

I was surprised to recently stumble across CS profs that had undergrad GPAs under 3.0. For example, Jeff Erickson at UIUC (no less). He explains how he managed to get into a PhD program with a 2.4 GPA here. He also lists a couple other CS profs that had GPAs almost as low as his, but he doesn't say what they were. So it is possible to get into CS PhD programs and make a career in academia with a GPA under 3. Very difficult, but still possible.

Matt Might, that Utah prof, also adds:

I discovered through feedback that some schools (including Utah) have a GPA cut-off. I think GPA cut-offs are absurd. Of course, GPA cut-offs are not hard. In practice, there is a way to override them, but it probably requires a professor going to bat for you and getting the right bits flipped in the university bureaucracy.

Edited July 13, 2011 by newms

[starmaker]

So it is possible to get into CS PhD programs...with a GPA under 3. Very difficult, but still possible.

I can be this forum's test case for the upcoming application cycle.

[newms]

I can be this forum's test case for the upcoming application cycle.

Good luck!

[unsuspected]

This should be stickied. Thanks for sharing.

[wifey99999999]

bump

[csKid]