[vox] Graduate degree at UCD...?

[Shwaine]

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008, Kevin Schultz wrote:

> Hi Justin, Don,
>
> I'm curious too--if you are able would you please let me know the difficulty
> of getting accepted? Does one need top grades to get in? How much do they
> weigh the GRE score?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Peace
>

Well, I don't meet your criteria for a current graduate student (I 
finished my CS PhD at Davis back in 2006), but I can answer this question 
by referring you to the person who would know the answers. You should 
contact the graduate coordinator to find out such statistics. Here's the 
link to the contact info:

http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/people/admin/index.html#stoller

When I was a student, the general GRE counted more than the subject GRE 
and the grades had to be decent (mostly A's and B's), but not "top" (no 
need for straight A's like Berkeley). I don't know how much that has 
changed in two years though. The coordinator should be able to advise you 
on the current situation.

If you haven't already, read the documents about the program on the 
website. The Admissions FAQ is a good place to start (and it also has some 
average statistics for the GREs and GPA):

http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/graduate/recruit/faqs.html

Also look at the degree requirements to be sure that the program matches 
the education you are looking for:

http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/graduate/grad-req.html

I'd also recommend looking now into the research that is being done to be 
sure the area you are interested in is really being covered by the campus. 
More importantly, make sure the faculty member who focuses on that area 
has a reputation for graduating students in a timely fashion. My degree 
took a bit longer to complete because my interests fell slightly out of 
the realm of knowledge of most of the faculty except one who is not known 
for graduating students quickly. You can try perusing the CS research 
website (http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/research/index.html), but really you'll 
better learn about the research interests by talking to the faculty and 
current students.

Hope this helps,
Melissa