Hello everyone,

So, I graduated last year from Purdue's Computer & Information Technology - Information Systems program, my major GPA was 3.8 and my overall GPA was 3.67 (dragged down because I started in Engineering). In the past year I've been running my own small business, it's not going particularly well, but the point being that I have not been employed by some recognizable firm.

I took the GRE last Monday and got the following scores: Math: 750 Verbal: 670

And I'm expecting a 5 or 6 on both essays since I tend to be a decent writer (this post notwithstanding).

Before I graduated, I took a couple graduate level courses from Purdue, namely, Computational Genomics, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

I am looking at doing a mix of computational genomics and artificial intelligence, with maybe a dash of nanotech and medicine mixed in.

I have a few specific problems that I could use some advice on:

1. How do I find potential graduate schools (and especially, professors to work with) for a relatively obscure field such as this? There are plenty of programs that do computational genomics, and plenty others that do AI, but not many that do both.

2. If I apply to a graduate school, get accepted, but turn down their offer, does that look bad if I later reapply. The reason for asking this question is, say for some reason, my own business really takes off in the next year, and it becomes a choice between accepting a graduate school offer, or making $300k a year, I'd probably take the $300k (more on this later). But, the nature of small business is rather volatile, so that things could tank very quickly (especially since most of my work is web-based), so does it look bad if I later reapply based on life circumstances for me?

3. Does the fact that I have not been employed by an IT company right out of college reflect poorly on me? My parents have been pressuring me to accept any number of job offers (mainly 'herp derp software dev' jobs), but I'm really not a fan of boring jobs. However, they argue that, graduate schools will not be interested in someone who just 'messed around on the internet' and didn't get a 'real job' right away. Or, will the fact that I have an entrepreneurial spirit, a decent GPA and GRE scores, and have a specific idea/area that I want to research make up for this fact?

4. I have a rather specific concept that I want to learn more about, and possibly develop, that is the primary motivation behind my interest in these fields. However, I've heard that, in Academia, idea ownership kind of goes out the window, and if I pursue this idea as, say, my thesis, and I get research funding, that the university and the funding supplier take ownership. Is this true, and is there any way to avoid it?

5. On a similar note, how do I discuss this concept with potential graduate schools/professors/advisors without a risk of them stealing it? I know most people have something better to do than steal other people's ideas, but, I also believe in being cautious and I also think my own idea is something that might be worth stealing.

I may have some follow up questions to answers. Also, if you want me to clarify or elaborate on something, let me know and I'll edit.

Thanks!