<p>I'm going to be a freshman at RIT this fall majoring in computer science and mechanical engineering with a concentration in robotics/AI. I know graduate school is a while from now, but I've already started putting together a list of schools I'm interested in for graduate school:
MIT
RPI
Cornell
Dartmouth</p>
<p>What would you recommend to a freshman undergraduate considering graduate school in the future? Does anyone happen to know of research opportunities available at RIT? Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks</p>
<p>(1) Keep the GPA as high as you can. I’m staring at MIT on your list, and for your field they are very very competitive.</p>
<p>(2) Get involved with research early, and sustain it. Find a group doing something interesting and volunteer to do whatever you can, credit or not. If you need to switch groups as interests change, thats fine. By the beginning of your senior year make sure you are actually involved in research - published/publishable if possible. During your summers, try to get involved with REU or similar research programs at schools you might want to attend later.</p>
<p>(3) Make yourself known around the department and make sure you cultivate a quality relationship with 3-5 professors. You will need good letter-writers.</p>
<p>(4) Throw away your list until you senior year. Your list should depend on your exact interests, which are not finalized yet.</p>
<p>(5) READ FOR FUN! I say this because I feel it is the best long-term study tool for the GRE. Find some challenging and good authors and read at least a book a month.</p>
<p>Also, keep up with the field as a whole. Being involved in research helps, but reading the journals regularly will help too. You may find something you never knew existed that really sparks your interest, and always stay open-minded.</p>
<p>If possible, go to conference(s) since it’s a great way to make contacts. This is easier if you’re doing presentable research and can get your research group to pay for the trip.</p>
<p>I know this is probably a really stupid question to ask. Does the fact that I’m female help at all or does it not matter when applying for graduate school?</p>
<p>Gender will not usually come into play - although it is always a possibility that a given professor will be prejudiced for/against women.</p>
<p>@cosmicfish - have you ever met/ do you know of professors that are prejudice against women?</p>
<p>Orinox18, I have never met one who showed or admitted such a prejudice, but I did know one in engineering who made a point of selecting women whenever possible - something he did admit.</p>
<p>Women are still underrepresented in many, many MechE and CS PhD programs. At many universities, therefore, MechE and CS departments can be provided with additional assistantship lines when they admit women.</p>
<p>This is an incentive to address existing gender imbalances, and therefore, some women can be slightly advantaged (in terms of funding, not in terms of admission) when applying to such programs. </p>
<p>However, applicants will likely have no ability to determine which at which universities such incentives exist.</p>