I just changed majors and I’m at the beginning of my 4th of 5 years as an undergraduate. Last year I only was able to take 15 credits of an into to programming sequence. This year and next year I am basically completing my entire B.S. in Computer Science. My school is small and only has two faculty members in their CS department which is more of an appendage to the engineering department. Still, like many students just starting in a new direction, I am hopeful that somehow I could overcome and gain the knowledge and experience needed in these two short years to escape the destiny of writing outdated business apps in visual basic for all eternity. When I look at the really cool research areas that major universities get to explore, I am inspired to search out a niche for myself.
Is this reasonably possible? What might I want to do to help get to the point where I am equal to a recent graduate from a top CS university undergraduate program?
Thank you.
Categorized | Affiliate Marketing 101
Is It Too Late To Get Into Stanford?
Posted on October 9, 2012.
I assume you mean you want to apply to a masters program at Stanford. Did you read their website? Many top schools only offer PhD programs, not terminal masters degrees. And you’d be applying in the fall of your last year, so really you’d only have half your major completed at that point. And not much in the way of research experience at your small school. Have you talked to your professors about getting research experience in your field? If that’s not going to work with them, maybe try other professors in related disciplines who might be doing computational work (such as physics and math).
In short, if you do well and have a high GPA, you’ll have a chance at grad school somewhere. But Stanford is aiming extremely high. Coming from a small college with only half your courses completed and probably no research experience, you should be aiming lower. And that’s not a bad thing, really. There are plenty of quality grad programs at lower ranked schools.