Stats:
Major in computer science and the first two years of college I took classes from 3 different community colleges, my average GPA was 3.3
Interned as a software developer during my freshman year.
Last year and a half I transferred to the University of Florida. Maintained a 4.0 GPA.
Have a semester of independent research
Two (I think) strong personal coding projects
GRE: 170 quantitative, 168 verbal, 6.0 writing
Decent LORs
(I’ve done some hackathons but haven’t placed higher than 3rd place, not sure if I should even put those on my resume)
If I had to pick five from the following list to apply to, which schools would I most likely get into?
Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, USC, Cornell, UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford, Harvard, MIT, UIUC, Purdue
What do you want to study in grad school, and why are you interested in that field of study?
For an MS or PhD, Is there a particular sub field that interests you, and where are there research teams working on that?
Why do you want to go to grad school now instead of geting a job? What advice on that have you received from the career center on campus?
Which grad programs have your professors recommended?
The 3.3 GPA was during OP’s community college years. Has a 4.0 GPA at the University of Florida over the last year and a half.
I would talk to profs and advanced PhD students about which programs to apply to. One question I would have is how much math you have taken and how much is expected in these programs if that is important in CS. Having a 4.0 in college doesn’t necessarily mean you are well prepared for PhD programs.
Why do you want to go to graduate school? Are you looking for a master’s degree, or a PhD? If a PhD, then what do you intend to do with it? Are you a US citizen, if so, what state do you live in?