Quote:Original post by Sneftel
It's debatable whether a masters program would help you get your foot in the door. Anecdotally, I was offered PhD admission at the school where I got my masters (though I ended up going elsewhere), but mine was hardly a normal masters degree experience. I would say that it would definitely be a bad idea to go into any masters program if you weren't going to be happy with the possibility of just getting a masters degree.

Are you saying that I would be *less* likely to be accepted into a doctorate program next year if I matriculated into a master's program this year?

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Quote:Is work experience in a non-research field going to be considered a hindrance, or will it be a significant differentiating factor for me?

It certainly won't hurt you. It may well help you. Advisors like students who can get stuff done.

I'll be sure to emphasize the variety of things I've done over the last couple of years.

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Quote:What kind of things are schools looking for in applicants, i.e. are they looking generally for people who want to teach (I'm personally more interested in entrepreneurship or industrial research), or is that not a big deal?

It's not a big deal. They want students who can do good research. To determine whether a student can do good research, they rely primarily on letters of recommendation. That will be the tricky part for you.

Well, I still periodically talk with some of my old professors, and one or two of them might be willing to provide a letter. When I told my boss that I was considering applying, he offered to write a letter for me as well. My client whom I currently work for has a very high opinion of me, so I'm sure he would be willing to write a letter for me. It looks pretty standard that schools want 3 letters for a doctorate program, or 2 for a master's.

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Quote:How important is it to have a rock-solid idea of research topics, or is there an expectation that students have general interests that will be refined over time after exposure to research projects? How important is it to have research interests that match what the school has already worked on in recent time?

It really depends on the school. As a rule of thumb, though, advisors want students who are interested in something related to what's already going on in their research group, even if it isn't exactly the same thing. Groups that exclusively focus on one project are few and far between, though; don't assume that just because most of a group's published papers center around a particular subject, that's all they're doing.

That's good to know. That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm usually a very independent person when it comes to project work (though I can work in a team perfectly well when I need to). Obviously, I don't want to be completely on my own; if I were, why bother going to school at all?

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Quote:Also, my CS subject GRE was pretty bad; I hadn't taken algorithms before I took the test, so I pretty much bombed it. Most of these schools don't necessarily require the subject GRE, but they do accept it. Should I bother with retaking the subject test, or try to explain it away in my application letter?

If it was four years ago, and you feel like you're stronger now, and have time to review, I would definitely retake it. It's not a huge factor, but with the current economic climate, admissions is going to suspect you of running to a PhD program to escape a bad job situation rather than out of genuine interest in research, and recent test scores will "show willing".

Alright, I will forgo the subject test for *this* year, and if I apply again *next* year, I will retake both the general and the subject test. There isn't enough time to cram and retake the subject test before most of these deadlines anyway.

So again, it's looking like I'm well prepared to enter a master's program, that I have everything I need, that I just need to fill out the forms and git 'er done. But it sounds like I have some loose ends to tie up if I want to get into doctorate program. Just for emphasis, I'll ask again, is accepting a master's program position going to hurt my chances of getting into a doctorate program? I can accept it not being any easier, in which case the master's program would be a time-saving function, as well as a stop-gap measure in case I don't get accepted in to any doctorate programs. But if it would make it harder, I really think I should wait until next year to apply.

Quote:Original post by Sneftel
I would strongly suggest that you limit your non-academic letters to one, if you can find two good academic sources. That's not a hard and fast rule (except that MIT requires it, if I recall correctly), but glowing letters from professors are better than glowing letters from non-professors. BTW, try to take an active hand in your professors' recommendations. Give them a list of your accomplishments; tell them what faculty members you're interested in working with; don't be afraid to brag. I know, I know, it sounds manipulative and gauche, but professors aren't going to be resentful, and it will make the letters better.

ah, thanks. That sounds like a great idea, actually.

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Quote:Is accepting a master's program position going to hurt my chances of getting into a doctorate program?

Definitely not. But it will certainly delay you getting into a PhD program (professors are unlikely to pull a masters student to PhD before graduation, for a variety of reasons), and if you treat it like an extension of undergrad (go to class, do the assignments, get the grades) it won't be of any help at all.

ah, I see. I hadn't planned to do the terminating master's degree at all, I was always planning on a research master's degree. Doing something that is just an extension of undergrad doesn't change what ladder I'm on, it just feeds me back in on a higher rung of the same ladder. I definitely want to be doing *research*, I want to be solving new problems, forging that new trail, blah blah blah. There's only just so many times one can wire up a web page to a database, implement some sort of RSS feed or aggregator, and push some strings around from one database to another, and I think I've just about hit my quota.

Double post, sorry.

I'm a current CS PhD student in the UK. So, things may be different in America (actually, I know for a fact that they are), but here's my experiences.

I went straight from BSc (4 years) to PhD. I had a couple of offers, from Edinburgh and Cambridge, but only got one offer of funding from the school that I'm currently at. I expected I had to write a very specific set of research proposals for Cambridge, with goals for the first year of study, etc. When I got to the interview, they were quite bemused that I had done this, and were only interested in a general area in which I wished to work (i.e. automated reasoning). The most important part of the process was my references, and how well I interviewed. The interview was pretty general, and I think was more a way of allowing the supervisor to gauge how well we could work together. (Edinburgh was different, as the guy who was going to be my supervisor was also my undergraduate dissertation supervisor, so I'd already worked with him.)

My current research is in an area only tangentially related to the area I initially applied to do a PhD in. My supervisor was in need of a student, and my supervisor-to-be at Edinburgh set me up with him, as he couldn't offer me funding. (Actually, if you aren't successful in obtaining funding, then make sure you ask your supervisor-to-be for any contacts that he may have.)

Also, if you don't already know this, how well you get on with your supervisor is the most important thing of doing a PhD, especially in a field like CS, where research topics are especially byzantine. Fall out with your supervisor, and you're fucked. Make sure you will be able to get on with your supervisor before you enroll on your PhD.

This may or may not help, but it's at least bumped your thread for you.

MDI: thanks, that actually helps a lot. It's nice to read these accounts of what it was like for other people. It gives me a better sense of what to expect. Having been out of college for 4 years, I don't have an academic advisor anymore, so there's no one else for me to ask for guidance from.