Computer Science Graduate School Presented by Kevin Skadron

Outline of Discussion What is graduate school like? Is graduate school for me? What schools should I consider? How do I apply? How will they evaluate me? Question and Answer Slides mostly courtesy of Dave Brogan

Grad school is not for everyone • Plenty of smart people go right to industry – Learn on the job – Advance within company or hop jobs – Entrepreneurs cannot afford to wait • For some, grad school provides – A way to one-up UVa on the resume (degree as status symbol) – A fast track to a job (faster than working your way up) – Unique opportunities (no other way to be professor) – A great opportunity to focus and/or pursue your interests

What is Graduate School Like? A professor’s perspective… • Intellectual entrepreneurs: Every professor runs a small company – Product: Invents and develops long-range research – Customer: typically Federal Government (National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – DARPA) and other academics – Annual Revenue: $300, 000 - $1, 000 – Employees: Grad students (you)

What is Graduate School Like? M. S. Degree • 1. 5 - 2 years • Coursework similar to senior-level undergraduate courses • Usually provided an opportunity to specialize – Can easily start degree without selecting area of focus – Good schools provide opportunity to take many focused courses in your favorite area • Research (in form of thesis) may be required • Tuition and stipend are possible – this varies from school to school – (full tuition + $16 k / 9 mos + summer job)

What is Graduate School Like? Ph. D. Degree • 4 - 7 years • Similar coursework to Master’s Degree plus seminars and courses related to research • Research required • Tuition and stipend scholarships are standard – ($16 k / 9 mos + some summer jobs) • Required to specialize – Helpful to know research interests from day one to expedite selection of research focus – Many select research focus after starting school

Is Graduate School for You? What are your career goals? • Sick and tired of school • Learn on the job (job hopping) • Entrepreneur • Technology management (manage engineers) • Professor • Don’t know what you want to do

Is Graduate School for You? • Do you enjoy learning - becoming an expert? – Ph. D makes you world’s expert in foo • Do you like being a big fish in a small pond? – Question applies to job and school options • Do you prefer constancy or change? – Higher degrees are entree to management and provide you with more control • Financial situation

Is Graduate School for You? Degree pros and cons • Bachelor’s Degree – Good starting salary ($50 k) but peaks early – More job openings – Opportunity to swap jobs or move to management – But many jobs are entry level – Less control of day-to-day tasks – Employer usually benefits from not promoting you – May become bored – have to hop jobs – Less job security

Show Me the Money 2004 Undergraduate Salaries Accounting $43, 050 up 2. 4% Economics/finance $40, 719 up 0. 4% Business $38, 254 up 6. 2% (mostly attributed to sales @$40, 395 and marketing @$37, 519) CS $51, 042 up 4. 9% Information Systems / Systems $43, 471 up 3. 9% Chemical Eng $53, 659 up 2. 1% Elect Eng $51, 113 up 2. 4% Civil Eng $43, 159 up 5. 1% Pharmacist $84, 000 Liberal Arts $29, 060 down 3. 6% http: //www. naceweb. org/press/display. asp? year=2005&prid=208

Show Me the Money Salaries of UVa Grads • CS Median – 2003: $55, 000 (max $77, 000) – 18 respondents – 2004: $52, 000 (max $74, 000) – 22 respondents – 2005: $57, 000 (max 70, 000) – 15 respondents • CPE Median – 2003: $54, 008 (max $70, 000) – 9 respondents – 2004: $53, 000 (max $76, 000) – 12 respondents – 2005: $55, 000 (max 64, 000) – 8 responses • Overall ordering at UVa: CS, EE, CPE/Sys (tied) – Hours worked is an unknown, but important additional factor http: //www. seas. virginia. edu/careerdevelopment/2005 Seas. Annual. Report. pdf

Is Graduate School for You? Master’s Degree Benefits • Better starting salary ($66 k) • Many job openings • Potential to start at management level • Opportunity to swap jobs • More control of day-to-day tasks

