<p>B.Sc in CS - 3.80/4.00 from Bangladesh (topper among 250 students)
M.Sc. by Research in CS - 91% from University of Melbourne*
*Also worked in a reputed lab there.</p>
<p>GRE: 630V/780Q - 4.5 AWA
TOEFL: 104</p>
<p>1 Journal publication in Wiley Interscience**
4 research publications in IEEE/ACM conferences (top tier in my research field)**
1 publication nominated for best student paper award
** I am the first author in all publications</p>
<p>3 National level awards, Some travel awards from ACM/IEEE
Some national level scholarships and 1 scholarship from the Australian Gov.</p>
<p>3+ years of experience of university teaching in a premiere institution in Bangladesh.</p>
<p>I have good recos of 2 professors from Bangladesh and 1 senior lecturer from Melbourne Uni.</p>
<p>My problem is that I could not find good labs (in US) in my research field except one/two individuals interested in similar research that I have done before. Although still there are some good labs in my field but they are in top tier schools like UIUC, Stanford, MIT, etc.</p>
<p>In the second tier schools, it is hard to find one - except one/two individual faculty member working on my topic (not exact, but closely related with no dedicated lab). Any suggestions regarding choosing schools for me ?? or is there any possibility for me getting there ?</p>
<p>sorry, the field is Genetic and Evolutionary Computation; specifically - Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization. Actually I have posted my profile in this forum before but lost its trail.</p>
<p>I don’t have any knowledge on your field of interest but I would suggest if you know the top-tier schools are doing the work that interests you, then apply to those schools and other similar programs in the same city. It is not uncommon for students of at one school to participate in research at another institution. Faculty may have some joint appointments, or collaborative work with other institutions that would facilitate this. For example, if you are interested in attending Carnegie Mellon, I know that there is at least 1 joint phd program with the University of Pittsburgh and some faculty hold joint appointments with both schools. Pitt would be much less competitive for CS programs than CMU but I know you can take courses at CMU if you are a Pitt student, and possibly work on some research projects there as well. </p>
<p>Hope that helps a little bit, but again I am no expert, just speaking from my experience!</p>
<p>Graduate admissions is often about the best fit between the interests of the professor and the potential student. Take the time to identify the researchers’ whose work you are most interested in, and worry less about the specific institution where they work.</p>
<p>After some extensive search, I figured out that Aerospace/Mechanical Engg. departments in most schools are involved in my kind of work. So, does it mean that I should apply for Aerospace/Mechanical PhD as CS undergrad and masters? I am confused.</p>
<p>Find one or two research groups that are doing the work you want to be doing, and make direct contact with the principal investigators. They will be able to help you determine whether or not you have sufficient background to pursue advanced studies with their group.</p>