Stop gatekeeping in research by imposing undergrad GPA constraints (that seem to last through the PhD). You have to be mentally & financially secure to be able to focus mainly on schoolwork.
Also most people in CS are doing empirical work. This doesn't require a 3.9+ GPA.
Also most people in CS are doing empirical work. This doesn't require a 3.9+ GPA.
I felt insecure about my GPA (3.7) for a long time because it was the lowest in my friend group. In sophomore year, I got a B+ in CS221 (intro AI) when the median is probably an A. I worked really hard; I just didn't think I was smart
But the reality is that I didn't put in the effort into my schoolwork that my friends put in. I worked part-time throughout undergrad. I did triathlons. I slept. I ran a nonprofit for several years. I also worked full-time through my masters to pay the stupid $70k Stanford bill
It is unfortunate that my GPA will not reflect how hard I worked (generally) in college. I am incredibly lucky to have gotten into my top choice PhD program, but I also got rejected at top schools (probably because I didn't make the undergrad GPA cut for several labs)
And I am the privileged one because I can still make my way into CS research, but there are literally thousands of other students that could be amazing researchers but don't consider themselves to be "smart enough" because they can't afford to study all night for a final exam
I'm not sure where I'm going with this but just, please, stop gatekeeping based on GPA -- *especially* for non-theoretical research. Literally anyone can get a high GPA if they are neurotypical and spend 100% of their time on schoolwork and office hours. It is a stupid metric
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