Is Graduate School for You? Master’s Degree Cons • Still not in charge of project • 1. 5 - 2 years of lost wages (less if paid during school) • May become bored by repetitive tasks • May become frustrated by poor employees and lack of support from upper-level management

Is Graduate School for You? Ph. D. Degree Benefits • Better starting salary ($115 k) • Large amount of control over work • Long hours • Opportunity to teach in university • Management skills assumed • You’ll be the world’s expert in ____ • 30% go off to teach and 30% go to industry

Is Graduate School for You? Ph. D. Degree Cons • 3 - 4 years of income beyond the masters is lost • Overqualified to make large jumps between fields • It’s a lot of hard work with few clear paths

Faculty vs. Industry Very different lifestyles Both are intense • Professor: tenure & funding struggles vs. tenure security and more control over activities • Industry: survive in an era of constant downsizing and project shakeups/cancellations, product focus

UVa students and grad school 2004 UVa-CS Survey • 94 responding (26 CPE/47 CS) – 16 (22. 5%) going to grad school § Va. Tech, MIT, UVa, UT-Austin, Ga. Tech, UC-Riverside, GWU § 2 lawyers § 1 business § 1 biomed – 50% work in No. Va (egad)

How Do I Apply? Application packet consists of the following • Transcript – Important, but not much you can do about this now… • Letters of Recommendation – Important – make or break marginal cases – Establish relationships with 3 UVa profs now! • Personal Statement – Somewhat important – think about what you like • GREs – Sanity check only. Subject test is hard, but many do poorly.

How Do I Apply? Transcript • Your school’s reputation, • your grades • and your courses will speak for themselves • Schools are sympathetic to GPAs that improve over time and weaknesses in outside areas

How Do I Apply? Letters of Recommendation • These carry a great amount of weight • Help your letter writer by reminding him/her of significant interactions you have had • Help your letter writer by sharing your research interests so he/she may find ways to write a letter that complements your personal statement

How Do I Apply? Contact person at other school • This is very difficult • Strike up an email conversation with prof from another school • US profs get many such emails from Chinese and Indian students – Don’t sound desperate – Ask a reasonable question about the professor’s research – showcase your qualifications – Read their web pages!

How Do I Apply? Personal Statement • This is a great opportunity to stand out • Research the schools in which you are interested • Ask professors to explain research areas • Try to sound like a student with experience, focus, and initiative • Don’t limit your choices by writing something that makes you sound too focused (unless you are) • Avoid platitudes

How Do I Apply? GREs • General test always required – General test is like SATs but slightly harder – New for 2002 – Writing Component (true for SATs too!) § Used to be called analytical section (multiple choice) • Subject test sometimes required – Subject test is very detail oriented • Study! Purchase old tests for practice!

Where Do I Apply US News and World Report top 20 • Try to upgrade – UVa grad school is good, but you can probably do better. Exposure to new school (breadth) is encouraged unless you’re part of a special project here already that will make your graduate experience really valuable here • Try not to worry about the money – Most schools have similar packages for their students. Those who want funding can usually find it.

Where Do I Apply (US News 2002) 1. Carnegie Mellon University 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 10. Cal Tech U. of Wisconsin - Madison 12. Maryland, Georgia Tech 3. Stanford University 14. Brown University, UCLA, Michigan 4. U. of California–Berkeley 17. Rice University, UNC, Penn 5. U. of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign 20. Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Purdue, UCSD 6. Cornell 7. U. of Texas – Austin U. of Washington 9. Princeton University 25. UMass – Amherst, Yale 27. U. of Southern Cal, U. of Virginia 29. Hopkins, NYU, Rutgers, SUNYStony Brook, UC-Irvine, Utah

Where do I apply NSF rankings • 1 -12: Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, CMU, Cornell, Princeton, Texas, University of Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin, Harvard, and Cal Tech • 13 -24: Brown, Yale, UCLA, UMd, NYU, UMass, Rice, USC, Michigan, UCSD, Columbia, and Penn • 24 -36: University of Chicago, Purdue, Rutgers, Duke, UNC, University of Rochester, SUNY (Stony Brook), Ga. Tech, Arizona, UCalifornia (Irvine), UVa, and Indiana

