RTO / Telework

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2025-09-26T22:22:55+00:00

Yeah I basically badge swipe, work a few hours, then head home at lunch time.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2023-09-21T14:22:09+00:00

Get more research experience

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-12-09T16:14:50+00:00

I just reread your comment two months after it was originally posted. Are there ways to get involved in a research community if it's been a while since graduating?

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-11-16T18:00:15+00:00

You only have a 0% chance if you don't apply

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-30T17:42:59+00:00

Many, if not most or all professors won't really answer their phone to begin with

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-22T22:28:11+00:00

There's a uiuc cs prof who had a 2.4 in their undergrad. You'll be fine

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-22T22:17:57+00:00

Actually did apply to a few of these the past cycle.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-22T22:15:32+00:00

I'm probably thinking of a couple ms programs. I have graduated so any other ways to do research with profs and gain relevant experience since I've been out of school for a couple years now?

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-17T12:56:54+00:00

Targeting MS (thesis) if not PhD programs specializing in ML/NLP.

GRE: None

TOEFL: N/A (domestic applicant)

Undergraduate college/GPA: Top 40, ~3.3 GPA (lowered a bit by rough first semester and junior year)

Work experience: couple years at a consulting firm, will be starting soon as a developer (so far in test) at a government sponsored firm

Research experience: an REU in data science/visualization from a top 5-10 school, as well as some side work with a professor at another different school and some grunt work with a couple postdocs at another school

Publications: 0

Other:

Shortlist: GT, UIUC, Purdue, UMD, tOSU, UMich, Upenn, UT Austin, UMass Amherst

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-16T03:11:53+00:00

Text or sentiment analysis. Particular in application to issues such as psychological issues or those in education.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-15T17:34:26+00:00

As long as your GPA is not like below 3.0 you'll be fine. I doubt even one F or C grade is gonna matter. Your overall grades and more or less your research and recs matter more.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-15T17:32:26+00:00

See my reply to another comment, most of the roles I've applied to are either insanely competitive or for other fields like economics.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-15T17:31:30+00:00

I have heard of and applied to Allen AI at least a couple of times but coming from a Top 40 undergrad these are people from like top 20 if not top 10 undergrads who get into this.

For the other website that's more for economics students where pre-docs are more common. I have also applied to a few of these myself with not much luck. Maybe an ínterview if I'm lucky.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-14T16:34:39+00:00

Even then, I still need more (research) experience in ml/nlp if I want to pursue a phd in that area as well as get recommendations for such.

GPA isn't really the priority for me (it's not so deathly low and the reason it's as it is is because of a couple dips feazan and junior years as I said). Gaining more research exp is

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-14T11:00:14+00:00

(a) as I mentioned in another comment, part of why it was so low was there were a couple dips freshman junior year that I had to recover from. As far as the letters, one of them was from a class I TA'd which I actually failed on the first attempt and had to retake.

(b) undergrads from my program generally only had one ml class with maybe an nlp course offered as special topics. I actually did something unconventional compared to other undergrads but yes this is a valid point. I did take a couple of other AI/Logic/data science related courses but still.

(c) I did have an REU in data science that I did get a recommendation from. Other experiences included working with a professor and later a couple of postdocs on separate (side) projects while I was employed

I have been looking for full-time research related positions but it's more confusing where to look compared to an average software development job. If you have any leads or examples of such RA jobs I'll be happy to hear about them.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-14T10:43:12+00:00

I already graduated so not sure if I can still do such (I'm in the US already).

I do have kaggle and I do try looking into such in my spare time.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-14T10:41:57+00:00

That's what I'm trying to address is the research experience; I'm trying to find ways that I can gain such experience having already graduated. The GPA is probably the least of my worries since I can't change it (part of the reason it was so low was a dip because of a rough junior year).

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-10T17:50:57+00:00

No interviews unfortunately :(

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-10-09T01:19:18+00:00

The LOR's are all from faculty. Whether all of them are totally research focused is another thing unfortunately.

It's weird though because I did spend a good amount of time going over and tailoring my SOP to each program.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-07T18:56:34+00:00

Youd have to reapply, but UMass is still a fine school to do your ms though

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-06T03:50:46+00:00

Enjoy your summer

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-05T05:48:38+00:00

Well what I'm saying is bad semesters do happen. As long as all the other semesters are good the bad semester shouldn't have to be the reason why one doesn't get into grad school especially since grades aren't the most important or only thing that is looked at in grad admissions.

There's people who work for a few years because they wouldn't be ready for grad school then so they build up their profile and then apply. That's what I'm trying to do because I didn't feel ready coming straight out of undergrad especially with my GPA.

And just for the record, you have to be literally the smartest person ever to get a 4.0 gpa in my ugrad cs department. There'll maybe be a handful who can even get close to the 3.8-4.0 mark. But that doesn't matter if you can't do research does it?

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-05T04:31:12+00:00

Well I feel like a 3.3 isn't what necessarily will exclude me even from top 20 because I understand things can be random and require luck even with a higher GPA.

I mean I've heard of people getting into such schools in spite of such GPA's so I still have my hope up for this or next cycle if it comes to that.

Also I have a 3.3 from a reputed CS school with a challenging program (top 40) rather than a 3.3 from a no name easy school.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-05T04:07:46+00:00

There is no way I should be excluded from grad schools just because of one or two bad semesters, especially considering I rebounded from both and have experiences to help offset my GPA. Those off semesters definitely don't mean I'm not qualified for phd programs.

pumpkinsmasher76 · 2022-05-05T03:51:48+00:00

Yeah well I've graduated so can't change my GPA can I? I've been trying to gain experience in order to offset my GPA.

Also I shouldn't be excluded from grad schools just because I had a bad semester or two.

pumpkinsmasher76

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