<p>hi, i'm a undergrad CS major, and have a question about the relationship
between undergrad research and grad school admissions.</p>
<p>should the research area during the undergrad years correspond
to the field i want to study at a grad school? does it weaken my application
if, in it, i say i want to study a field of comp sci that is different from one
i focused on in my undergrad years?</p>
<p>well, there isn't a good prof at my current uni who specializes in the field i
want to pursue. so i'm thinking about choosing another research area
in college and then studying the field i really want to study as a graduate
student.</p>
<p>No, the actual topic or area of research is not nearly as important as the fact that you actually do research, any research... grad schools certainly do not expect you to pursue similar research... most grad students end up changing the exact area of research anyway in the first year or two... all the admissions committees are looking for is that you are motivated in a topic to do research... the reality is, a lot of students who apply to grad schools have excellent grades but no research experience... grad schools are looking for evidence of passion and evidence that you can perform independently... the fact is, the skills needed to excel in undergrad (studying and regurgitating back info on exams to get a good grade) are very different from the skills needed to excel in grad school (being able to work on an open-ended project without a clear answer, being able to work independently and integrate theory with experiment/data/observation/reality).</p>
<p>thank you for the reply, harvard<em>and</em>berkeley.</p>
<p>i wanna ask one more thing. when applying to the top comp sci
grad schools (like MIT, Stanford and so on), is one year of research
experience insufficient? i can join a research project only in the senior
year, but i think many applicants became involved in research projects
when they were juniors or sophomores.</p>
<p>Okay, how about in the humanities? When a school wants to know about your 'research' and there is a slot for 'thesis,' do they really want to hear about your bachelors or masters thesis? Doesn't everyone have to write these things? Do they just want to know the topic? Or is this for post-docs who are applying for a second doctorate in a related subject?</p>
<p>From talking with my friends in the humanities, they all say the biggest factor in getting into the top programs is LUCK. The fact of the matter is that there are very few real, objective measures to differentiate among all the applicants... letters of recommendation from well-known professors go a looooong way.
Having a compelling statement of purpose helps... GPA over 3.5, preferably higher. Evidence of strong writing ability (senior thesis, writing for undergrad journals, etc).</p>