What kind of grad school can I get into? (Computer Science)

Graduate School
1

<p>I’m currently a junior at Vanderbilt University. I’ll be quite honest and say I’m quite lazy when it comes to grades. Not a good thing, I know, but I’ve been that way since elementary school.</p>

<p>My GPA right now, (which probably can’t change too much before I have to send in grad school applications) is a 3.3</p>

<p>My computer science GPA is a 3.63.</p>

<p>I am a computer science and chemistry major. Almost all classes that lowered my GPA were chemistry classes, but I should graduate from the hardest chemistry program (the kind intended for graduate school).</p>

<p>I haven’t taken the GRE, but I would predict I will do well as I do very well on most all standardized tests. If I had to guess, my scores should increase to 600 verbal, 780 quantitative, and 4.5 or 5 analytical by the time I take it (next year).</p>

<p>The main thing I know will haunt me is I haven’t been involved in research until next semester/summer. I have a decent amount of extracurriculars and community service (leader position in one).</p>

<p>I have a strong interest in Artificial Intelligence and I believe I should be able to write a good statement of purpose (I have a few strong ideas that have been in my head/rough drafts for a while.)</p>

<p>I want to apply for a PhD program somewhere, but I don’t really know where I have a decent shot. I know I can scratch the top 10 schools of my list and probably 11-20 as well.</p>

<p>What sort of grad schools should I look at? Here are some examples that I’m curious to whether I have a change of getting in:</p>

<p>Rice
University of Pennsylvania
NYU
University of California at Davis
Northwestern
UChicago
Dartmouth
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Oregon
University of Texas at Dallas</p>

<p>Please be totally honest if you think I have no chance. I’m also interested in how my attendance of Vanderbilt (as a respected school) and my combination of majors will factor in to my acceptability to graduate schools. Also, is there anything I can do to help my case?</p>

2

<p>Your CS GPA is good, I’m sure you’ll do well on the GRE and both extracurriculars and community service don’t matter. Coming from a good school, Vanderbilt, is a plus.</p>

<p>If you can get some good research experience in and get good letters of recommendation from top professors saying that you have research potential, that would be the best thing you can do. If you can do that, you should have no trouble getting into UC Davis, RPI, Univ of Oregon and UT Dallas. I’d say that these are your safety schools. I think you have a shot at each school you listed and you can probably even add a few higher-ranked schools in the top 10. The worst that will happen is you will be disappointed and you may get lucky. Remember that it will all come down to what your profs have to say about you.</p>

<p>Also, at a lot of places, if you’re rejected from the PhD program they may offer you admission to their master’s program. You can use that to boost your profile, get more research experience in from a good school and reapply.</p>