PhD Admission w/out Papers Published
I’m considering applying for a PhD in Computer Science at ETH Zürich, but I don’t have any publications and I’m wondering how significant a disadvantage that would be.
For context, I’m 22 and have an MSE (Master’s) in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan with a 4.00/4.00 GPA, as well as a bachelor’s in Computer Science. I currently work as a software engineer at a FAANG company and have around 15 months of full-time experience. I’ve also had experience in a computational neuroscience lab, though it did not lead to any publications.
I’m not sure whether this is relevant for admissions, but I also have roughly B1 German proficiency.
I know that PhD admissions at ETH can vary significantly by professor and lab, but I’d be interested in hearing whether the lack of publications would really weigh down an application?