[BiO BB] PhD Programs: CS vs bioinformatics

Daniel Terry dsterry at iupui.edu
Tue Nov 22 18:43:02 EST 2005


I am finishing my applications for doctoral study for next fall, but I 
had a question before I send all this off.  I am a computer science 
undergrad wanting to work in bioinformatics (with CS focus), but don't 
have a whole lot of biology and chemistry background.  I will get most 
of what most programs want by the time I graduate, but most of this 
won't show up on transcripts (I just started these classes this 
semester).  I'm sure I want to work in bioinformatics, so the ability to 
switch focus areas in CS wouldn't be much of an advantage.

Many of the schools I am applying to have a computational biology or 
bioinformatics PhD-offering programs and a computer science department 
that also does lots of research in this area.  Which would make the most 
sense for me to apply to?  Would the specialty programs be more likely 
to accept me because I am specifically interested in their area, or 
should I apply to CS since I have a stronger background in that?

Thanks for any suggestions.

-- 
Daniel Terry
Senior Undergraduate in Computer Science
Purdue University - Indianapolis (IUPUI)
http://www.cs.iupui.edu/~dsterry/





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