Author ordering for paper

[CSallday]

I am currently a Masters student. I am working on a computer science paper at a top conference along with 2 other classmates. One question we are having is about the author ordering of the paper. We are all planning to apply to PhD programs, and so the author ordering matters a lot. Since we all contributed about equally, we agreed that we would put author names alphabetically by last name. My last name happens to be last of the 3 of us. Will being the last author of this paper not help a lot, as compared to being first or second author. Is there any way that I could indicate to PhD admissions committees that I had a large part in the paper - just as much as the first author? Will the committee assume that I took more of an advisor role in the project? (Advisors are usually last authors in grad-student papers).

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[TakeruK]

I think you should just describe the author ordering in your application materials (maybe when you discuss this paper in your SOP). Many journals also have a place in the article itself to indicate the amount of contribution by each author.

[fuzzylogician]

^Yep, describe the ordering in the SOP, and add a footnote to the paper saying "authors contributed equally." If you have a professor who is aware of your contributions to the paper and knows about your arrangements with your classmates, it'd be helpful to have her/him describe that in a LOR. 

[Eigen]

Agreed with the above. Check the journal instructions for how to list equal authorship. 

I have several papers published with "These authors contributed equally to this work" and then detail in my CV/other materials. This really helps if each author worked on defined components of the project, and the paper is just putting them together.

[CSallday]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I will definitely do this! :-)