[ truth-in-advertising: I'm a graduate student in CS at the University of Washington (in Seattle, WA). I've been here two years, and i was in grad school at UC-Berkeley for a year before that. The following is random, biased opinion based only on going through the grad-school-picking exercise twice. BTW, i love both the University of Washington and UC-Berkeley. ]
o First, read this page on "Choosing Graduate School in Computer Science": http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rap/grads.html This page was put together by Rachel Pottinger, also at the University of Washington.
o Next, find a list of CS grad programs. usnews.com is one place to start. Another is: http://www.cra.org/statistics/nrcstudy2/rankcs.h tml
o Surf the web to find out about the programs that seem most interesting to you, based at first on their location and ranking. Look at what kind of research is going on, how big the department is, and for faculty whose interests match your own. Be aware that research project web sites are often a year or two out of date; they tend to be made at the beginning of research projects and fall out of date as the research progresses. The list of publications on the project home page or grad student home pages tends to be far more indicative of what (and how much) is going on than the rhetoric at the top of project home pages.
o You don't need to necessarily shoot for the very top programs, but from the schools that seem interesting to you, pick a dozen or so and write for applications in September of your senior year.
o Pick a set of at least 5-6 of the best schools that you think you have a shot at. Rankings aren't everything, but for better or worse, departmental reputations are real, and you do want smart, fun officemates with whom to collaborate and hang out, a good advisor that knows something about how to do research, and a department with lots of interesting things going on.
o In December, apply to at least 5-6 schools. You never know how many you'll get into, or which ones they'll be, so apply to a few you aren't sure if you'll get into; you may be pleasantly surprised. When possible, you may want to wait until fall semester/quarter is over before applying, since doing the applications can be time consuming. But remember to get transcripts and recommendations done in time.
o In February, March, and April you should get several admission offers, and hopefully a rejection letter or two, if you picked schools well!:-) Visit as many schools as you can. The grad schools are picking up the tab, so you may as well take advantage of it! Even for schools where you think there's only a small chance you'd end up there, you'll learn a lot about grad school and hot research topics by talking with grad students and professors. These are going to be colleagues that you'll be seeing at conferences and whose papers you'll be reading; visiting grad schools is a great way to meet them and get 30 minutes of great one-on-one time with them.
o Pick the school where you feel most at home; the school where you hit it off with at least a few professors doing research you think is interesting, you get along with the grad students, you like the campus, and you like the city where the campus is located. Remember, you may be there for 5-7 years if you go for a PhD, so you want to know that you'll enjoy the whole environment for a long period of time.
o When picking schools, don't sweat the money stuff. Nearly all decent grad students at nearly all decent CS departments have no problems finding funding, be it with TA-ships or research assistantships. You may have to TA your first year or longer, but that's a good experience in and of itself.
o Remember that in the end, the school only matters so much. One thing i learned from transferring between grad schools is that what you do and how you spend your time has far more to do with your grad school experience than where you go. You'll want to pick a grad program with good people and good tools, but in the end, it's up to you!
Slashdot Mirror
[ truth-in-advertising: I'm a graduate student in CS at the University
h tml
:-) Visit as many schools as you can. The grad schools are
of Washington (in Seattle, WA). I've been here two years, and i was in
grad school at UC-Berkeley for a year before that. The following is
random, biased opinion based only on going through the
grad-school-picking exercise twice. BTW, i love both the University of Washington and UC-Berkeley. ]
o First, read this page on "Choosing Graduate School in Computer Science":
http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rap/grads.html
This page was put together by Rachel Pottinger, also at the University of
Washington.
o Next, find a list of CS grad programs. usnews.com is one place to
start. Another is:
http://www.cra.org/statistics/nrcstudy2/rankcs.
o Surf the web to find out about the programs that seem most
interesting to you, based at first on their location and ranking. Look
at what kind of research is going on, how big the department is, and
for faculty whose interests match your own. Be aware that research
project web sites are often a year or two out of date; they tend to be
made at the beginning of research projects and fall out of date as the
research progresses. The list of publications on the project home page
or grad student home pages tends to be far more indicative of what
(and how much) is going on than the rhetoric at the top of project
home pages.
o You don't need to necessarily shoot for the very top programs, but
from the schools that seem interesting to you, pick a dozen or so and
write for applications in September of your senior year.
o Pick a set of at least 5-6 of the best schools that you think you
have a shot at. Rankings aren't everything, but for better or worse,
departmental reputations are real, and you do want smart, fun
officemates with whom to collaborate and hang out, a good advisor that
knows something about how to do research, and a department with lots
of interesting things going on.
o In December, apply to at least 5-6 schools. You never know how many
you'll get into, or which ones they'll be, so apply to a few you
aren't sure if you'll get into; you may be pleasantly surprised. When
possible, you may want to wait until fall semester/quarter is over
before applying, since doing the applications can be time
consuming. But remember to get transcripts and recommendations done in
time.
o In February, March, and April you should get several admission
offers, and hopefully a rejection letter or two, if you picked schools
well!
picking up the tab, so you may as well take advantage of it! Even for
schools where you think there's only a small chance you'd end up
there, you'll learn a lot about grad school and hot research topics by
talking with grad students and professors. These are going to be
colleagues that you'll be seeing at conferences and whose papers
you'll be reading; visiting grad schools is a great way to meet them
and get 30 minutes of great one-on-one time with them.
o Pick the school where you feel most at home; the school where you
hit it off with at least a few professors doing research you think is
interesting, you get along with the grad students, you like the
campus, and you like the city where the campus is located. Remember,
you may be there for 5-7 years if you go for a PhD, so you want to
know that you'll enjoy the whole environment for a long period of
time.
o When picking schools, don't sweat the money stuff. Nearly all decent
grad students at nearly all decent CS departments have no problems
finding funding, be it with TA-ships or research assistantships. You
may have to TA your first year or longer, but that's a good experience
in and of itself.
o Remember that in the end, the school only matters so much. One thing
i learned from transferring between grad schools is that what you do
and how you spend your time has far more to do with your grad school
experience than where you go. You'll want to pick a grad program with
good people and good tools, but in the end, it's up to you!
Hope that helps,
Neal