Required Credentials to get into top 5 CS PhD Programs

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm an undergraduate in Computer Science and I am aspiring to go to Graduate school for Computer Science. Based on my research interests the best schools to go to are:</p>

<p>MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Melon, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and Cornell.</p>

<p>All these Universities also happen to be ranked as the top 5 CS PhD programs. Most people I know that have gotten admitted into their Graduate program seem to have exceptional credentials such as: 2-3 publications, working at an industrial research lab (eg: Microsoft Research, AT&T Labs). All by the time of applying as well. How do people obtain so much research experience during their Undergraduate career? What would be the recommended credentials for a competitive applicant for these programs, in terms of GPA, GRE, research experience and Letters of Recommendation?</p>

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<p>See this:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It was written by someone very knowledgeable to answer your exact question.</p>