Hello,
I am a current college freshman, and I plan on majoring in computer science. Lately, many of my fellow freshman CS majors have begun to discuss graduate school. Although it might seem early, I want to be prepared and take the appropriate steps throughout these next four years for if I decide to apply.
My big question is: what should I do to prepare for graduate school as a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and overall?
Is there anything I can do now to stand out or keep ahead?
I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.
@HKL32775 I would start by doing well in your undergraduate classes (many graduate programs require a minimum UG GPA to even be considered). If there are any research opportunities or internships in the CS field you are interested in, perhaps take advantage of those. CS is very broad (since it includes many topics such as algorithms, AI/machine learning, cryptography and data mining, computer architecture, and many others that I can’t think of off hand), so you could look into which fields interest you.
A good source of paid summer research opportunities can be found [url=<a href=“https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5049%5Dhere%5B/url”>https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5049]here[/url]. They are competitive, so you need to apply to a good few, and don’t be discouraged if you don’t get one the first year. Also be sure to check out what summer research opportunities your university has.
Take as wide a variety of courses as you can the first year or two, if your school makes this possible. You may find a subject that interests you more than CS. Happens all the time. Then your postgrad plans solidify.
If you think you might want a PhD in computer science, definitely get involved in research as an undergrad. You don’t have to do it as a freshman, but starting your sophomore year will give you a leg up. You can start to think about what areas of CS interest you, and check out your professors’ webpages to see what kinds of research they do. Then when the time comes, you can inquire as to whether those professors need a research assistant in their lab/research group.
Also, throughout college make sure that you foster some relationships with professors - especially in classes in which you are doing well. Visit some professors during office hours to either ask questions about the material or just to talk about graduate school or computer science in general. We’ve seen a lot of folks come to these boards worried because they want to apply for graduate school, but they never fostered any relationships with professors and they have no one to write them a recommendation letter.
My other advice is to generally do what is interesting to you. Let your interests guide your career and not the other way around. If you start doing research and it turns out you hate it, don’t continue to do it because you think it’ll make your application look better. That’s a sign that you need to adjust your career goals and not that you need to try to force yourself to be interested in research.