How much does extracurricular matter for admission to PhD program in Computer Science? I graduated with a B.S. in "Computer &amp; Information Sciences" from a small, insignificant liberal arts school. My overall CGPA was 3.86 and my major CGPA was 3.80. Average GPA, but I am worried about the quality of my studies, not the quantity. During my undergraduate studies I put just enough work into the CS classes to get the grade, and not any more. And I am guessing it is much harder to maintain such GPAs at state universities with more rigorous programs.   I have no extracurricular work to show: never participated in projects, and never done real research work.  Can I still apply to decent PhD programs? Will any PhD programs consider me seriously?  Thank you!
How does the admissions process work for Ph.D. programs in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students? When applying to a PhD program in the US, how does the admissions process work? If an applicant is weak in a particular area, is it possible to offset that by being strong in a different area?  Note that this question originated from this . Please feel free to edit the question to improve it.
A No-Nonsense Introduction to Quantum Field Theory I found Sean Carroll's "A No Nonsense Introduction to General Relativity" (about page .  pdf ), a 24-page overview of the topic, very helpful for beginning study.  It all got me over the hump of learning the meaning of various terms associated with GR, most of which I had heard before without understanding.  It also outlined the most important examples.  Is there a similar document for quantum field theory, which presents the main equations, briefly describes the main ideas, and summarizes the most important applications and results so that the reader can feel the lay of the land before studying in depth?