My chances for MS/PhD CS? GRE Q-800, V-680, 6+yr exp, 3 good

[murboy]

Hi,

I am an Indian citizen working in the bay area for 5 years as Software Architect/Senior Developer, with 6 and half years of experience in the software industry. I aspire to do MS/PhD full time from a top 15 schools, for Fall 2004. I took my GRE on Nov 15th and have got 800 in Quants and 680 in Verbal, expecting at least above 4.5 in AWA. I have 270/300 in TOEFL. My undergrad was in 4 yr Computer Science Engg, with 82% aggregate (ranked 3rd in class) from an institution affiliated to Bharathiar University, India. I have good industry experience in database replication, relational database internals, Java, some Bioinformatics, etc. I am interested in distributed systems, operating systems, databases, etc. I have three recos, one from my undergrad college Principal, one from former employer, a CTO (very strong one) and another former employer, a Senior Director of Engineering. I have registered for AGRE CS on Dec 13th. I am not sure if I will score well in this, as I find it extremely difficult and I have forgotten lot of undergrad subjects. I will do my best anyway.

What are my chances in getting into top 15 (among Carnegie, Berkeley, Univ of Washington, USC, UCSD, UTA, UCLA, Univ of Wisconsin, Princeton, etc)? I would love to get RA, though I guess I could manage with bank loans and savings.

If not for the above top schools, what should be my fallback schools. Can I consider UCSB, Univ of Utah, Univ of Colorado - Boulder, Duke, etc as fallback or are they still too high in ranking to be considered such?

Given I am not so confident with my AGRE CS, should I waiting reporting the scores to the top schools until I see the scores?

Because I am taking AGRE CS only Dec 13th, how will it affect my prospects in schools that have app deadlines in Dec 15th, Jan 1st, etc? If I do not the scores when I apply, some of them say it is enough if I give them the date of exam and my registration number.

Does it help if I apply early well before the deadlines?

Please advice at the earliest!

- murboy

[murboy]

Hi,

As I was getting anxious to know my AWA score, I just called up to find out my scores by paying the $10 fee. To my disappointment, these were the scores:

Q-800, 92%ile (Is this bad? Can someone score above this percentile?)
V-680, 95%ile (I am glad about this, even though I wanted to go over 700)
AWA-5.0, 67%ile (Very disappointed :-( I was hopinh 5.5, oh well!)

I am taking the AGRE on Dec 13th, no idea how well I will do it.

How important is AWA for MS/PhD in CS in top 15 schools? I have shortlisted MIT, CMU, UCB, Univ of Washington, Georgia Tech, UTA, Cornell, Caltech, UMD in top tier and then Duke, UCSB, Univ of N Carolina - Chapel Hill, Penn State Univ in the next tier. I might drop 2 or 3 in thlis list, but I am planning keep my net wide as I am really aiming for the tier-1 schools.

I have three very good recos and a strong resume in relvant research areas, with over 6 and half years of experience in software industry. My undergrad was CS Engg, in a third-tier institute in India, with 82%.

Am I being too optimistic? Erin, someone please tell.

- Murboy