Greetings All,
I would like to thank you in advance in giving me your constructive criticism and opinion from your experiences. As I end my journey in undergraduate school (Top 30 Engineering School on the East coast), I am looking into graduate programs that can further ameliorate my education and career. I am looking to apply to some of the top PhD and Masters programs in the country, in Computer Science, and in some cases double Masters in Business and Computer Science. I am currently a rising Senior, and will graduate in Spring 2019.
Here is a little bit about my background and what I have accomplished:
- While I currently have a low GPA of about a 3.30, I will graduate with a GPA around a 3.45-3.50, with a degree in Computer science and minoring 2 other subjects.
- While I had a slow start, I made up for that with great internships along the way. I have interned as a Software Engineer at Microsoft, SAP, Comcast, and some well known trading companies.
- I founded a club at my university, which now has over 50 members.
- I have about 2.5 years of Research experience, with 1 co-authorship, and another co-authorship on the way. These will go into a somewhat reputable journal.
- As an undergrad, I also worked for the US. Govt., holding a Top Secret Security Clearance.
- I have not yet taken the GRE’s but I will be taking them in the next 2-3 months.
- I am currently also working at a startup which I founded. The company has raised a little under $1M, and I hope to continue working on this on the side.
While I have a diverse background, I am unsure what are my chances of getting accepted to some of the top programs in the country. I would like to apply to Harvard, Stanford, and other schools with great business and computer science programs.
I thank you for taking the time to read this and for giving me your insight. Not only looking for constructive criticism, I would like to know what else I could do in my year left in undergrad to solidify my application.
I would also like to know how you got accepted to Graduate school?
I forgot to add, I have also been a TA (Teaching assistant) grader and lab educator.
@AdamG97 - Welcome to the Forum! You will soon get a number of answers but let me start with asking what are your reasons for getting a graduate degree? With a computer science degree and a startup ongoing, you can certainly start your career right after graduation. The list of possible programs you give is perhaps indicative of your being unsure of what you really want from a graduate program. A Ph.D. is for someone who really wants to be involved in research and an MBA is often best started after a few years of work. If you can clarify your motivations, it will help you to figure out where to apply.
As for getting into the program of your choice. You have a lot of good experience in research and in industry but your GPA might be too low to make it through the first cut at the most highly selective programs. That does not mean that you cannot find the program which is right for you but it might not be one of these most highly selective ones.
The professors and grad students in your department might have some ideas of what programs you can get into with your GPA and your GRE scores when you get them. Agree that the masters in business versus the PhD in CS represent totally different paths, and that the top programs will have students with very GPAs applying. The word “ameliorate” means to take something bad and make it better, which I don’t think you mean here.
@xraymancs, Thank you for your response. I love learning and would like to realistically stay in a structured environment for to get a better theoretical understanding of the subjects, a graduate degree is necessary for my long term goals, and lastly - I can pursue non academic concentrations like my start up. My motivations are to be in a role where I can solve big picture strategy problems while having the opportunity to comprehend the business implications of the technology. My apologies if this is quite broad. I do not want to be “pigeon holed” in a developer position upon graduation. Technological strategy and architecture really excites me and I would like to give that a shot. Something else that really excites me is venture capitalism. Having worked with many start ups, and being on the board of a few, I love the aspect of making value from thin air. For those who do now know what a VC does, here is a great intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63kQiGXat34
I definitely understand my GPA is quite low, definitely something I am not proud off.
Appreciate your insight!
@CheddarcheeseMN, That’s a fantastic tip! I’ll definitely need to reach out to more faculty and learn from their experience - they will know more more than I do.
Thanks for the advice.
Your GPA is not that low and it is certain that you can find a PhD program that would accept you. It is likely not to be one of the ones which are very highly selective. I would suggest that if you are keen on a PhD, then focus on that possibility instead of trying to find an MBA program that also have a MS associated with it. Also be prepared to spend 4-6 years taking some additional coursework and focusing intensely on a research topic for relatively low pay. This is not for everyone but if you are all in it can be a very rewarding experience.
If the PhD is really what you want to do, then you should not be wedded to getting into one of the few highly selective ones. Take some time to look at who publishes the kind of research you are interested in and look at their programs to see if they are a fit for you. also ask your research mentors about which programs might be a good match for you.
I guess that my only other comment is that it seems like you are in a position to do a lot of the things you want to do with or without a PhD. One of our Physics Alums at Illinois Tech started a software company at graduation (in the 1990’s), sold it and has been working in the VC world as a consultant primarily. He simply had a BS.
@xraymancs makes some good points. You don’t really need an advanced degree to do the things you want mentioned.
In fact, I would say that if you want to be a VC, a PhD might be slightly counterproductive. Those 6-ish years that you’ll spend doing academic research are years you could be gaining work experience and establishing connections in the industry. A PhD is for someone who wants a research career; while you can be a VC with one, that tends to be more coincidental than strategic.
Same thing with tech biz/strategy or architecture: you can do those things with a BA or an MS; a PhD isn’t just unnecessary but takes away years you could be working and gaining the necessary experience to advance your career. You don’t have to be pigeon-holed as a developer: you could work as a (technical) program/project manager or on the business side of technology; also, many software developers start that way and move up into management and/or executive positions later.
You can certainly continue to learn outside of a PhD program. And tending to your startup while doing a PhD is going to be difficult, to say the least.
That said, you’ve got a fine background for either an MS in computer science, an MBA (at least so far - you’d need a good 2-3 years of work experience to be very competitive, although you could probably apply to a few programs that admit you before you begin working, like Harvard’s 2+2), or a PhD program if you wanted. Continue to do the research and work on that publication; solicit strong letters of recommendation from 3 professors, including the one(s) who supervise(s) your research; and do well on the GRE.