Grad school without research experience?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I graduated undergrad in 2012 and have been working in the IT field for two-three years and would like to go back to school in order to switch fields to robotics which I have very little experience in but I find to be a fascinating discipline.</p>

<p>My undergrad degree was in computer science but unfortunately I do not have research experience. I have a few questions that I was wondering the wonderful people of this forum could address for me:</p>

<p>1) Is using going to grad school for a masters degree a common way for people to switch fields?</p>

<p>2) Am I able to get LORs from my employers and coworkers since I do not have any professors that know me well or that I keep in touch with? </p>

<p>3) I suppose that compared to the pool of potential robotics candidates that will be my competition, I have a pretty weak application to begin with...what are some schools that you would recommend that I apply to?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your advice!</p>

2

<p>1) Yes, quite common.</p>

<p>2) You can, but the value of those letters will be minimal. The ultimate purpose of a LOR is to tell the prospective advisor your potential as a researcher, so a letter from a non-PhD manager will have little value, and one from a coworker probably will not even be read.</p>

<p>3) Well, you don’t provide enough information to get back anything other than a simple list of robotics programs… which you could find on your own. I would recommend that you find the time in the next year or so to take some grad-level robotics courses (or their unavoidable pre-reqs) on your own time and own dime, as preparation. Getting into grad school for you may well take a few years of work.</p>

3

<p>Can you talk to a professor at your alma mater and see what they would recommend you do?</p>