MS CS (Data Mining) University Suggestion

[beeb]

Hi all,

I graduated from a NIT in India in Computer Science and Engineering (B Tech) with CGPA 7.5 on a scale of 10. I have done a research project from IIT Guwahati in Data Mining and my paper has been published in the proceedings of an international conference. After graduation, I didn't join any company despite getting offers and got involved in the Open Source Software movement. I also have worked for a South Asian One Laptop Per Child Project. I remain very active on the internet on Open Source matters and I maintain a well visited blog. I have done a couple of software projects as a freelancer after graduating. My another area of research interest is natural language processing and I have done a research study in this field but I haven't completed any project or paper in Natural Language proceesing.

 

My extra curricular activities records are very good and while in college, I have completed about 3-5 minor projects (one research, other programming).

 

I want to apply for MS in CS for Fall 2009. Some universities' deadline have already passed. Could you please suggest me some universities that are safe, some ambitious and some moderate? Financial aid is an important factor, and I'd love to get into a good university with financial aid.

 

A quick reply will be of great help as I am running late for applications.

 

Thanks.

[beeb]

Some universities that I've been thinking are:

 

Arizona State

Brown

CMU

Case Western

Clemson

Cornell

Gatech

LSU Baton Rouge

Oregon SU

Rochester University

Rutgers

SUNY SB

Syracuse

Tennessee SU

U of Arizona

U of Cincinnati

UFL

U of Minnesota

UNC Charlotte

U of Pittsburg

U of Rochester

USC

U of Tennessee

UT Arlington

UT Austin

UT Dallas

Utah State

 

Ohio State

Penn State

UIC

 

University of Missouri in Columbia

Vanderbilt

 

I understand that they are almost all one could apply, but I won't like to apply at more than 15 universities and that's the main reason of confusion. I dont seem to be able to cut the list short. Please consider funding, research area and academic profile while suggesting. My main motive is to be able to apply to a top-notch grad school for PhD after completing MS.

 

Another concern, if the deadlines are too near, am I better off not applying to the university? And if the deadlines for financial assistance are over but for the normal applications are still open, what should I do (not apply or apply to the university despite that)?

 

Thanks,

Bibek

[beeb]

I forgot to mention: My GRE score is 1340 (790+550) and TOEFL (iBT) score is 112

[beeb]

if somebody is available, please reply this thread, i am sort of running out of time. sorry for any inconvenience.

 

thanks

[CalmLogic]

if the deadlines for financial assistance are over but for the normal applications are still open, what should I do (not apply or apply to the university despite that)?

Generally speaking, chances are you wouldn't have gotten financial aid, anyway, since most MS students don't get aid. When MS students do get aid, it is usually after the first semester.

 

U of Rochester is not worth applying to since they accept very, very few students.

 

The University of Alberta (in Canada) offers funding to a good number of MS students. Alberta is good for machine learning, but I don't know if they are very good for data mining per se or NLP.

 

At least in the past, I have liked GA Tech with a deadline of February 1, but they aren't cheap and don't seem to offer funding to most students, at least before the first semester. After the first semester, I don't know:

 

http://www.www.urch.com/forums/computer-science-admissions/92100-help-gatech-without-aid.html

 

My main motive is to be able to apply to a top-notch grad school for PhD after completing MS.

Then I would definitely put GA Tech on your list if you can get a loan to pay for the first year.

 

USC is a good choice for NLP research.