pumpkinsmasher76 OP t1_is9v0x1 wrote on October 14, 2022 at 11:00 AM

Reply to comment by Coco_Dirichlet in [D] How can a prospective PhD applicant gain ML-related research experience beforehand? by pumpkinsmasher76

(a) as I mentioned in another comment, part of why it was so low was there were a couple dips freshman junior year that I had to recover from. As far as the letters, one of them was from a class I TA'd which I actually failed on the first attempt and had to retake.

(b) undergrads from my program generally only had one ml class with maybe an nlp course offered as special topics. I actually did something unconventional compared to other undergrads but yes this is a valid point. I did take a couple of other AI/Logic/data science related courses but still.

(c) I did have an REU in data science that I did get a recommendation from. Other experiences included working with a professor and later a couple of postdocs on separate (side) projects while I was employed

I have been looking for full-time research related positions but it's more confusing where to look compared to an average software development job. If you have any leads or examples of such RA jobs I'll be happy to hear about them.

Coco_Dirichlet t1_isbdj0s wrote on October 14, 2022 at 5:47 PM

Start by asking people who wrote your letters about what opportunities they know about. Maybe they received an email through a listserv (many conferences and associations have them). Also, ask them advice on how make your application package stronger.

Google works like: predoctoral fellowship "computer science"

This is an example of what you'd get from a search like that: https://allenai.org/predoctoral-young-investigators

There are more.

There's also this website that has more of this predocs and RA ooportunities: https://predoc.org/ -- Some are data science with applications to social sciences; also, check information about applications and free workshops. Even if it's not specific to ML, it's still useful.

Also, make some saved searches on LinkedIn for universities and computer science. Some Labs will put their Lab searches there.

pumpkinsmasher76 OP t1_isftkhr wrote on October 15, 2022 at 5:31 PM

I have heard of and applied to Allen AI at least a couple of times but coming from a Top 40 undergrad these are people from like top 20 if not top 10 undergrads who get into this.

For the other website that's more for economics students where pre-docs are more common. I have also applied to a few of these myself with not much luck. Maybe an ínterview if I'm lucky.