Admission Chances for M.S.

**veron4** · 12-05-2006, 07:15 AM

Hi,

I'm applying for M.S. in computer science, with a focus on machine learning for Fall 2007. I was wondering how I compare to people, and about my chances at some of the top 20 schools. Here's my profile:

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General GRE: 1500 (780Q, 720V, 4.5AW)

GPA (from mid-range US university): 3.62

CS GPA: 3.73

Letters of Recommendation: Very Strong, all from CS faculty.

Research: Have been working for a few months (listed on transcript and in recommendations, but no paper yet.)

Work Experience: TA for 2 years, Assistant System Admin at university for 2 years, Summer intern (2 yrs) at software development company in India.

Extra-Curricular: Several, but most notably, president of local chapter of ACM.
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Now, I was wondering if I stand any chance at the top ones like Stanford, Berkeley and Texas-Austin. What about ones like UIUC, Cornell, Maryland, Columbia? Note that I'm applying for M.S. not PhD.

Hopefully some people have experience with this and can make some judjements or compare with their own past experience. Thanks

**FedUp** · 12-13-2006, 08:17 PM

Maryland,Columbia and Cornell for their M.Eng program sound about right.Are you expecting finaid from any of your potential schools?

**veron4** · 12-14-2006, 08:45 AM

Thanks for the reply, FedUp. No, I did not apply for any financial aid at these schools. Some of them apparently will automatically consider all applicants for assistantships, which may play a role in deciding where, if anywhere, I finally end up going.

But I'm hoping that the fact that I didn't apply for aid will help a bit with admission!

Hmm. I wonder what kind of profiles MS students at the top 5 schools have; I've read enough about the PhD ones at those, but have no clue about the MS admissions.

**FedUp** · 12-14-2006, 07:47 PM

Most MS students are industry-minded guys.And do not have the 'extra-ordinary' qualifications of PhD students.But most of the MS students have some form of funding.Are you a terminal Maters student?If u could find a classic TM thread by Mr Stanfordian, u will find a wealth of information regarding the disparity betwwen MS and PhD students at Stanford.

**IndianCS** · 12-28-2006, 10:47 AM

U have a decent profile. u can try... for Austin and might be for Stanford as well.. Berkley/UIUC/UMCP/Cornell ...... might very very tough one.. Bt from these u can give a shot @ Cornell....hmmmmmmmm or UIUC

**veron4** · 03-17-2007, 06:30 AM

Well, people, I'm now in a position to answer my question of what kind of difference there is a between PhD and MS candidates as I hereby declare this as "a classic TM thread by Mr Stanfordian."

Hopefully my profile will help future MS candidates at some top colleges, but most notably Stanford since that's top choice for a vast majority.

P.S. I got into Dartmouth MS with aid, and Cornell M.Eng. Rejected from Columbia (not too surprising, since I know for a fact that they rejected a lot of superb applicants for PhD, yet they take just about everyone for MS) and UIUC PhD (hmm, I expected to get here for some other reasons).

**saguaro** · 03-21-2007, 04:30 AM

Hi Veron4,

You posted on my profile in whogotin, congrats on your Cornell acceptance! Are you planning on attending?

**veron4** · 03-21-2007, 05:14 PM

Hey,

I did post on your profile. Well, I probably won't attend Cornell, I think I'll go to Stanford (for MS, no aid). Otherwise it would have come down to Cornell (without aid) or Dartmouth (with aid).

Are you going to Cornell then?

**saguaro** · 03-21-2007, 07:55 PM

Congrats on Stanford too! That's an awesome choice!

I'm pretty confident that I'm going to Cornell. It was my top choice since it is only a one year program and the highest ranked program in my application list. One of my former classmates in college went there for the M.Eng. straight from undergrad and had a pretty good experience there. I like the fact that the program is pretty flexible in terms of requirements, I'm looking forward to taking a class or two in the Johnson School of Business.

I'm just debating whether or not to start in the Fall or defer to Spring. This is due to the fact that most companies come in the Fall for recruitment for full-time recruitment (I'll have no Cornell classwork under my belt if I start in the Fall) and I'd also like to intern somewhere in the Summer.

**veron4** · 03-22-2007, 07:13 AM

I really like the idea of deferring until Spring (particularly for the reason of the internship). As for jobs, haha, I think you'll get a good one after Cornell anyway.

It'll be nice if I could get an internship for this summer, since I haven't had any at renowned companies yet.