Computer Science: Reasonable plan?
I've just finished my junior/3rd year of undergrad as Computer Science major at a large public university on a peninsula in the southern US. I'm on track to graduate during the Spring of 2010. So, as you can probably tell, I'm thinking about applying to graduate school. Alas, I don't have any research experience, but I will be completing two research projects during my senior year ("senior project" and a senior thesis, both of which involve research projects with advisors.)
I have a so-so cumulative GPA of 3.57 and a CS GPA of 3.7 (my freshman year was a disaster). I've gone beyond the undergrad curriculum and have taken and will continue to take graduate level courses. I plan on taking the GRE (general -- I've noticed that most programs really don't care about the CS GRE if you studied it during undergrad) at the end of the summer. Since my research experience thus far is nil, I'm sorely lacking in the "What is this candidate's research potential"-department, I'm thinking about enrolling in an MS program, after which I will then apply to Ph.D. programs (I realize that MS programs are not necessarily sufficient, since many are just an extension of the undergrad curriculum.) I also realize that some departments don't have distinct MS and PhD programs (Caltech, MIT, etc. -- NB: I also realize those schools are SUPER-SUPER-reaches for me)
As for potential areas of research, I'm interested in programming languages (applied and theoretical, etc. For instance, I wouldn't mind performing research in type theory...), systems (distributed, operating, and so on), and possibly computer graphics.
Also, while I do have the option of enrolling in the combined Bachelors/Masters program here, I'd really like to complete it somewhere else. I'm a URM, but I'm leaning towards not indicating it on my applications because I want to ensure that I'm admitted based on merit alone.
Schools I may be interested in for an MS (yes, some all of them are quite unrealistic. Even though I haven't taken the GRE, feel free to recommend matches):
My current institution
University of Washington
University of Chicago
Stanford
Princeton
Northwestern
UCLA
Harvard
Brown
UPenn
UIUC
Columbia
Berkeley
Please, feel free to be "real" with me.
edit: Another option is that I may skip the masters program completely and work for a year or so. Any thoughts?
I have a so-so cumulative GPA of 3.57 and a CS GPA of 3.7 (my freshman year was a disaster). I've gone beyond the undergrad curriculum and have taken and will continue to take graduate level courses. I plan on taking the GRE (general -- I've noticed that most programs really don't care about the CS GRE if you studied it during undergrad) at the end of the summer. Since my research experience thus far is nil, I'm sorely lacking in the "What is this candidate's research potential"-department, I'm thinking about enrolling in an MS program, after which I will then apply to Ph.D. programs (I realize that MS programs are not necessarily sufficient, since many are just an extension of the undergrad curriculum.) I also realize that some departments don't have distinct MS and PhD programs (Caltech, MIT, etc. -- NB: I also realize those schools are SUPER-SUPER-reaches for me)
As for potential areas of research, I'm interested in programming languages (applied and theoretical, etc. For instance, I wouldn't mind performing research in type theory...), systems (distributed, operating, and so on), and possibly computer graphics.
Also, while I do have the option of enrolling in the combined Bachelors/Masters program here, I'd really like to complete it somewhere else. I'm a URM, but I'm leaning towards not indicating it on my applications because I want to ensure that I'm admitted based on merit alone.
Schools I may be interested in for an MS (yes, some all of them are quite unrealistic. Even though I haven't taken the GRE, feel free to recommend matches):
My current institution
University of Washington
University of Chicago
Stanford
Princeton
Northwestern
UCLA
Harvard
Brown
UPenn
UIUC
Columbia
Berkeley
Please, feel free to be "real" with me.
edit: Another option is that I may skip the masters program completely and work for a year or so. Any thoughts?