Cant decide the range of Uni to apply
Hi everyone,
I’m currently preparing to apply for PhD programs in the USA, and I would appreciate some advice regarding university selection.
My background is in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE). After graduating, I worked in a research lab in my country, where I published one Q1 journal paper, presented at an international conference, and published two abstracts. However, these publications are not directly related to my primary research interests. They were more of a by-product of the lab’s research projects, and my contributions were mostly in a supporting research role.
I mention this because, although my academic background is in EEE, I am interested in pursuing a PhD in NLP/LLMs. To facilitate this transition, I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Computer Science, which I expect to complete next year. In addition, I am actively collaborating with senior researchers on CS-related research projects.
What I am struggling with is deciding which graduate schools to apply to. How do you determine which universities are ambitious, which are realistic (roughly a 50/50 chance), and which are considered safe options? What criteria do you use when building your application list?
Also, based on the information I’ve shared, how competitive do you think my profile would be for PhD admissions in NLP/LLM-related research areas?
Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated.