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At the risk of discouraging you, have a look at the applicant profiles people post up on some of the grad school forum sites. In general, I have to say I have s

At the risk of discouraging you, have a look at the applicant profiles people post up on some of the grad school forum sites. In general, I have to say I have seen very little evidence of longshot admissions. The people who get in to MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley CS (et al) almost invariably have a stellar transcripts & scores, platinum refs, research experience, and very frequently a few papers and an NSF or NDSEG to boot. If you are really serious about this, I would say that your best bet is to start making inroads into the field by first getting a masters at a lesser school. There you would be able to demonstrate that you are capable of doing well in grad level courses, which will be a serious question mark on your application given your poor grades. If you are lucky and work hard, you may also be able to publish & network. Especially at the top schools, academia is extremely insidery and knowing people counts for more than you might expect. At least, this has been my experience, and I am trying to do something very similar in a closely-related field (math). Last, I see it all the time that people get hung up on gaining admission to the best schools. Why Stanford? Getting to rub shoulders with the leaders of the field would, admittedly, be awesome--but you should remember that there are many less selective departments which could afford you a solid and rewarding PhD experience. In my completely un-scientific estimation, 90% of your success or failure grad will be due intrinsic factors--intelligence, work ethic, communication skills, and so forth. The other 10% will come from your surroundings. Don't get so hung up on the latter that you lose sight of the former. Or, more simply: it's possible for you to be a successful PhD student and academic without going to Stanford.

plinkplonk 16y ago
All good advice (up voted), but I really am swinging for the fences here. I don't want a masters or PhD at a lesser school . Doing quite well without one. "I see it all the time that people get hung up on gaining admission to the best schools. Why Stanford? " I am not "hung up" on it in the sense that if I don't get in that is quite all right. I have zero ego attached to any academic credentials. As you rightly point out the odds are that I'll fail and that is OK. This is an attempted "hack" somewhat akin to climbing Everest via the hardest route possible. If the goal is just to stand on top of Everest there are better ways. There are easier routes up the mountain (like getting the Masters first from a lesser school, then going to Stanford for the PhD etc etc), but the fun (for me, I am a crazy guy) is in doing the hardest thing possible. There are other things I could do like come over on an H1 visa first then attend some classes while working at some MegaCorp, ace those, get to know some professors etc etc, but I don't want to do it that way. I don't mind if I never get a PhD. I am not doing it to increase my self worth or career opportunities. (I have plenty of both, and the time and effort put into a PhD can probably be used to build a half dozen startups instead if money were the goal). In Computer Science anyone with a laptop, Ubuntu, a network connection and an ACM/IEEE membership can do any kind of research he wants to, though that would be a very barebones approach. This is just a(n artificially high) bar I am trying to jump over. Jumping over a bar is intrinsically pointless. The fun is in the attempt. I understand if people think it is a crazy idea. I just put it down here because the OP asked for "interesting" goals. Crazy ideas are often interesting! "At the risk of discouraging you, have a look at the applicant profiles people post up on some of the grad school forum sites. " I am not discouraged at all. I personally know very "average" people who have PhDs from MIT/Stanford. The idea that every MIT/Stanford grad is some kind of technical/research superman is a myth. There is a bell curve there, and I am confident I am not on the lower end of that curve. I don't have the right "background" to get in but I've never let that stop me from trying anything so why start now? So sure, by conventional thinking I have next to no chance. On the other hand, a scientist I work with (who supervises several PhD's at IISc and IITs) said to me "I've never seen anyone level up as fast as you do. You understand [his specialization in Machine Learning] more deeply and have more ideas than any of my students. If you ever want to do a PhD and want a recommendation, ask me". I plan to. ;-)
- hyperbovine 16y ago
  Well then, more power to you & best of luck. I'm curious--if accepted would you even bother going? It sounds like merely getting in would satisfy all of your goals.
  - plinkplonk 16y ago
    "I'm curious--if accepted would you even bother going? " Yes I would. There are some ultra awesome professors there I'd love to work with. And the atmsphere and facilities at Stanford would be much better (than my present situation in Bangalore) to do research. My focus wouold be to work with and learn from them, not to become a fulltime academic. If I get my PhD I'd like to be the author of a few awesome research papers and have no intention of getting into the tenure track rat race and so on. "It sounds like merely getting in would satisfy all of your goals." My immediate goal is to get and admission. Why should meeting that goal satisfy all my goals? Once you jump over one bar you reset it higher and try again. If I were to get admitted, I'd set a goal of doing some stunning research, ace the classes and so on (which would be quite a challenge given the calibre of my fellow students).
- ananthrk 16y ago
  Thats a very good perspective (& attitude) to have. Go for it. My best wishes!!

