Rate my profile (econ major, 3.4 GPA, 165/167 GRE)

[BackPropagandist]

Hey everyone. There's a lot of information here but I have an unusual profile so I'd appreciate hearing what you think about this. I'm looking to do a research-oriented master's degree. I may apply for a PhD, if one of you convinces me that I have a shot at getting into a good enough program, but my plan right now is to get into as good a master's program as I can and then move on to a PhD at a top 10 institution. Partially this is because I'm not sure exactly what I want to research.

I'm currently a senior at a mid tier U.S. private university, B.S. in economics. Transferred here as a junior; GPA was 3.6 for the first semester, 3.1 for the second semester and 3.3-3.4 this semester. Taking or have taken intro to machine learning, intro to algorithms, differential equations, game theory, multivariate calculus, mathematical economics (feat. bits of linear algebra), and 2 x AI ethics independent study. My CS grades are two A's in the independent study courses, a B and a "satisfactory" (pass/fail class). Grades were hurt last semester and this one because (a) I started taking seven courses per semester and am in the National Guard, and (b) I skipped two intro to CS classes as well as discrete math to get to the midlevel courses. I graduate this December but will continue studying here for a semester anyway. I'm going to take all math and CS, maybe 3-5 courses, as well as do more research.

Started with 2 years at military junior college, A.A. in political science, 3.4 GPA.

GRE: Just took it; I honestly do not remember if it was 167/165 or 165/167. Definitely one of the two. Analytic score will probably be very high as well.

Research experience: 1. analysis, literature review and basic theorem proving with conditional preference nets and distance metrics with a professor here. 2. A couple of unpublished drafts on machine ethics. One is at least slightly technical; I'm to start pushing it to philosophy/interdisciplinary journals but it probably won't be published in time for this admissions cycle.

Work experience: 1. internship with a small investment bank. Did Monte Carlo simulations with software, Excel financial modeling and mathematical decision making for the client. I independently created new ways of doing these computations and models. 2. junior officer in Army National Guard, have led tasks in training and have done some really basic network/internet stuff for the battalion. I'm going to participate in cyberwarfare drills starting this January.

Research interests: artificial intelligence, primarily. Also machine learning, multiagent systems, algorithmic game theory, machine ethics and mathematical finance. (Obviously I can't do all of these subjects at the same time, but I'd prefer to have them available.)

Recommendation letters: one from the CS researcher I worked with, one from philosophy professor who's reviewed my ethics work, one from game theory professor who's seen me in class and also reviewed my work. I believe all of them are going to be very positive, but none of them are going to prove that I have strong technical or programming skills.

 

Three questions:

1. What kinds of schools would you recommend me to apply to? I know I should go to a large program so I can explore different areas in computer science, and I want to be able to get in despite not being a CS major and having this GPA. Definitely not the top 5, of course, but there are so many other schools to which I can apply. I looked at the US News rankings in artificial intelligence, but I don't know how likely I am to get into the various programs listed there. Most don't publish stats on their website. I looked on phds.org, which has a great advanced search tool, but I'm having trouble coming up with good search criteria that will get me the right tier of school, and a few of the results I got were counterintuitive.

2. How much would you suggest that I give in the way of "excuses" for my GPA on the personal statement? Should I also mention the fact that I didn't apply to an undergrad math research program last summer because of a midsummer military exercise?

3. Is there anything else you could suggest?

 

All your comments are appreciated. Cheers.