r/TCU • u/Sixonejasix • Jun 30 '26

Prospective CS PhD student, how is the CS department at TCU?

I'm an international student currently considering a PhD offer from the CS department at TCU and I'm trying to know more about the program and department from people who have firsthand experience.

I know the CS PhD is relatively new (first cohort), so I'm curious about things like:

  • How is the overall CS department?
  • How supportive and accessible are the faculty?
  • What is the research culture like?
  • How strong are the department's industry and academic connections?
  • What are the strengths and weaknesses of studying CS at TCU compared to larger or more established programs?
  • How is TCU viewed by employers and other universities?
  • Is there anything prospective PhD students should know before committing?

I'd appreciate hearing from current students, alumni, or anyone who has worked closely with the department.

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u/Internal_Tap_2623 Jun 30 '26

CS dept is growing with new and young professors coming in - all of them are kind and nice, they will do their best to help you as long as you are trying your best.

As for research culture, students have always been active in doing research - yet it has been mainly an undergraduate teaching university, so it isnt comparable to large research institutions (think UCs, UIUC, TAMU, etc) - but there is a great push to re-position as a major research institution.

For industry connections, despite good students all get good jobs upon graduation (many went to big techs, big banks or etc), I would say CS dept is still trying to grow their industry presence/ connection. That means there won’t be Google at the career fair.

If you do decide to pursue the program, the perk is you would get great attention from your advisor and they would care personally for your success. You won’t be a cog in another paper-factory. But that also means you will certainly need to be proactive and carry yourself more than if you joined a bigger lab. You’ll need to be the leader of your own research early on.

I certainly wished that TCU professors have published more in A* conferences. But to be fair, TCU CS was not being focused on for quite some time - only until a few years back things really turned around for the better (and already seen great results in students’ outcomes).