Information for Prospective Graduate Students
I am retired from the university and no longer supervise graduate students. There are many fine computer science PhD programs,
and there are almost surely several that would accept you. To that end, below is my advice for winning an
NSF graduate fellowship and my ranked list of CS Phd Programs.
National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships
All PhD students in any reputable CS PhD program can expect to receive a full scholarship plus a stipend
to cover living expenses. You are none the less encouraged to apply for a National Science Foundation
Graduate Fellowships. These fellowships do not provide a financial advantage to you, but they give
you an enormous edge in graduate admissions! They tell the school that you are extraordinary and they
the NSF will pay for your expenses so there is less risk in admittting you.
There are two kinds of fellowships for computer science. The first is the tradtional NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
Winners typically have already peformed significant undergraduate research. People from groups
targeted by NSF for diversity (female, black, Hispanic, or Pacific-islander) are encouraged to submit
even if their undergraduate research experience is less extensive. You apply for this fellowship early in
your senior undergraduate year.
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Application
The second program is named CSgrads4US and is only for students interested in going into a CS PhD program.
It is unique in that it is mainly targeted at people who have been working in industry and are several
years past graduation - although currently applicants do not need to already be working in industry. It also
is unique in that it provides a year of mentoring support to help winners learn how to apply to a Phd
program. It is less competitive than traditional NSF Graduate Fellowships, and has an even greater
emphasis on diversity. Applicants are not required to have undergraduate research experience or
to have majored in computer science, although they should provide evidence that they have completed most of the
undergraduate courses expected for a CS major.
NSF CSgrad4All Fellowship Application
My USA and Canada Computer Science PhD Program Ranking
This list is loosely based on csrankings.org, which ranks US CS graduate programs on the basis of average number publications in the top CS conferences per tenure-track faculty member. Schools have been grouped into tiers and alphabetized within each tier, to emphasize that order within a tier is not significant. Several Canadian universities have been added. The Tier 1 group agrees with the top set of computer science programs as selected by most ranking organizations, such as US News. The splitting points for the other tiers are based on my own judgement, and others may disagree. Please note that the best school for your specific interests might be in any of the tiers.
All universities listed have many excellent faculty and graduate students. The purpose of this list is to help students applying to graduate school to think of a range of options, and to avoid disappointment that could result from applying to too narrow a range of programs. Each Tier 1 school receives many thousands of applications for a few dozen openings each, so even a very strong student can be unlucky. Be sure to include some Tier 3 and 4 schools in your set of applications. Tier 3 and 4 schools tend to receive very few applications from US citizens or permanent residents, so any such applicant will have a good chance of acceptance.
About the Application Essay
For all schools, take the following advice about your essay to heart: explain your
interest in research and why you want to earn a PhD. Refer to classes you took and
research you have read about on your own outside of class. Do not tell your life story f
rom childhood; this is not like an essay for undergraduate school.
Show that you are intellectually curious and can communicate clearly.
Describe the areas of CS that interest you the most and why.
You are not expected to have a research topic; in fact, describing an extremely
detailed project could put you at a disadvantage, because professors want students
to contribute to their research agendas. However, you should write
about the areas you want to investigate in a way that demonstrates your
competency. It is fine to say you are undecided
between two areas, such as theory and AI.
AI and Machine Learning
At this point in time, most students who apply to US CS PhD programs say they want to
study AI or machine learning. As a result, even very strong applicants to US universities
in this area will often be turned away. Students should also consider applying to
Canadian Universities that have strong AI / machine learning research groups:
University of Toronto, University of Alberta, and if you speak French, Universite de Montreal.
TIER 1:
Typical successful applicant has:
- All A's in CS and Math
- Co-authorship on one or more research papers published in refereed conference(s),
or a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and evidence
of research experience.
- A detailed letter of recommendation from a faculty research advisor. It helps if the letter is from a successful researcher who is known to faculty at the target university.
Schools
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Cornell University (note that Cornell Tech admissions are also handled by Cornell)
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Stanford University
- University of California - Berkeley
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Washington
TIER 2:
Typical successful applicant has:
- Almost all A's in CS and Math
- Co-authorship on a research paper published in a conference or workshop,
or a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and evidence
of research experience
- A detailed letter of recommendation from a faculty research advisor
Schools
- Brown University
- California Institute of Technology
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- Harvard University
- Indiana University
- Johns Hopkins University
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Princeton University
- Purdue University
- Rice University
- University of Alberta, Canada
- University of British Columbia, Canada
- University of California - Los Angeles
- University of California - San Diego
- University of Maryland - Baltimore County
- University of Maryland - College Park
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Montreal, Canada
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Southern California
- University of Toronto, Canada
- University of Wisconsin - Madison
- Yale University
TIER 3:
Typical successful applicant has:
- Mostly A's in CS and Math with some B's but no C's
- Research experience, but not necessarily leading to a publication
- A letter of recommendation from a faculty member that
indicates good knowledge of the student's strengths
Schools
- Arizona State University
- Brandeis University
- Dartmouth College
- Michigan State University
- North Carolina State University
- Northeastern University
- Ohio State University
- Oregon State University
- Pennsylvania State University
- Rutgers University
- Stony Brook University
- Texas A&M University
- Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago
- Tufts University
- University of Arizona
- University of California - Davis
- University of California - Irvine
- University of California - Santa Barbara
- University of California - Santa Cruz
- University of Chicago
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Florida
- University of Illinois at Chicago
- University of Iowa
- University of Kentucky
- University of Minnesota
- University of North Carolina
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Rochester
- University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Virginia
- University of Waterloo, Canada
- Vanderbilt University
- Virginia Tech
- Washington University in St. Louis
TIER 4:
Typical successful applicant has:
- Mostly A's in CS and Math with some B's but no C's
- A strong letter of recommendation from a faculty member
Schools
- Auburn University
- Binghamton University
- Boise State University
- Boston College
- Boston University
- Brigham Young University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Clemson University
- College of William and Mary
- Colorado School of Mines
- Colorado State University
- CUNY
- Drexel University
- Emory University
- Florida State University
- George Mason University
- George Washington University
- Georgetown University
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
- Iowa State University
- Kansas State University
- Naval Postgraduate School
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- New Mexico State University
- Northern Arizona University
- Oregon Health and Science University
- Queen's University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Stevens Institute of Technology
- SUNY Buffalo
- Temple University
- Tulane University
- University of California - Riverside
- University of Central Florida
- University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
- University of Connecticut
- University of Delaware
- University of Georgia
- University of Houston
- University of Kansas
- University of Massachusetts Boston
- University of Massachusetts Lowell
- University of Miami
- University of Nebraska
- University of Nevada
- University of New Mexico
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oregon
- University of South Florida
- University of Tennessee
- University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Texas at San Antonio
- University of Utah
- University of Vermont
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Washington State University
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute