It's a few days early, but I figured that I would post my big 2004 New Year's resolution: get ready to go to graduate school.
Presently, I've been looking very hard at the University of Chicago's computer science department. They seem to have a decent program that may be the right mix of theory and application that I'm interested in. If I decide to take the plunge and do the theory stuff, I can. If I decided to plunge another way and expand on some of the things that I would like to do on the Oyez and related projects, it appears that their AI research group may be the right way to go. It looks like a decent place to go given my interests and that I'd rather not move to another state already.
So, what do I currently bring to the table in a hypothetical application process:
- Good recommendations.
- A strong interest in research.
- A number of ideas that interest me and that would make decent thesis projects.
- A newfound interest in the more theory-based side of computer science including mathematics.
- A Princeton CS degree.
- Peripherally-related interesting projects from work.
- An end-game goal to aim for after getting the Ph.D. (For the record, I'm most interested in getting the Ph.D. and using that as a way into a career in academia [Yes, I am the guy who swore he could never work in academia.] doing research and teaching.)
What am I currently lacking or am weak in:
- Poor GPA during my undergraduate years. (I think I may have had something around a 2.75.)
- My math background goes up to linear algebra and calculus. I've been reading a bit on set theory and find it really interesting, but my formal education in that area is lacking. (Ditto for other math-related things.)
- No published papers or research. (I doubt that Books counts.)
- No awards or certificates from undergrad years. I'm not a Rhodes or Marshall scholar, and I didn't receive any special recognition for anything extracurricular while at Princeton.
- I'm sure that there are more...
So, given the above, my goals for this year are:
1. Strengthen my math background.
2. Do some sort of work or research that I can use as an example of my "research potential".
3. Expand existing projects to encompass areas of interest or future research.
4. Do good on the GRE.
5. Find / make some connections within the UC computer science department to get a better picture of the situation.
So that's the idea. The application deadline is January 20. If I don't make it into U of C, I figure that I'll end up building a compelling enough application to be accepted elsewhere, so it's all good.
Thoughts?
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just two things:
i think your thesis certainly counts as research potential. applying to grad school it doesn't have to have been published - it's just nice if it had been. but from everything i remember your thesis was somewhere in the outstanding dept. so i wouldn't worry too much about that. i think most grad schools know that princetonians know how to do research. they certainly make us do enough of it as undergrads...
you might want to try to do *well* on the GRE since most of it is SAT style language skills if i've heard correctly :-)
computer's still ticking. i just worry it's a ticking time bomb...
Don't forget dumb luck! That has a lot to play in these things too.
Yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh.
Maybe it's the enormous stack of grading, or the deadline-impending un-started research project, but don't do it! Have a life! Fun! Sleep!
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ps don't listen to me. too much coffee; not enough sleep.
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