Taking a fourth-year course in a particular area is an excellent way to learn about an area, but it isn't the only way. Consider convincing a professor to take you on for a reading course (CS 499), or take a graduate course in an area of interest.
One of the advantages of being in an institution with active researchers is that there are numerous seminars to attend. Distinguished lecture series and talks by recruiting candidates are usually aimed at a general computer science audience, and hence may be easiest to understand. Many research groups have regular meetings, with seminars presented by graduate students or visitors. These may be aimed at specialists in the area, and hence may harder to understand in detail, but are worthwhile for giving you an introduction to cutting-edge research.
Getting experience in research not only gives you a sense of what graduate school might be like, but also gives you an opportunity to get to know a faculty member better. The URA program is a good place to start; it gives you a chance to work on research during a school term. The enrichment page may list other opportunities, whether in academic or in industry.
It may be possible to work full-time on research for a term or more. NSERC's Undergraduate Student Research Awards program provides funding for students working full-time for a 16-week period; supervising professors supplement the awards with their research grants. In the current cycle, NSERC contributes $4500 and the professor contributes at least $1125. The internal deadline for the current round of applications is January 4, 2006; fill out the form available on the NSERC Web site and submit it to
Margaret Towell
Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies
Room: DC 2332
There are research groups in the School that hold problem sessions from time to time; if you have a keen interest and background in a particular area, you might be allowed to participate.
When choosing a school, consider not only its overall reputation but the strength in the area or areas of interest. If you are not sure what subarea interests you most, you will be better off in a school that has diverse strengths, giving you the opportunity to change areas or work on research that cuts across several research areas. If you are choosing a school based on one particular faculty member, make sure that they are taking on students and not going to be away on sabbatical or leaving for another institution.
A good way of determining which schools to consider is by asking people who work in the area. Someone who has written a textbook on a subject is not necessarily someone who is still working in the research area. Another way of finding out who is actively working in an area is to look at the affiliations of authors of papers in the top journals and conferences in each research area. Those working in similar areas will be able to guide you in your search for these journals and conferences.
Generally, Canadian graduate schools provide full funding for students accepted into their programs; the funding covers both tuition and living expenses. Often part of the funding will be associated with work as a teaching assistant. A Ph.D. student in Canada typically completes a Master's thesis first. In the United States, Master's programs are often designed for students not interested in future study (and often funded by a company for which they are working) and Ph.D. programs are entered directly from a Bachelor's degree; in many such schools, financial assistance is only available to students enrolled in Ph.D. programs. Unless you are absolutely sure you are not going to pursue a Ph.D., if you are applying to a school in the United States you should apply for a Ph.D. program.
Reference letters form an extremely important part of your application. The ideal letter writer is a famous professor in the field of study of your interest, who knows you very well due to your experience with them both as a research supervisor and as instructor of several advanced courses in the area; several letters are needed for each application. If the ideal letter writer does not exist, choose references who between them will be able to attest to your academic ability, research potential, written and oral communication skills, and other criteria outlined on the reference forms. You are generally better off choosing a professor, who is familiar with the system and has a large group of students to whom you can be compared, than an employer or graduate student who knows you well but is less familiar with the system and the student body overall. The graduate studies Web site has more good advice, including advice specific to NSERC and OGS applications.
When you approach a potential reference, keep in mind that you are asking a favour. It is courtesy to provide them with plenty of advance notice, an indication of whether letters are to be submitted on-line, sent directly to the school, or prepared for you to pick up, and deadlines for all applications.
You also need references for scholarship applications. NSERC and OGS have deadlines very early in the fall term; take the time to line up references and consider how to pitch your application well before the deadlines. There is usually a box used for the referee to indicate whether or not they have seen your application at the time of writing their letter; aiming to complete your work in time to be able to have this box checked is worthwhile. Both these organizations have universities rank applications, so internal university deadlines are likely to be much earlier than the deadlines that appear on the Web pages.
When checking deadlines for applications, check to see if there are earlier deadlines to be eligible for funding.
David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Tel: 519-888-4567 x33293
Fax: 519-885-1208
Contact | Feedback: cs-uops@cs.uwaterloo.ca | David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science | Faculty of Mathematics
Last modified: Wednesday, 14-Apr-2010 16:15:50 EDT
