<p>As I am searching for colleges, I had overlooked a fundamental aspect of college: research. To be more specific, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>You should have the opportunity to do undergraduate research at any large research university. If you want to have access to the best research groups at the university, you might consider shooting a little lower in terms of “intellectual fit”… standing out in a crowd of peers is a good way to get professors to take you.</p>
<p>Are there any schools you are particularly interested in? Many schools have institutionalized programs to encourage undergraduate research, and when free money is involved, you should take advantage of that. Barring that, professors sometimes will pay students as undergraduate research assistants.</p>
<p>What kinds of schools are you interested in? Your profile says Calfornia; are we talking about UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, Berkely, Caltech, Stanford…?</p>
<p>Let’s just say Standford, Caltech, Berkley are pretty much out of reach as of right now. The rest of the UCs are a bit on the “reach” side of things.
List of schools so far:
New Mexico Institute of Mining
Carnegie Mellon University<br>
New York Institute of Technology<br>
Polytechnic Institute of New York<br>
New Jersey Institute of Technology<br>
Kettering University<br>
Illinois Institute of Technology<br>
Cal Poly<br>
California State Polytechnic<br>
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology<br>
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute<br>
Worcester Polytechnic Institute<br>
Florida Institute of Technology<br>
Stevens Institute of Technology<br>
LeTourneau
</p>
<p>Now, most of those schools are not really good for the whole PHD/Professor/Research path. They are more oriented towards career. </p>
<p>I had the UCs, Purdue, U of Illinois in mind so far as research universities go so far. Perhaps Texas Tech. But those schools are so big. I was initially looking for schools with 7000 and under students, but those tend to lack in research.</p>
<p>Did you just Google “Institute of Technology” or something? ;-)</p>
<p>Also, if the UC’s are a reach, then Purdue will be a bit tough and UIUC is definitely a reach.</p>
<p>What about ASU or Texas Tech? I have been staying away from ASU because of its partying reputation…</p>
<p>IIT is a nice place. I almost went there. They gave me a $10,000 scholarship. I really liked the campus too. </p>
<p>CMU would probably be a good choice if you wanted to do research and go to grad school.</p>
<p>Also, I would consider adding georgia tech to your list.</p>
<p>Now this list needs a diet:
UC San Diego
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UC Santa Cruz
UC Davis
UC Irvine
UC Riverside
U of Illinois @Urbana Champaign
Purdue University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Bradley University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Kettering University
Carnegie Mellon University
Polytechnic Institute of New York
Illinois Institute of Technology
Cal Poly Pomona
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic
Worcester Polytechnic
Florida Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
</p>
<p>Took some schools out because their research focused on stuff I had no interest in. Keep in mind the UCs all have one application</p>
<p>Oh and Texas Tech</p>
<p>I can second CMU and Georgia Tech as being top-notch CS schools. The only thing about these places is that the schools are so good, you might have a hard time standing out.</p>
<p>I’d imagine a lot of students at these places are interested in undergraduate research, and you will be competing against them for whatever opportunities are available. Consider the graduate rankings, which will be useful if you want to evaluate the quality of institutions based on undergraduate research potential:</p>
<p>[Best</a> Computer Science Programs | Top Computer Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings)</p>
<p>IMHO, depending on your stats, the best way to get the most undergraduate research under your belt is to shoot for places in the 20-100 range. The top 20 schools might be too competitive.</p>
<p>CMU is definitely a great school for both research and career.
However, you should look into the professors’ profiles. What kind of research do they do? If you end up going to CMU and discover that none of them do what you want, that’s bad. I am assuming that you want to become a professor. It is important to begin your research as soon as possible, because you definitely want to produce results. For example, at CCNY the EE department is mostly about robotics and vision, and some of my EE friends are complaining that they couldn’t find any on-campus research because they don’t like robotics. We do have other options but they are very competitive too. </p>
<p>It really bugs me when I can’t find a lab that I want to join (say I am qualify…).</p>
<p>Darn it, it seems like that someone I know got an internship with a professor at Caltech… All he did was ask -__-</p>
<p>I just learned that opportunities open up when you just ask…</p>
<p>Well. There is no free lunch in this world, provided that you are willing to do something to get that free lunch: request a free lunch delivery, and open the door for the deliverer if you are a disabled, or walk to the place where free lunch is giving out.</p>
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<p>Turns out when you’re willing to work for free professors are pretty happy to have you around (and make you their grad students’ problem).</p>
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<p>Most places won’t let you work for free though for insurance purposes. If you are working pro bono and get hurt, their insurance doesn’t cover it and they are liable in case of a lawsuit.</p>
<p>I’ve been arguing this in my lab for a while now, but I’ve been told “it’s not a problem,” so I’m guessing they feel they’ve worked up some sort of documents the students have to sign that’ll protect the school fairly well.</p>
<p>Isn’t there usually a waiver that you have to sign?
I’m pretty sure teh SpaceSHIP program at JPL makes all participants sign bunch of waivers and stuff.</p>
<p>It may happen some places apparently, but most schools I have attended or visited don’t allow it. I think because they have to be able to cover them with workers compensation in case of a work-related injury. It may also depend on state laws.</p>
<p>There are definitely paid undergraduate research positions at some, though perhaps not all, universities. I held a couple myself.</p>
<p>Georgia Tech has an absurd amount of research opportunities for CS/ECE undergrads, everyone I know that has tried for one has gotten one. However, if the other UCs are a reach… GaTech’s getting pretty dang competitive to get into, I know the incoming class SATs are over 1400 Math and English…</p>
<p>UCLA and UCB are definitely reaches, but UCI, Davis, Santa Cruz and the others are in my target zone according to college prowl er and cappex. Georgia tech is definitely a high reach.</p>
<p>edit: off topic, but I just love physics. I just had an Aha! moment. It is just beautiful that something simple as a light bulb can amuse me. Moments like this just keeps me going.</p>