Hi. I’m a 2nd year student considering what to do after undergrad. My major is Computer Science. My interests are discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science.
Last summer, I had an internship with an engineering company and last fall I signed with a software company for the upcoming summer. To be honest, the more classes I take, the more I’m interesting in theory CS and less in systems and software engineering. So I would prefer a career that is more oriented towards that part of CS.
If I do higher education, I would definitely want to skip getting a Master’s and go for a direct PhD program so that I won’t have to pay for it. But as of my second year, I don’t have any research experience, and I have a hard time going around knocking on prof’s doors.
I have enough credit to graduate in 3 years comfortably. But I would have no time to do an optional senior thesis. If I spend 3.5 or 4 years, I can probably get to do some more research, but right now I go to a private 4-year with not a lot of finaid, so it’s pretty costly. In particular, if I graduate in 3.5 years, I would have to wait a whole year to apply to grad school and another year afterwards before I start school.
What should I do? Is there a way to get research experience after college with just a Bachelor’s?
Your best option would be to go knock on doors and get yourself in a lab this semester and then into next year. You will have to do it sometime if you intend to get a Ph.D. after you graduate it won’t be easy to get research experience unless you find a position as a worker in a research lab.
You are almost dead in the water without research experience. Not only do you not have any to know if you really want to do it, and thus they will know you don’t know what you are talking about, you are unproven, you don’t have letters of recommendation that discuss your potential to be a researcher etc.
So I suggest you look on your department’s webpage for research groups and find the ones you are interested in. And read the prof’s webpages. Then you will have some idea of what they are working on when you approach them. You could send an email if you really feel uncomfortable cold calling on them. You could tell them who you are and what year and your skill set and say you will come around to their office next office hours to discuss how you might be able to get involved in research. Or you could also talk to your dept advisor about it.
If you will graduate in 3.5 years, and I think the thesis will be really useful, then you apply in the same cycle as 4 year students. In the fall, for the following fall. So if you were going to graduate in fall 2016, you will apply along with the other Sr.'s for fall 2017, right? Or are you waiting another year to get research experience?