Post on 13-Dec-2015
Applying for Grad School in CS*Adam Wierman
> Caltech
*much of this was blatantly poached from Mor Harchol-Balter’s advice http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf
What is a PhD?A long, in depth research exploration of one topic
6 years!by the end, you
are the world experton one narrow problem
Very different from classes
Classes ≠ ResearchYou know the HWsare solvable
No clue how hardthe problems are
You are given well-defined problems
Picking the rightproblem is half of the difficulty
There’s always someoneto ask for help
You’re the expert!Often work alone
External motivation(grades, etc)
Purely internal motivation
Life after a PhD?Most PhDs either go to a research lab or become a professor(if these don’t appeal to you, a PhD probably isn’t necessary)
your job is- doing research (~50% self guided)- company responsibilities- travelling to conferences, etc
your life is- research (100% self guided)- applying for grants- working with students- teaching- conferences, etc.
Should you get a PhD- A PhD is not for everyone- It requires ~6 years (opportunity cost is high)- Don’t apply unless you’ve tried and enjoyed research- It helps a lot if you like teaching- You need to be a particular type of person (driven, …)- You need to be sure you want it- You need to be smart
If you’re not sure, it’s a good idea to work for a few years
A PhD application1) Transcript2) GREs3) Personal statement4) Previous research experience (industry/academic)5) Recommendation letters6) Awards & extracurriculars
Grades are important…but not too important
- Perfect grades with weak research won’t be enough- Grad courses are only impressive if they lead to research
GREsTop schools only check to makesure they are “good enough”
You should study (if you are planning to work for a year, take the test now)
The personal statement…i.e. the research statement
A template:1) Describe the general areas that interest you and why2) Describe a project you’ve worked on3) Describe a project you’ve worked on4) Say why you want a PhD5) Why do you want to be at school X
Don’t- Regurgitate your grades- Describe pre-college triumphs
Previous research experience…you’re doing it now
Do SURFsDo research during the yearDo research as part of classesDo work with more than one facultyDo research somewhere besides Caltech (try an REU)Do submit a paper(s) to a conference/journal
Remember that these advisors will be your recommenders
Recommendations…the most important piece
“I highly recommend student X for your graduate program. Student X received an A+ in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked Number 2 out of 100 students. He got the highest score on the final. He worked very hard all semester, never missed a class, and was always able to answer the questions that I asked in class. This conscientious attitude makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program. ”
Letter 1
DWIC
Recommendations…the most important piece
“I highly recommend student Y for your graduate program. Student Y received a B in my undergraduate algorithms class. He was ranked Number 29 out of 100 students. Halfway through the semester we started working on network flows. Student Y seemed extremely excited by this topic. He disappeared for 4 weeks and even missed an exam. However when he came back, he showed me some work he had been doing on a new network flow algorithm for high-degree graphs. He had done some simulations and had some proofs. I’ve been working with student Y for the past couple months since then and he is full of ideas for new algorithms. I think student Y’s initiative makes him an excellent candidate for any graduate program.”
Letter 2
self-motivated, independent,
good potential
Recommendations…the most important piece
Of the four letters, a good candidate has- 2-3 research advisor letters- 1-2 teacher letters that say more than just DWIC
Asking for recommendationsAsk “do you feel comfortable writing me a strong letter”
Give each person a packet- statement of purpose- summary of each research project- resume- class listing with grades- directions (including deadlines)- confirmation information
Send them a thank you afterwards
A PhD application1) Transcript2) GREs3) Personal statement4) Previous research experience (industry/academic)5) Recommendation letters6) Awards & extracurriculars
The rankings1) MIT, Stanford, Berkely4) CMU5) Illinois6) Cornell, Princeton, Washington9) Georgia Tech, UT Austin11) Caltech, Wisconsin-Madison13) UCLA, Maryland, Michigan16) Columbia, Harvard, UCSD,19) Purdue20) Brown, Duke, Rice, Umass-Amherst, UNC, Penn
You get a “livable” stipend and tuition paid for youIdeally, you just do research (and TA occasionally)
This costs your advisor 60+k per year
Funding a PhD
Having a fellowship virtually
guarantees admission
Fellowships…can make the difference
Same process as grad school applications
WARNING: Fellowship deadlines are before grad school deadlines
Some to check out:- NSF graduate research fellowship- NDSEG graduate fellowship- Hertz fellowship- National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC)- NASA- DOE- Homeland Security
If you don’t get them now, apply again your 1st & 2nd years
Applying for a fellowship
Choosing the right programYou will get to visit each school you are accepted to
Most important- Good rapport with your advisor- Good atmosphere in the department- Graduate students treated well (do students graduate)
Also pay attention to- requirements for degree- overall rank- stipend
Talk to faculty here about the decision