Should I focus on research/practical work rather than matinaing high grade in order to apply for top MS CS programs?

[roln]

Hi,

 

I am a student from the University of Auckland (NZ).

I am going to apply for 2018 fall MS programs in USA. I am aiming at top schools such as UCB and Stanford. 

I currently have a 3.9/4.0 GPA (converted to USA scale under the formula provided by Stanford).

I have already had two research experience (without publication. May publish one work in 2017) and some working experiences. 

I will have some opportunities on continuing work with my professor in the next year, but it will cost me a lot of time such that I may not fully focus on my academic study. A grade drop may happen if I do so. It may drop to 3.7/4.0 if I spent less time on my course works based on my estimation in the worst case.

 

May I ask if I should work with my professor or focus on my course study in the last year?

Thanks

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by roln

[UTGC]

I don't have experience with CS, but I'd vote in favor of getting more research experience (especially if the programs you're looking at are research-heavy). Your GPA is already great, so you have some wiggle room. It's also a well-known fact that taking on serious undergrad research projects will cause a bit of a drop in GPA for most people, so it's both common and expected that this could happen to a student with a good research background.

[Apogeee]

Try to maintain a balance. If your grades suddenly nosedive, that is a bad sign in an application. Discuss research possibilities and ask about the work/study balance. Your advisor should help you with this. Are you taking a GRE or some other standardized test for grad school?