Advice regarding PhD Application

[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

Edited May 25, 2012 by rizwanhudda

[jjsakurai]

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.

Publications don't matter that much. What matters is recs from professors that the admission committee will know about (IIT Kanpur should have quite a few of them).

Also, CS Theory is driven mostly by conferences (STOC/FOCS/SODA/ICALP/etc.) rather than 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.

I'd take that option if I were in your shoes. Also try to work with Manindra Agarwal if you can. He's a big name in the field and a rec from him would help your case a lot.

It might be worth it to apply this year and if doesn't work out, then do the RA and apply again next year. Talk to your profs who've experience with students applying to US PhD programs to see what they think.

Does the publication count so much? Or Is it also fine if I have the result and my advisor gives a strong recommendation?

The latter is perfectly fine. Publication count doesn't matter too much.

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?

Depends on the details of your applications (recs & research mostly) but Top 5 from IITK is definitely doable. Even MIT/Berkeley/Princeton are doable depending on the quality of your research and recs.

What can I do to boost my application?

Do good research with various professors. Ideally you want to have as many research recs as possible.

Edited May 25, 2012 by jjsakurai