I am a junior in college debating between applying this year (go straight out of college) or waiting a year (take 1 gap year after college).
I am applying CS. the subfield is not so popular but also there are relatively less labs doing research in this area. I want to aim for the top schools in the field, and want to know if my stats are good enough to get in this cycle or if I should wait a year.
My stats if I apply this year: 3.6gpa, 2 3rd author publications at top tier venues, 2 swe internships, will have 1 really good LOR, 1 ok one, and one non-negative one.
My stats if I apply next year (assuming my current projects go as planned). Same as above plus at least 1, maybe 2 first author publications, at least 1 more 2nd author publication, 1 really good LOR, 1 good one, and 1 ok one.
I would be fine applying this year or waiting a year to apply. My main concern is that I know applying takes a lot of time and effort, and because I don't mind waiting an extra year, I don't want to unnecessarily go through the process twice if I don't get into my top schools this cycle, but at the same time, I would like to enter PhD sooner rather than later.
Thank you for reading, any advice would be appreciated. :)