Changing the field of specialization in Computer Science

[Aemen]

Hi all,

I have done computer system engineering. I chose the Grid Computing
field for doing my undergrad senior design project and worked on an
OGSA compliant Replica Location Service for grids. But now I feel
that back then I made a wrong choice as I found out later that I
wasn't much interested in Grid Computing and found it hard to work in
that field. Now I want to pursue Artificial Intelligence during my
future work/studies. I want to pursue a masters degree with
specialization in AI. My question is that is it possible to change
lanes under the above mentioned circumstances? Will the universities
accept me for a masters (with particular reference to US universities)
in a field different from the one in which I majored as an undergrad?

Thanking you in advance.

Regards
Aemen

[Randy]

Post by Aemen
Hi all,
I have done computer system engineering. I chose the Grid Computing
field for doing my undergrad senior design project and worked on an
OGSA compliant Replica Location Service for grids. But now I feel
that back then I made a wrong choice as I found out later that I
wasn't much interested in Grid Computing and found it hard to work in
that field. Now I want to pursue Artificial Intelligence during my
future work/studies. I want to pursue a masters degree with
specialization in AI. My question is that is it possible to change
lanes under the above mentioned circumstances? Will the universities
accept me for a masters (with particular reference to US universities)
in a field different from the one in which I majored as an undergrad?

Nobody in graduate school considers any undergraduate as having 'specialized'.
(At least, not here in the US.) The only concerns of graduate admissions
committees is whether you've taken the standard set of undergraduate coursework
necessary to prepare you for 1) a broad understanding of the subjects that
compose CS, and 2) eventual specialization in one of those CS subjects.

Also, the grid is too new for anyone to imagine that studies in the grid would
be markedly different from the standard CS curriculum. To understand how the
grid works is to understand networking, operating systems, security, client/
server programming, parallel computing, system performance assessment, and so on
-- all of which are classic CS subjects that a graduate admissions committee
will recognize and value.

Randy

[Aemen]

Post by Randy

Post by Aemen
Hi all,
I have done computer system engineering. I chose the Grid Computing
field for doing my undergrad senior design project and worked on an
OGSA compliant Replica Location Service for grids. But now I feel
that back then I made a wrong choice as I found out later that I
wasn't much interested in Grid Computing and found it hard to work in
that field. Now I want to pursue Artificial Intelligence during my
future work/studies. I want to pursue a masters degree with
specialization in AI. My question is that is it possible to change
lanes under the above mentioned circumstances? Will the universities
accept me for a masters (with particular reference to US universities)
in a field different from the one in which I majored as an undergrad?

Nobody in graduate school considers any undergraduate as having 'specialized'.
(At least, not here in the US.) The only concerns of graduate admissions
committees is whether you've taken the standard set of undergraduate coursework
necessary to prepare you for 1) a broad understanding of the subjects that
compose CS, and 2) eventual specialization in one of those CS subjects.
Also, the grid is too new for anyone to imagine that studies in the grid would
be markedly different from the standard CS curriculum. To understand how the
grid works is to understand networking, operating systems, security, client/
server programming, parallel computing, system performance assessment, and so on
-- all of which are classic CS subjects that a graduate admissions committee
will recognize and value.
Randy

Thanks a lot Randy for all the comment. Actually I want to clarify
that if I apply for a Masters degree and opt for something else say AI
as my field of interest, then what would be the reaction of the
admission committee. They would see that I have done my project in an
area different from the field of interest shown in the application and
that I have done only an undergraduate course in the indicated field
and nothing more. Can this situation be a disadvantage for the
applicant?

Aemen

[Randy]

Aemen wrote:
...

Post by Aemen
Thanks a lot Randy for all the comment. Actually I want to clarify
that if I apply for a Masters degree and opt for something else say AI
as my field of interest, then what would be the reaction of the
admission committee. They would see that I have done my project in an
area different from the field of interest shown in the application and
that I have done only an undergraduate course in the indicated field
and nothing more. Can this situation be a disadvantage for the
applicant?
Aemen

Not at the Master's level. Most MS degrees are 90% course work, anyway. One
does not 'specialize' in course work.

Especially if you are changing schools between the MS and PhD, it may make a lot
of sense to switch subjects. The first school may not have been good at AI,
which was why you studied grids. Or perhaps the semantic grid is now what
interests you. Many explanations are possible.

At worst, you may want to devise a plausible reason for why you switched. But I
don't think it will especially matter, as long as you can convince the
admissions committee that you're informed, dedicated, and realistic. And good
grades don't hurt either...

Randy