Chance me please

[phd13]

I'm a white female cs major with a dance minor hoping to get my Ph.D in computer science. However, due to having a full time job my gpa is pretty bad (3.37). I will be taking the GRE in a week.

I had an REU last summer and my job of over three years includes programming. I would like to attend a decent school, but I'm terrified I won't get in to any and/or receive funding.

My current list is:

University of Washington

Georgia Institute of Technology

UIUC

Purdue

UT - Austin

Clemson

University of Chicago

Ohio State

Arizona State University

North Carolina State University--Raleigh

Bama

V-Tech

Indiana U

All advice and comments are appreciated.

[bamafan]

It's hard to say without more information, such as your undergrad institution. If you write a great statement and have strong recs, I don't see why you can't be successful.

[phd13]

I go to a MAC school so it's not very known for cs. I forgot to mention that I was a lab instructor for a semester.

[bamafan]

The good news is that most PhD programs are mostly/fully funded, so if you get in, you'll have that. If you have any research experience (in addition to the REU), I would tab that PI for a letter of recommendation; same with the one from the REU, even if it's only for a summer. Grad schools want to see if you can do research, and they want letters from people who can evaluate your research potential.

I too have a pretty terrible GPA, but this is something that can be easily offset if the rest of your application is promising. Write a kick ass statement, do well on the GRE, and I don't see why you wouldn't be competitive.