Chances at top 5 CS PhD program ?

[divideBy0]

Hi all,

Just was wondering what the wisdom of the web could tell me about my chances at highly competitive PhD programs in CS. I have not made up my mind yet about grad school, and am still considering industry after college. But some of my dream grad schools are Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon. Go ahead and give me your most honest predictions!

The Stats:

School: A good overall private research university in the Midwest (top 20 U.S. News for undergrad, for what that counts); engineering and applied science program is not particularly strong from a reputation standpoint, but high quality education, in my opinion.  

Double major: Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

GPA: 3.95/4.00 (top 2-3%)

GRE: 165 Math, 163 Verbal (based off several practice exams) (Sidenote: does anyone even look at writing?)

Other (possibly) relevant bio:

-Assume good, strong recs, but not super stellar, blow your mind recs.

- Assume no research

-Strong interest in "mathy" fields within EE and CS, such as information theory, machine learning, data science, control systems. Would want to purse research in those areas. If you have any recommendations for good programs in these areas, let me know!

- 2 prior internships (1 in web development, the other in big data) at somewhat reputable companies that you've most likely heard of, but not Google or FB level. Probably not too relevant for grad school, but that is what I spent my summers doing instead of research.

 

 

 

[Dawnbreaker]

- Assume no research

This is a big negative. Top 5 PhD program across all fields expect good research if not publications. Also, good recommendation letters without doing research with them almost never happens. So heads up for that.

-Strong interest in "mathy" fields within EE and CS, such as information theory, machine learning, data science, control systems. 

For these interests, I would rather apply to EE programs, or some sort of interdisciplinary EE and CS programs (like applied math). Info theory and control are nonexistent in CS. You can still do ML sitting in EE departments (in most cases directly, in a few cases indirectly through signal processing). Also from admissions point of view, EE is slightly easier than CS (statistically, there seem to be too many CS students for too few positions). So why not just do it in EE? You also have option of other "mathy" fields like communications, compressed sensing etc. 

Edited August 21, 2015 by Dawnbreaker

[flowereater]

Probably 0% chance. Maybe a small possibility for Princeton if there is a *perfect* fit. But the no research is going to kill you. Your letters are all going to say "divideBy0 did well in my class, asked insightful questions, and would do well in grad school". To be honest, your profile just doesn't stand out in any way.

[.letmeinplz//]

GRE: 165 Math, 163 Verbal (based off several practice exams) (Sidenote: does anyone even look at writing?)

MIT CS does not use the GRE as an admissions tool. Top 15 schools weigh heavily on research and LORs. Read http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf for more information on applying to top CS schools (section 3.0 on applying). An applicable quote from that paper for your question is 

At CMU the mean GPA of students admitted is over 3.8 (even though we don’t use grades as a criterion), however students have also been admitted with GPAs below 3.3, since research is what matters, not grades. A GPA of 4.0 alone with no research experience will not get you into any top CS program.

Also, was your experience at a top 20 school so bad that only a top 4 CS school will suffice? What is your end goal after obtaining a PhD? A PhD is a big investment/gamble if you are still debating academia and research vs industry. Why not go into a MS first to get some research experience (which will make the top 4 more likely) and then decide if a PhD is right for you? 

Edited August 22, 2015 by <ian>

[Icydubloon]

Nearly 0% chance since you have no research experience. At the top 4 schools, you are competing with undergrads and Masters students who have published in NIPS, KDD, CVPR, etc. A PhD is a research job. Not having research will hurt you immensely.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Icydubloon