Need advice on applications and schools (computer graphics)

[joro]

I originally applied last year for graduate school and there was some miscommunication between myself and one of my references. In the end, I had only 2 letters of recommendations submitted for each school I applied to and found out only after I had been rejected because the schools would not view an incomplete application. However, I still got accepted into the M.S. in Computer Science program at USC and UC Irvine.

I'm reapplying this year, will definitely have my 3 letters of recommendation, and hopefully have a new stellar SOP. My undergraduate gpa is very low (3.11) and my GRE scores could have been better (760q, 490v, 4.5w). I'm also taking online classes to learn cg related things (ex: Renderman, Maya, RealFlow, etc.) Also does anyone have any advice on making my application look "better"?

Can anyone give me some advice on other schools to apply to which either offer a M.S. in Computer Science with awesome computer graphics research or a interdisciplinary graduate program between art and computer science? My main goal is to work in the visual effects and animation industry as a Technical Director.

My list of schools I'm considering apply to consists of the following:

Texas A&M

Clemson University

Stanford University

University of Utah

UC San Diego

UCLA

UC Santa Barbara

UC Berkeley

UC Davis

Arizona State University

WashU

University of Maryland, Baltimore County & College Park

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Purdue University

If anyone has any other schools I should consider. I know CMU has an awesome PhD program and now they do research with Disney, but I think my chances of even being considered is too small.

Thanks!

[belowthree]

Caltech has a very good graphics group. Might not be the right fit for your goals, but it seemed odd to me that it's not on your list.

[joro]

I'll say that even though my goal is to be a Technical Director, I'm still interested in doing research. I don't necessarily need a program geared towards my goal since I should be able to apply everything I will in class or in research to it.

I would also consider Caltech if I thought that there was a small possibility of me getting in. I would also love to go to University of Washington, they seem to be doing tons of research in computer graphics.

I know Stanford is on the list, but it's there because I worked as a research assistant at Stanford for a year after graduating from SJSU (lesser known unranked school in the same area) and one of my 3 references is a Stanford Professor and also the Director of the research lab I worked at. So I figured why not give it a shot. Thanks for the response by the way.

You go to UCSD, right? I did a little scouring in the forums and saw you explaining the program a bit. Any advice on getting in?

[belowthree]

I just finished up my undergraduate work there. From what I know of their admissions system the best way to get in is to convince a professor that they want you as a researcher. If you do that you will get in, (one professor can pretty much ensure a student gets admitted if they're willing to put money behind it) if you don't you still can get in, but it's more difficult.

I was confused at why Stanford was on your list if you were pruning stretch schools. Your explanation makes a lot more sense now.

I'm not sure how competitive Caltech CS is. They're a good program, but their CS department doesn't seem to be as good as most of their other departments, so it's probably much easier to get in to than say... a Caltech physics program. Does anyone on this board know how competitive this program is? I'm guessing it might be easier than most people think given the relatively high prestige of the school in other areas.

[joro]

There's one computer graphics professor at UCSD that I'm aware of based on what is shown at the graphics lab, Henrik Wann Jensen. There are other faculty members, but they're part of the vision lab.

[joro]

I would also like to note that I'm also looking at schools in Canada.

[belowthree]

There's one computer graphics professor at UCSD that I'm aware of based on what is shown at the graphics lab, Henrik Wann Jensen. There are other faculty members, but they're part of the vision lab.

Ah yes, the department's resident academy award winner. (The CSE department I think has the school's one and only, but there might be one elsewhere?) The vision lab does enough graphics where you can generally get away with it. Talk with the profs you're interested in and check. I know Serge works pretty closely with one of the teams at Caltech.

[joro]

Instead of making a completely new thread, I thought I'd just bring back my old thread.

This question has probably been asked a ton of times already, but based on my given information. Do I have a chance at these schools? (new list below) Would mentioning how my grades have been on an incline help my application? I ended my last semester with a 3.65 taking the maximum number of classes possible (without petition for extra units), working as an intern part-time, and also as a grader.

Would it be too much of a stretch to apply to Cornell (M.S. in Computer Graphics)?

Here's the updated list of schools I will be applying to:

M.S. in Visualization Sciences

Texas A&M

M.S. in Computer Graphics Technology & M.S. in Computer Science (undecided)

Purdue University

M.S. in Computing, Graphics Track

University of Utah

M.S. in Computer Science

Arizona State University

UC San Diego

UC Santa Barbara

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

UC Riverside

SUNY Stony Brook

WashU

UC Irvine

Georgia Tech

University of Alberta

University of British Columbia

McGill University

University of Toronto

[karl_marx_jr]

utah is one of the best schools in computer graphics so you should definitely apply there and you have a good chance there in my opinion.