<p>Hello all, I am a freshman in CS who has secured a research position next semester with the opportunity to publish, assuming the collected data is of value. I have been told that a publication in undergrad is a 1-way ticket to the grad school of your choice assuming you have a decent GPA (3.0+) and GREs. Is this true? Any answers are appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>It will help but is in no way a 1-way ticket to the grad school of your choice. Grades and professor recommendations matter more.</p>
<p>Publication is not a 1-way ticket to graduate school.</p>
<p>I wasn’t aware that professor recommendations were that important. In the grad school’s eyes, why are they considered more important than publications? Publications show that one is a capable / effective researcher. I would assume that a lot of students could get decent recommendations just by schmoozing with the professor during office hours, while publications are much harder to obtain. I don’t mean to question your knowledge; I’m just curious about the methodology grad schools would use to value one over the other.</p>
<p>When I applied to grad school there was no way I was going to use a recommendation from someone I just “schmoozed” during office hours. I picked prof’s who I either A) I aced their class in the top 1 or 2 spot, or B)Did really good work/research for. I don’t know about the majority of people but if I was asked to put my name on a recommendation for someone, I will honestly give my opinion of their academic capability to my knowledge, and I expected my professors to do the same.</p>