Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science

Re:Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science by riprock on Sunday December 12, 2010 @10:48PM (#1999211)

I have an undergraduate degree that's completely unrelated to CS and I want to go back to school one day for a master's in CS. Is research experience also necessary for a master's at a good school (like UCs)? Or will industry experience and recommendations for being a good student in CS classes be sufficient? It just seems pretty hard to get research experience without having been a CS major in undergrad. If anyone has any tips on how to approach getting CS research experience post-graduation as an unrelated major I'm all ears!

For the record I've always been a hobbyist programmer and have about 2 years of undergrad CS courses that I took for fun.

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Re:Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science by tempie on Monday December 13, 2010 @01:15AM (#1999571)

There's so much more to a CS major than just programming. You should check out the grad program's curriculum to make sure you're doing it for the right reason. Anyway, research experience is not required for most master programs. Industry experience and recommendations from work would work.

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Re:Applying to Ph.D. Programs in Computer Science by endtime on Monday December 13, 2010 @02:00AM (#1999655)

I know someone who did a MS CS at Stanford and was an English major as an undergrad (albeit at Harvard). She only took 3-4 CS classes before grad school.

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