Hi all!!
I’m an upcoming senior deciding to apply for grad schools in the fall (masters). I am a comp sci major, 3.82 GPA from an R1 university (Syracuse), and looking for programs in Comp Sci or Cybersecurity. I have no publications, but I have been doing research with one of my professors for two summers relating to blockchain/crypto security (why I want to go into cybersecurity). No score for GRE yet but I’m studying now and will take in September.
I also TA’d my schools’ Data Structures class, and have a campus job tutoring Calc 1 and Intro to Python classes for freshmen. Also have some other non-CS related (fun) ECs but I’m not sure that matters in grad applications!
Anyway, my question is how should I be looking for grad schools to apply to? I’m not sure which ones to select for safeties, targets and reaches. I have looked at some programs already and I’m thinking about Boston University, Cornell University, UPenn, Stevens IoT, Northeastern, UC Santa Barbara, Duke, UC Boulder, Georgia Tech (only considering GT because my professor “knows people” - his words lol)
Am I overreaching? I have no idea how to gauge whether I am a competitive enough applicant or not for these schools. I’d really love to go to school in Boston, so BU is my #1 however I’m not sure I should even bother applying. What do you guys think my best options are? (Also I’d like to stay on the east coast with the exception of Colorado and California!)
I wouldn’t make your decision based on where you think it would be fun to live.
You should talk to your undergraduate professors (especially your advisor if you have one) about what schools/professors would be good for you, based on your interests and abilities. As you touched on with your professor who knows someone at Georgia Tech, the faculty will know people at other schools; so be sure that you talk to your professors about possible options. Your admission to graduate school is going to be based on the GRE (if required), your undergraduate classes and grades, and especially the strength of your recommendations. It’s a bit of a different process than undergraduate admissions.
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Hi, thanks for replying!
I was told from my mentor that when I apply to grad schools I should also take into account of where I want to live, as thats where most people after graduating get their jobs (in the general area of where they graduated) - I might’ve not made it clear in my post but I really like BU because of its cybersecurity program (and being in Boston is just an added bonus) ! I’ve talked with some of my profs and they’ve mostly said to find programs that interest me, but the problem is all of the programs are at mostly top tier schools so I’m not sure where to go from there.
I think that for many people applying to graduate programs their “safety” is to either look for a job, or to keep doing the job that they are already doing. You are in a field where you should be able to find a good job with a bachelor’s degree if you do not get into a graduate program that you like.
Also, while I do know some people who went straight from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s, most of the people who I know who went to graduate school first worked for a year or two or three between getting their bachelor’s and starting graduate school. What you do on a job can help with admissions to graduate programs (and most likely was a major factor in my case).
A 3.82 university GPA is pretty good, and you are at a pretty good university. I think that you might have a chance at even top ranked schools, but it is very hard to predict where you might or might not get in. I like the fact that you are doing research, and TA’ing, and tutoring, all of which is likely to help you. Knowing data structures very well is also good. Your references and statement of purpose will also matter and are difficult to evaluate.
When I was applying to graduate programs, I only got into one school. It was the highest ranked school I applied to. It also turned out to be a very good fit for me. One daughter is starting a PhD program sometime this year, and similarly got one acceptance to a very good program that is a very good fit for her (she was still interviewing at a second program when she decided to take the first offer). I think that schools are looking for a good fit, and it can be difficult to predict whether they will see you as a good fit.
Which might be a long way to say that I agree with the advice to find programs that interest you. I am wondering for example whether it would be worthwhile for you to send in an application to Stanford. Of course it is a reach, but perhaps not a crazy reach.
And applications to graduate programs might almost always be a reach. If you do not get in anywhere, then you get a job in your field, and reapply in a year or two.
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Hi thanks for the reply! Yes it’s definitely a good idea to also apply to jobs, I hadn’t thought of that but I plan to do that as a backup! I am hopeful that my references will be good - one will be from my prof who I work with now, another will be from my advisor whose class I TA’d for and another will be from an prof whose Algorithms’ class I took and had a very good relationship with. I think I have very good relationships with all of them! And I agree, graduate programs might always be a reach, I will keep this in mind. Thank you for the advice!!
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