Planning for Getting PhD in the USA

[Stanislav]

You need good GPA and GRE score, strong statement of purpose, and recommendation letters. When I first applied, there were some flaws in my package, plus I didn't research programs well and was rejected.

I am working through this stuff right now and I have forseen this problem for myself. I don't have a problem with the statement of purpose or most of the other information, but I don't have much in the way of undergrad GPA as most of my credits are ungraded. While my graduate credits were ungraded, they do come with a 3.0 equivalency, despite acing every course, so that helps a bit. The bigger issue is that since all my recent schooling was online, I don't really have a way to gain academic letters of recommendation. Not to mention, I have decades of professional experience, but no academic research experience to list.


Out of curiosity, since you mentioned that you graduated in 2008 and are teaching now, what did you do your Ph.D. in?

Computer Science. Teaching, also Computer Science. Market is way hotter than it was in 2008 (was; no telling what damage did COVID-19 do).

As for admissions, I don't think your credentials are necessarily prohibitive - especially if you can ace the GRE. A lot of schools would jump at a guy who can code, plus native English can't hurt for TAships. There are two obstacles that could be higher for you. First, most people need to apply broadly to get into grad school (unless you get to know a professor who can invite you in his group if you clear the minimums for admission). International students like me or the TS are inherently flexible here: wherever we gain admission, it's equally far from home. I was picking between Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and FSU in Tallahassee, FL. Second, you must be willing to live on subsistence wages for 4 to 6 years. For me, no problem; I lived through the hyperinflation of 1990ies back at home, so under-$800 a month was acceptable (actually no, because I dragged my wife with me - but we found a way); can be way harder for locals.