1. Your grades aren't that important. Most important is evidence you can do research (publications or letters of rec.) 2. It is possible to consult in AI/ML, b

1. Your grades aren't that important. Most important is evidence you can do research (publications or letters of rec.) 2. It is possible to consult in AI/ML, because there is so much industry demand, but you definitely can't count on it. Also, you probably won't be able to consult in your first 2 years, because you'll be busy ramping up and taking classes / passing quals / figuring out your research area. You might have a better shot at relying on internship income (you can make ~30k over the summer as a research intern for companies). But the catch in all of this is that the more consulting/interning you do, the more that will delay graduation (unless you get top tier research papers out of your internships). 3. I would get started with MOOCs and online courses on the fundamentals in whatever area you're interested in, on your own time, and after that start reading papers / implementing things / experimenting. Then some options for you: a) you might consider approaching professors for volunteer research work (which does happen), or even paid research assistant positions (low pay, obviously). b) you might consider applying for a top-tier master's first, with a focus on getting and doing research. This will be expensive (like $120k for two years?), however, and worsens the opportunity cost (especially because it is not guaranteed you get into a top PhD after the master's).