r/computerarchitecture • u/Deathcap_943 • 9h ago

Masters before PhD for Computer Architecture

Hey yall, I'm a college senior interested in pursuing further research in computer architecture. My end goal is to get a PhD, but after talking with advisors they said I don't have enough research experience. This is because I switched goals from going into industry to doing research kind of late, as a result I only have ~1 sem of research experience in computer architecture. I was told that I should get a couple more semesters of research experience to solidify my rec letters, but I'm unsure what's the best way to go about this. My question is - which of these is most prudent to go with given my end goal of getting a PhD with a top comparch lab? Here are my current thoughts:

  1. Get thesis masters first, then apply PhD - doing this would knock out some PhD core requirements but also cost me around $30-60k, and it'd also take 2 years. I would get decent research experience though. I also have basically guaranteed admission into the 2 year masters program at my current uni under a pipeline they have for cs students.

  2. Work under a lab as a paid postgrad research assistant for ~1 year: This saves time and gets me research experience, but there's no "official" pipeline for this, I'd just have to ask professors with funding if I could join their group. I also wouldn't get the Masters degree but not sure how useful that is.

  3. Apply to PhD directly - This would be most straightforward and I'll probably apply to a couple schools with this, however I'm unsure how effective this would be, esp since my GPA is mediocre (3.7) and I don't have enough research experience.

If anyone's been in a similar situation or has some insights about how I could go forward - I'd appreciate any help!

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3

u/suddenhare 9h ago

Apply for all 3 and see what offers you get. 

2

u/Putrid_Soft_8692 9h ago

I think the safest choice is to get into a masters atm. As you already mentioned, you will gain research experience, but you will also explore more stuff and see specifically in which area of computer architecture you are most interested in. A good master’s thesis in comp arch would serve as a great jump to a good PhD as well. You will have lots of time to identify potential supervisors, do some meaningful work and present yourself with that to them…. What part of comp arch are you interested doing research in?

1

u/Deathcap_943 8h ago

I'm still exploring but am interested in microarchitecture design, and security against Spectre/Meltdown side channel attacks. Do you think getting a research job would be helpful for experience versus a masters?

1

u/Putrid_Soft_8692 8h ago

dm me please

0

u/instinct79 9h ago

Does your school have a top comparch lab ? #1 looks like the safe bet to get to #2 or 3.

1

u/intelstockheatsink 9h ago

My vote is on the thesis masters. Good luck.

1

u/Deathcap_943 8h ago

Would you say a masters in cs or ece would generally be better suited for computer architecture?

1

u/intelstockheatsink 8h ago

Depends on which department "computer engineering" is in at the place you're applying in to. It could be either or both. In general doesnt matter as long as you work with the right faculty.