plinkplonk 16y ago

All good advice (up voted), but I really am swinging for the fences here. I don't want a masters or PhD at a lesser school . Doing quite well without one. "I see it all the time that people get hung up on gaining admission to the best schools. Why Stanford? " I am not "hung up" on it in the sense that if I don't get in that is quite all right. I have zero ego attached to any academic credentials. As you rightly point out the odds are that I'll fail and that is OK. This is an attempted "hack" somewhat akin to climbing Everest via the hardest route possible. If the goal is just to stand on top of Everest there are better ways. There are easier routes up the mountain (like getting the Masters first from a lesser school, then going to Stanford for the PhD etc etc), but the fun (for me, I am a crazy guy) is in doing the hardest thing possible. There are other things I could do like come over on an H1 visa first then attend some classes while working at some MegaCorp, ace those, get to know some professors etc etc, but I don't want to do it that way. I don't mind if I never get a PhD. I am not doing it to increase my self worth or career opportunities. (I have plenty of both, and the time and effort put into a PhD can probably be used to build a half dozen startups instead if money were the goal). In Computer Science anyone with a laptop, Ubuntu, a network connection and an ACM/IEEE membership can do any kind of research he wants to, though that would be a very barebones approach. This is just a(n artificially high) bar I am trying to jump over. Jumping over a bar is intrinsically pointless. The fun is in the attempt. I understand if people think it is a crazy idea. I just put it down here because the OP asked for "interesting" goals. Crazy ideas are often interesting! "At the risk of discouraging you, have a look at the applicant profiles people post up on some of the grad school forum sites. " I am not discouraged at all. I personally know very "average" people who have PhDs from MIT/Stanford. The idea that every MIT/Stanford grad is some kind of technical/research superman is a myth. There is a bell curve there, and I am confident I am not on the lower end of that curve. I don't have the right "background" to get in but I've never let that stop me from trying anything so why start now? So sure, by conventional thinking I have next to no chance. On the other hand, a scientist I work with (who supervises several PhD's at IISc and IITs) said to me "I've never seen anyone level up as fast as you do. You understand [his specialization in Machine Learning] more deeply and have more ideas than any of my students. If you ever want to do a PhD and want a recommendation, ask me". I plan to. ;-)

hyperbovine 16y ago
Well then, more power to you & best of luck. I'm curious--if accepted would you even bother going? It sounds like merely getting in would satisfy all of your goals.
- plinkplonk 16y ago
  "I'm curious--if accepted would you even bother going? " Yes I would. There are some ultra awesome professors there I'd love to work with. And the atmsphere and facilities at Stanford would be much better (than my present situation in Bangalore) to do research. My focus wouold be to work with and learn from them, not to become a fulltime academic. If I get my PhD I'd like to be the author of a few awesome research papers and have no intention of getting into the tenure track rat race and so on. "It sounds like merely getting in would satisfy all of your goals." My immediate goal is to get and admission. Why should meeting that goal satisfy all my goals? Once you jump over one bar you reset it higher and try again. If I were to get admitted, I'd set a goal of doing some stunning research, ace the classes and so on (which would be quite a challenge given the calibre of my fellow students).
ananthrk 16y ago
Thats a very good perspective (& attitude) to have. Go for it. My best wishes!!