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It's a little hard to tell from your description, but I will write a response assuming you're interested in studying PL theory as a career, and not just as an undergraduate. If you're interested in studying this area only as part of an undergraduate education, it really doesn't matter where you go since the content of your studies will be unrelated to your career, and you can study w/e you want on your own with very little impact on your future. If you want a career in academia, DON'T pursue a bachelors from an institution that is at the top of the field you're aiming for. The most important thing you will do during your undergrad is making connections. This can be done more easily at middle of the road schools (where there's less competition and if you look good enough on paper better often better financial support) than at larger, more prestigious ones. First, you will need close relationships with one or a few professors in the field who can advise (and recommend you) in applying for grad schools; these connections are critical. A useful approach can be to look for conferences/journals where "the professors [you] look up to" present their work and identify other authors (or coauthors) from less-well-known institutions, get in touch with them, and apply to the relevant programs where they work. If that doesn't pan out, go somewhere that (A) you've heard of (B) has a CS or good math program and (C) you beat the average admit stats. A big fish (like, class rank < 10th) in a small pond with good references has a lot better shot at being picked up than an anonymous 80th percentile sea bass. Once you're in school, do good work, but your job is still to make connections. Cultivate relationships with the relevant professors in your program. Preferably have an advisor/mentor with whom you meet at least couple of times a month. Attend conferences, and once you've got a couple of years of study under your belt see if you can present at them (in many fields there are undergraduate conferences just for this purpose. probably no one with a name you recognize will attend these, but it's good to show you can defend your work to a sophisticated audience). As you get closer to applying to grad school you will want to identify potential advisors (more important than the school), and get in touch with them. It sounds like you've already got some people in mind, but it would be good to develop an understanding of the current state of the field and who's actively moving it forward (former students of Big Name professors are a good source of candidates). As you observed, it's hard to convey to laypeople your interests and how your work relates to them. It is often not much easier with people who know what you're talking about. Good work is necessary but not sufficient; passion probably isn't even necessary but might help you mitigate the grind. To succeed you need to play the game better than everyone who applies to grad school but doesn't end up with a tenured position. Alternatively, eschew college, go to lambda school or something and a year from now get paid six figures to sling javascript. Not great advice, but neither is grad school. |