Plz help me deciding which schools I should apply to

[ssacong]

Hello, everyone.

I just finished my second GRE test and got 590/770/? <- last time i got 3.5 but imho i think i wrote better writing this time than last one.
I am planning to pursue a Master Degree in Computer Science possibly in California State and getting a job after graduation. My interest area is Software Engineering. The ones that I have in my minds are UCLA, UCI, USC, and UCSD.
I would like to experience the west side culture, since I've been in NC for about 4 years. kinda got tired of being in a small city. I am an international student in US. I got the chairman scholarship from my department once for 10,000usd, and worked on 2 projects with professors. My overall GPA is around 3.65, and major GPA is 3.9ish. I haven't thought about applying for next Spring, but if you have any recommendations plz let me know. and Would it have bad effects if I graduate this summer and have 1 year of not being in a school when regarding getting accepted or not?

[CalmLogic]

Hi,

Congrats on your GRE score.

if I graduate this summer and have 1 year of not being in a school when regarding getting accepted or not?

As long as you do something productive in the interim (e.g. working or interning in IT, contributing to an open source project, doing research, winning a TopCoder prize, or taking the GRECS exam), your chances can actually increase.

The ones that I have in my minds are UCLA, UCI, USC, and UCSD.

You certainly will get into USC. (It's a satety school, anyway.) UCSD may be the hardest to get into:

computer science ucsd &bull; thegradcafe.com

So I would be more optimistic (or less pessimistic) about the other schools, especially if you went to a CS undegrad department that ranked well in USNews.
GForce (a former poster) was rejected from UCSD but was accepted at Irvine and GA Tech:

http://www.urch.com/forums/admission...uc-irvine.html (Admitted to UC Irvine!!!)

He decided to go to GA Tech So, if you care about USNews rankings, you may want to consider GA Tech, too.

[ssacong]

Thank you so much calmlogic. it's really awesome to get respond from such a guru here.

[CSCaddicted]

Hello,
if you don't mind can i have your email adress such as msn messenger because i have the same interests as you and i have some questions regarding your curriculum? thank you a lot

[ssacong]

I sent you a private message.