Soapbox (My Opinion) Get a Master’s Degree • If you can stomach it and do well • You’ll have more control over your day to day tasks and have a leg up in management Only get the Ph. D. if you are strongly compelled to get what it provides • You are not just limited to faculty jobs It’s risky to go to work and think you’ll come back to school – it’s very hard • You make lifestyle commitments that aren’t very compatible with student life • But a boring entry-level job can really help you focus Always remember to consider cost of living adjustments when comparing salaries • Silicon Valley is expensive

Special Case Get employer-paid M. S. while working • Consider quality of school (in No. Va GMU and GWU) – If you weren’t working, a better school is possible – A MS degree from GMU might not be worth much to you if you are capable of CMU (won’t open doors) • Difficult to work and study – but you’re young and might not have time commitments • Consider that school will likely pay you too

Q&A

Show Me the Money 2001 Undergraduate Salaries Econ/Finance $40, 577 Commerce $38, 449 MIS $45, 585 CS $52, 723 Information Science $45, 182 Computer Eng $53, 924 EE $52, 910 Petroleum $53, 878 English $31, 501 Sociology $28, 812 Psychology $30, 338 History $30, 375 Political Science $32, 744 www. naceweb. org/press/display. cfm/2001/pr 071101. htm

Show Me the Money 2002 Undergraduate Salaries Accounting $40, 293 up 3. 2% Marketing $35, 374 up 1% Business $35, 209 down 7. 1% (14% > 1% consultants) CS $50, 352 down 3. 6 (most sought-after grads) Software Eng $54, 922 Information Systems $41, 414 down 7. 4% Chemical Eng $51, 254 steady Elect Eng $50. 387 down 3. 5% Civil Eng $40, 848 down 1% Mechanical Eng $48, 654 steady Liberal Arts $28, 667 down 5. 6% http: //www. naceweb. org/press/display. asp? year=2002&prid=155 http: //www. naceweb. org/press/display. asp? year=2002&prid=164

Show Me the Money 2003 Undergraduate Salaries Accounting $41, 360 up 2. 6% Economics/finance $40, 764 up 1. 8% Business $36, 515 up 3. 7% (mostly sales and mgmt trainee) CS $46, 536 down 7. 6% (sixth consecutive drop) Information Systems / Systems $39, 800 down 3. 8% Chemical Eng $52, 169 up 1. 8% Elect Eng $50, 566 steady Civil Eng $41, 067 up 0. 5% Mechanical Eng $48, 659 steady Liberal Arts $29, 543 up 3. 1%

Show Me the Money 2004 Undergraduate Salaries Accounting $43, 050 up 2. 4% Economics/finance $40, 719 up 0. 4% Business $38, 254 up 6. 2% (mostly attributed to sales @$40, 395 and marketing @$37, 519) CS $51, 042 up 4. 9% Information Systems / Systems $43, 471 up 3. 9% Chemical Eng $53, 659 up 2. 1% Elect Eng $51, 113 up 2. 4% Civil Eng $43, 159 up 5. 1% Pharmacist $84, 000 Liberal Arts $29, 060 down 3. 6% http: //www. naceweb. org/press/display. asp? year=2005&prid=208

Total numbers in grad school Year 2004 Data From: www. cra. org 20, 971 BS degrees in CS/CPE produced • 17% women, 3. 4% African American, 3. 9% Hispanic http: //www. cra. org/CRN/articles/may 05/taulbee. html

Total numbers in grad school 9, 141 MS degrees produced • 25% women, 1. 5% African American, 1. 1% Hispanic • New master’s students decreased 17% after having dropped 8% the previous year

Total numbers in grad school 877 Ph. Ds produced in US • New enrollments down 8% last year and down 5% the year before • Total Ph. D enrollment is going up by 20% each year (they’re not graduating)! • 18% were women • Only 13 were African American (1. 5%) • Only 10 were Hispanic (1. 1%) • 48% were international students (May drop fast)