<p>Background: Bachelor's in Marketing, Master's in Communication, working as a programmer, 1200 GRE General score, 3.5 graduate GPA, have not published, and have no real research experience.</p>
<p>I'm just looking to go to an average state school, nothing top tier like MIT or any other highly ranked program. I think I have some issues though.</p>
<p>First, I see a lot of people out here with impressive resumes. Many have published articles or perform research for a living or did research in their graduate work. I've done none of that.</p>
<p>Second, I notice some CS programs use the GRE CS subject test. One school I'm interested in accepts the GRE General, and they list their average accepted score. I am 90 points below the average.</p>
<p>I think I could increase my score to be competitive. However, that would take the number of times I took the GRE to fives. Yes, I've taken the GRE four times. It's bad, I know, don't rub it in. I have my reasons that I won't bore you with. I increased my score 200 points from the first to the last time I took it.</p>
<p>Maybe I have to wait for my older GRE scores to expire? The problem is in my haste months ago, I submitted my scores to several schools. I assume my scores disappear from ETS's records, but they will remain on the schools computers.</p>
<p>Am I out of luck? Did I screw myself over by not doing a research project during grad school or by taking the GRE so many times?</p>
<p>Want to break into user experience or usability research. I do some UI design at my current job. I find doing the interface design the most interesting part of developing software. I never wanted to be a programmer, but I fell into it. My first internship was a programming job and that’s all people would hire me as subsequently.</p>
<p>I wish the company I worked for was larger so we could actually do extensive user testing. That would give me some research experience. All the feedback I get is from my boss: “Can we make the button bigger?”, “Move the buttons over there”, etc.</p>
<p>I am interested in publishing and research. I keep a log of ideas that I think would make interesting research topics. I thought the purpose of a doctoral program was to give research experience. I didn’t think you had to have extensive experience going in, but again I saw a lot of people out here who already had some before applying. Now I’m questioning myself.</p>
<p>Research is important, but some lower tier programs might be persuaded to take you based on job experience and GPA, although, especially with a different major, that may be a tough sell. Is there any way you can get a thesis-based Master’s degree in CS? That may be the best way to bridge between non-research undergrad and a PhD.</p>
<p>Have you completed the usual prerequisites for a CS program? They can be quite extensive.</p>
<p>You may want to do a master’s. There seems to be a lot of post docs floating around. </p>
<p>Explore the possibility of Human-Computer Interfacing (HCI, many other terms), which is the catchall phrase of design and implementation of using computers.</p>
<p>Enroll just to write a thesis? And yes, I would have to spend basically a year doing prerequisite computer science courses since I don’t have a CS degree.</p>
<p>I did look at human-computer interaction programs, but I was leaning towards a more generally applicable CS degree.</p>
<p>I called a graduate advisor and tried to bring up some of these issues. They were very terse and made me feel like I was bothering them. Most of their answers were, “It’s up to the committee.”</p>
<p>Maybe I should just shoot for a PhD in Communication instead? Then try to do my dis on a computer-communication topic?</p>
<p>You are not in a very good position all things considered - as several others have mentioned a thesis-based CS masters is probably your best shot for now. It will let you publish in the field and demonstrate competency in the core CS skills before a PhD program is asked to commit to you.</p>
<p>It would also provide you a “more generally applicable CS degree,” as PhD’s are not “generally applicable” they are in fact incredibly narrow.</p>
<p>As to going in Comms instead, that is certainly an option, but one advisor of mine said that cross-over degrees needed to be ~2/3 in your home department. So a Comms degree on a CS topic is still going to be a Comms degree and will not open as many doors in CS as you might hope. Look at it as studying the different sides of the same interface - Comms will study the human, CS the computer.</p>
<p>You should be patient with this, if it is what you want to do. Grad admissions are very competitive right now, and you do not have a very strong app. It may take a couple of years of classes and applications to get into an acceptable program.</p>
<p>I have said this before: DS has never taken a computer science class in programming or theory. He still has a masters in CS and works at a pretty good university in the College of CS as a staff engineer. </p>
<p>The prof that he works for is a professor in CS but undergrad degree in EE and phD in Mechanical.</p>
<p>But why do you want a phD? The odds that the effort that you put into the degree will not have a significant payoff either in $$ or career</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. I wasn’t planning to apply for another year or two (if at all). Actually if I wait two years, two of my GRE scores expire. My main concerns were my GRE scores, but no one here seems to concerned with them.</p>
<p>Also paying off $$ significantly isn’t one of my motives.</p>