Alex's Answers to Common Emails
I have resigned myself to the fact that I don't have time to
answer all of my professional email. If I ignore your message,
it's probably because the answer is already on this page, which
is divided into the following topics:
Admission to the Stanford CS Graduate Programs
The only way to be admitted is to apply to either the PhD or Masters
program. Admission is very competitive, since we receive many more
qualified applicants than we can accept. PhD students are almost
always guaranteed support by the department. Masters admits are
rarely guaranteed financial support.
Admission decisions are made entirely by a faculty committee.
Individual faculty members cannot accept students on their own.
Recommendation Letters
I am happy to write a letter of recommendation for graduate school for any student that I have taught in at least one class. While I will point out what I see as strengths in an application, I won't gloss over weaknesses either. As a rule of thumb, a letter may help you if you received an A or A+, though there have been cases where I felt I could write a strong letter for students whose grades were lower.
I need the following at least two weeks before the letter is due:
- GPA (cumulative and technical)
- GRE scores
- Transcript
- Statement of purpose
- A stamped, addressed envelope for each school to which you are applying that requires a physical letter, and instructions for how to submit letters for those schools accepting electronic letters.
Visitors
I receive many requests to sponsor professional visits, but I simply don't have the capacity to accept more than a very small number of visitors. I will not respond to inquiries about visits unless I think there is a chance that the visit could actually happen.
Jobs
I generally don't respond to requests for help recruiting students into industry, though I will pass such requests along if I know a well-qualified candidate.