University guidance and advice for PhD in CS (Fall 2015)

[foreignstudent]

Hi all

 

I aspire to do a PhD in Computer Science in Fall 2015 and as of now I am a Software Engineer with a work experience of 3.5 years.

My field of interest is AI in Games I am an indie game developer where I make games at home for learning and hopefully to have a career in the gaming industry one day

 

Since my work and my interest do not match, I am in a fix as to whether I should even be applying to the universities in the first place.

I don't have any research experience apart from the games I make for learning the techniques.

 

Also I wont be able to pursue my study in the states without funding. So my questions are:

 

1) Should I even think of applying as I dont seem to have the sought after and the typical student profile as regards to research and paper publications

 

2) As my work and area of interest are unrelated , would this further dampen my chances of even being considered for a mere glance at my application

 

3) Assuming by a nice miracle I do get selected, what are my chances of getting funded?

 

Also I plan to take the gre and toefl in the coming months and as part of the university choices to be made for sending the scores on exam day I have made the following list which is not definite at the moment.

 

These universities I have chosen since they have an AI research with specifics to Game AI and learning Agents

 

University of California-Santa Cruz
University of Texas-Austin
Wayne state university
university of southern california
University of Rochester
north carolina state university
new mexico state university
 

I would be happy if i could get any advice on my doubts and whether  I should even consider for applying .

Hoping for some anwers thank you

Edited March 27, 2014 by foreignstudent

[med latte]

What is your level of education now? You may consider taking a graduate a class or two with the universities you selected (assuming they offer the courses you want online). I imagine they will be pleased to see your portfolio.

[foreignstudent]

@med_latte: I have done my undergraduation in Computer Science.. I am not sure they offer such an esoteric course online..How do I showcase my researching capacity when I don't have any published papers..

[PhDerp]

I know USC offers online courses for master's degrees. I can't speak for the rest of those schools, but that's a start!

 

USC also boasts a huge population of international students, which they mention on their website. And if you do get into an on-campus graduate program there, they offer a summer program for international students to come and get settled in, and take english courses.

[DeleteMePlease]

Get research experience

[foreignstudent]

@GermanStudent

 

I want to specialize in AI related to Games, and in my country there are no Institutes which does research on that particular field as Games is still viewed as past-time rather than a field of study.

 

Funding is an important criteria as without that I would not be able to pursue PhD or masters.. 

[D8F1F488]

Does individual research ( which leads to a publication ), without supervision, ever work for people without research experience ?

 

If yes - Where do you even start ?

Edited April 2, 2014 by D8F1F488

[foreignstudent]

Can anyone tell me whether I am streching too far by applying to a PhD Program without any research experience??

I seem to get mixed info about this, as some swear by research experience and some say they were admitted without one..

If it depends on luck then I am out of contention as luck and I are certainly not best pals

[DeleteMePlease]

Does individual research ( which leads to a publication ), without supervision, ever work for people without research experience ?

 

If yes - Where do you even start ?

 

It is very rare to work on a publication alone. I wouldn't recommend doing so espeically not as a beginner. You don't need an adviser but at least another student or so that can proofread your paper and give you feedback.

@D8F1F488: The experience does not have to be in your field. Any kind of work with/for a professor or grad student is extremely helpful. If you have no research experience at all, how do you want to convince an admission commitee that you want to do research for the next five to six years?

[D8F1F488]

But even if he has another student who is helping him ... given the fact that he has only a BSc degree, it will be really rare if he has the sufficient knowledge to do any contribution to the field, which could play in his favor.

 

Do I not fully understand the concept of doing research ? Aren't only real contributions going to help him in his admission process ?

 

For example if he is interested in Machine Learning ... I can think of quite the stack of books to read ( above undergraduate CS level ), just so he can be sufficiently prepared to understand the basic concepts of the field. ( left alone, doing research in the field )

Edited April 2, 2014 by D8F1F488

[DeleteMePlease]

Yes what you describe is original research.

But you can also for example evaluate an exisiting contribution. For example I implemented an algorithm that was presented in a paper and did some measurements. Something like that looks better than no research at all.

 

However, another problem if you have no adivser is that you won't have somebody to write you a letter of recommendation about your ability to do research...

[asdfferent]

How much research experience are CS programs looking for? I think this and my GRE score were the weakest links in my application this year (rejected by 11 schools).

[DeleteMePlease]

How much research experience are CS programs looking for? I think this and my GRE score were the weakest links in my application this year (rejected by 11 schools).

 

I don't think it is about reserach experience but potential to do research. You just have to convince them somehow that you can and want to do research.

[foreignstudent]

@asdfferent

 

How many schools did you apply to?? What was your GRE score??

 

I think I too would be facing the same shut doors without any research experience!!!

[asdfferent]

@asdfferent

How many schools did you apply to?? What was your GRE score??

I think I too would be facing the same shut doors without any research experience!!!

I applied to 11. My GRE was 161V, 163Q. I actually have some research from one of the big 4, but it was just for a summer so I guess it didn't really help in the end.

[foreignstudent]

I applied to 11. My GRE was 161V, 163Q. I actually have some research from one of the big 4, but it was just for a summer so I guess it didn't really help in the end.

 

Oh your GRE score is pretty good and you have some research background as well!!!! Surprising you were turned down by all the 11 schools !!

 

Can you mention the University names you had applied to?? Were they from the top 20 category??

 

Would you be applying again for fall  2015

Edited April 8, 2014 by foreignstudent

[asdfferent]

Oh your GRE score is pretty good and you have some research background as well!!!! Surprising you were turned down by all the 11 schools !!

Can you mention the University names you had applied to?? Were they from the top 20 category??

Would you be applying again for fall 2015

Bad luck, I suppose. I'd rather not name the schools publicly, but they were all in the top 40 I believe. I did apply to a couple of the big 4 which were long shots anyway.

[asdfferent]

Also, I'd like to apply again for fall 2015, but I'm not sure I will be more successful. If I were to reapply, it would most likely be to many of the same schools since those are the programs I'm interested in.

[DeleteMePlease]

Granted, you need luck to get into one of the top 10 schools. But if you really applied to 11 schools where some are not that highly ranked and all rejected you (without an interview I guess? ), then there seems to be some other problem.

 

Are you sure your Letters of Recommendation are strong? Did somebody proofread your SoP? 

Edited April 9, 2014 by GermanStudent

[asdfferent]

Granted, you need luck to get into one of the top 10 schools. But if you really applied to 11 schools where some are not that highly ranked and all rejected you (without an interview I guess? ), then there seems to be some other problem.

Are you sure your Letters of Recommendation are strong? Did somebody proofread your SoP?

I did get interviews to 3 of the schools. One of them went terribly though but the others were very good. I emailed a professor at my top choice and he said that all my letter writers wrote strong recommendations and that I had a very good application. He even said that I was a top candidate but ultimately it didn't work out.

And yes, I had professors look over my statement. One of my letter writers was quite surprised to hear I was rejected across the board.

[PhDerp]

I did get interviews to 3 of the schools. One of them went terribly though but the others were very good. I emailed a professor at my top choice and he said that all my letter writers wrote strong recommendations and that I had a very good application. He even said that I was a top candidate but ultimately it didn't work out.

And yes, I had professors look over my statement. One of my letter writers was quite surprised to hear I was rejected across the board.

That stinks, I'm sorry to hear that! :/ I hope things go better for you next year.

 

The good news is CS is a great field to pick up and drop work quickly. Some of my friends live off of contract work. There's definitely something you can do to improve your application for next round!

[asdfferent]

That stinks, I'm sorry to hear that! :/ I hope things go better for you next year.

 

The good news is CS is a great field to pick up and drop work quickly. Some of my friends live off of contract work. There's definitely something you can do to improve your application for next round!

 

thanks! Working is definitely the plan after graduation. I'll probably take the GRE again as well.

[DeleteMePlease]

Mh I am sorry that it didn't work out for you then... However, maybe it is a chance to take a break before grad school and enjoy life a little