Computer Science PhD or Masters or Sitting Out a Year

[ptice]

Hello all!

I'm entering my senior year as a CS major at a moderately sized liberal arts school. I'm weighing several options: applying to PhD programs, applying to MS programs, or graduating and working for a year while continuing to do research with my professors and then applying to PhD programs.

As for the stats:

GPA: 3.94 (4.0 major/4.0 pure math minor/4.0 upper division)

GRE: Q800-V560-4.5

CS GRE: >90th percentile

Research: I've done a fair amount of math oriented research, though no publications on this front. I've also done some CS research which produced a first author conference paper (NOT top tier). I was also part of a summer NSF program that produced a conference paper (again NOT top tier).

Letters of Rec: I have two that I know will be excellent. One from the math department at my school, and one from the CS department at my school. I've known both professors for several years, and have done research for both. Unfortunately I don't think either is very widely known in the field, though they're great writers. The best of those letters will probably be from the math department, and the research referred to in that paper is yet to be published anywhere, so I'm not sure what kind of impact this will have. I also have a third recommender who may be a little more well known in the field, but the letter may not be AS strong.

Other Experience: I've guest lectured a CS course, TA'd a math course, and have given a couple presentations at student conferences.

Awards: Projected Summa Cum Laude, I've had department honors each semester, may have school-wide honors, I've also been awarded several named scholarships and grants.

One of my concerns is that although I'm certain I like research, I'm not entirely certain of what specific field of CS I'd like to pursue. This, of course, suggests I'd be better getting a master's degree, or doing further research before I apply anywhere. I would not be opposed to getting a master's degree, though I'd like funding and would not be interested in getting one if it meant paying for it myself.

Also, I have several research endeavors in the works, but they won't be completed prior application time this year. Each could produce a journal paper in the next year, and all of which I'd be first author. Not exactly sure of the journal tiers, but none lower than second tier. This, of course, may also improve my letters of rec (though I feel they're fairly strong as is). This may also allow me to hone in on a field of CS for my PhD research. Thus, working for a year and allowing these research projects to bear fruit may be quite advantageous.

I'm wondering what my chances might be, as thing stand now, at top 5 and top 15 CS PhD programs. Second, I'm wondering what my chances are of garnering funding at top 5 and top 15 CS MS programs. Third, and although I don't WANT to wait a year to apply to these programs, how might my continuing research and additional publications improve my chances at a top 5 PhD program, and further, how might waiting a year appear to top 5 PhD program?

Thanks again! I look forward to the feedback.

[belowthree]

Well nothing in your profile would rule you out of a place at a decent computer science program. It sounds like it'd all depend on your letters. Ask your professors what they think. As for waiting a year... it probably depends on what you would spend the year doing. If you think you can get a first author top tier paper accepted and published in a year then yes, that'd help... but not something I'd ever want to gamble on.

I'd apply this year and then, if you're not happy with the results, apply again next year.

[ptice]

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate your confidence. I'm curious what you think the risks are of waiting a year before applying? Also, I'm wondering whether you're referring to PhD or Masters regarding my chances at decent CS programs.

Thanks again.

[belowthree]

I said "nothing would rule you out" not "you have a sure spot." You'll need something to bring your file to the top of the stack. Get good letters that testify you're the best researcher since research was cool and that's really all you need!

I have no idea of the risks of waiting a year. People on this board seem to do fine or even better the next time around, so... probably not much risk. Seriously get your professors to write good letters and see what happens this year and if it doesn't work out, complete your research projects and come back guns blazing next year. Your professors can just use the letters they'll already have on file for you and that'll be that.