Application Resources
There are various initiatives that aim to help students apply to graduate school! Here is a compiled summary of them.
Choosing Programs
It can be hard to know where to even apply to. It is helpful to read papers and look at the top conferences in the areas you’re interested in to see who is publishing the research you like. From there, aim to find 2-4 professors at a given institution of interest, which is where CSRanking can become a helpful resource to find PIs in certain research areas and their websites.
- csrankings.org: ranks CS programs around the world and can be helpful for finding professors in your area.
- csstipendrankings.org: information (some slightly outdated) on PhD stipends.
Writing Your Application
For crafting the personal statement, SoP, and just generally receiving mentorship, these resources were helpful.
- cs-sop.notion.site: database of CS PhD Statement of Purpose examples posted by previous applicants.
- Graduate Application Support Programs: programs where applicants are matched with current PhD student mentors that can help you with your application material. Application deadlines tend to vary year-to-year, but these were the deadlines for the past cycles.
- For a more general guide on application dos and don’ts, there is also Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science by Professor Mor Harchol-Balter at CMU.
Application Fee Waivers
There are a variety of ways to get fee waivers. Make sure to look at your target schools’ specific fee waiver policies to know what they accept, but here are common routes one can get fee waivers:
- Demonstrating financial need: some programs will waive you application fee if you are on financial aid at your current university and you submit your aid statement.
- Conferences: if you are able to attend conferences like Tapia or Grace Hopper, many programs will have booths where they give out fee waiver codes. Some schools will also waive your application fee if you submit proof of conference attendance.
- Targeted programs or organization membership: if you are a member or participate in some of the following programs, you may qualify for a fee waiver.
- Graduate Application Support Programs (by school)
- REU programs (by school)
- Association Computing Machinery Women Council (ACM-W)
- The Leadership Alliance (and affiliated programs)
- Black in AI
- LatinX in AI
- Posse
- QuestBridge
- …
- Some programs just waive fees for everyone like CMU Societal Computing :-)
Don’t be afraid to reach out to graduate students in the labs you are interested in to ask them about their experiences and to receive advice.
Good Luck!