<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>thanks for taking the time to read this. My stats are as follows: </p>
<ul>
<li>graduated from U of Waterloo in Canada with EE Bachelor's degree, 3.94/4.00 GPA, 3.93/4.00 core courses</li>
<li>no publications, one RA project</li>
<li>know two professors personally who are willing to give reference letters</li>
<li>GRE: 170Q/169V/5.5AWA</li>
<li>6 industry internships</li>
<li>currently working at a tier 1 tech company in the Silicon Valley, but not in R&D role</li>
</ul>
<p>Goal:
- obtain master's degree in EE or CS starting next year
- preferably leave path open for PhD in the future
- personal funding is doable, but if possible would prefer not to</p>
<p>Questions:
- what are the chances at getting into a tier 1 US PhD program? I know this might not be too likely, hence:
- if I return to Canada (say University of Toronto) for a research based masters, try to publish lots of papers and get great recs, will this help strengthen a potential future application to PhD programs at the likes of UCB, Stanford, UIUC, etc?
- Does anyone have any input on the industry reputation of U of Toronto EE/CS M.S. south of the border? The EE/CS programs there are typically ranked within the top 20 in the world, but I'm not sure if the companies here would prefer to hire locally.
- The number of spots for funded, research based M.S. programs at US universities like Berkeley or UIUC seem to be limited. If I were to apply, what are my chances?
- Is there anything I can do while I'm working to increase my chances? </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>The chances of getting into a “tier 1” PhD program is never good… which is why you apply to several programs, including (ideally) a couple of acceptable “not tier 1” schools where you are more dominant. That having been said, you look pretty strong. Not amazing, but strong.</p>
<p>A masters at Toronto will probably help a little if it gives you some pubs and good references. But it will probably add a year or two to your total time-to-complete and will probably not make a HUGE difference.</p>
<p>Toronto has a good rep in the US… for those who know it. Most employers know the schools near them, and those schools farther away that meet their particular needs. US employers will only likely have a strong opinion on Toronto if it does a lot of research in their area of interest.</p>
<p>Spots are highly limited. No one can give you a percentage chance, certainly not a meaningful one. Apply, and see what happens.</p>
<p>Do some research. Get published. Establish or resestablish connections with some professors who can vouch for your research potential.</p>
<p>The lack of research is partially offset by your work experience. Engineering programs like to see that. That being said, the most selective programs are really hard to get into. My suggestion is to apply to one or two of those Ph.D. programs, then choose another couple of programs that are not as selective but which you would be happy to attend and finally keep your options open for the Masters program at Toronto if that turns out to be the best choice. There is nothing wrong with giving it a shot.</p>
<p>Where you might get stuck with your job prospects “south of the border” are the employers ties to contracts funded by the US government. If you are a non-citizen, this could impact your ability to work in the US.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies!</p>
<p>cosmicfish - I’ll try to apply. However, as time is limited (both daily and in terms of number of months), I wanted to gauge the likelihoods of each path before committing too much resources. I’m likely going to try for a research based masters program at UT, and then potentially try my luck at a PhD program here in the US. You mentioned that I should do research and get published - you don’t mean that I should do that independently, right? I was a little confused about that. Also, I realize that the companies generally are most familiar with nearby schools (lots of colleagues are from non top tier nearby schools). It does seem tough to judge the impact of going to a far away school. </p>
<p>xraymancs - I haven’t fully made up my mind yet whether I want to do a PhD program all the way at all right now. Key question, I guess, is whether or not a research based masters degree from UT will improve my chances of getting into a good PhD program afterward, or at least not hinder it. </p>
<p>aunt bea - I’m not a US citizen. So, you’re right that some jobs will be more difficult to get because of requirements for security clearance. Hopefully that’ll not be too much of an issue though, depending on what the company does. </p>
<p>
Not independently*, but with a professor at a convenient university or, failign that, through your work. The closer you can get to academic, graduate-level research, the better.</p>
<p>*: Only because that is problematic in engineering. In less equipment-intensive fields, it is not unheard of.</p>
<p>Having a Masters with research experience can only be a positive factor.</p>
<p>The Master’s will be useful if you go back into industry, as you should know tech industry people know Waterloo and U Toronto. And of course the only thing your resume lacks is more research. Do you have a particular cs area you are interested in? If you don’t then you can develop it in the MS and that will help you know where to apply.</p>
<p>But here is a little essay by a Brown CS professor on the situation for MS funding
<a href=“http://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Memos/Funding-CS-Grad-School/”>http://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Memos/Funding-CS-Grad-School/</a></p>
<p>So maybe getting a funded MS spot could depend on your industry background and if it is of use in someone’s lab if you can manage to find a connection.</p>
<p>fyi, Univ of Wisconsin admits MS and PhD as a single pool and aims to fund everyone (though a few only get partial.) You may have to TA, but maybe you will land an RA. I believe that you can walk away with your MS or continue on to take the quals and enter the Phd phase. However competition is tough-- the last I checked admission was 5 percent, I’m reluctant to give numbers from memory, but 1200 to 1500 applicants.</p>
<p>How does one complete 6 internships during a 4 year bachelor’s</p>
<p>Sorry guys, been away for a few days. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>BrownParent - thanks for the detailed note. Indeed my resume is lacking research. I think I might be interested in topics like big data, AI (perhaps machine learning, knowledge representation, etc). Getting a company funded MS spot will not be an option at the current employer, as CS has nothing to do with my current position (which is EE, as in my undergrad degree). I read through your link for the MS funding info, and it seems like it’s unlikely that one can get funding from other sources. Do you by any chance know whether completing a PhD following a foreign MS degree will be quicker than undergrad straight to PhD? </p></li>
<li><p>TXTommyW - it was actually a 5 year program with a tri-mestered structure with continuously alternating academic / internship terms (56 months, 14 tri-mesters, 8 of them academic and 6 of them internships). </p></li>
</ul>