What are my chances

[maennj]

Hello there

I'm fourth year Computer Science student in University of Jordan which is known to be the best in the country (in Jordan)
However, my overall GPA is 3.5/4.0 (CS only GPA 3.65)
The bad thing is this overall GPA is considered very good (not excellent) GPA in my university.

I haven't yet taken any TOEFL or GRE exam yet as I'm currently still studying last summer semester with hope to maintain my current GPA.

I have participated in writing a paper with my professor supervising my graduate project.
I have been awarded in a CS competition in Saudi Arabia and been interviewed in Saudi newspaper and in Jordan TV but I'm not sure if those are to be considered in US school graduate admissions.

However, as I'm preparing to apply to many schools in US I'd like to know my chances to get accepted in the MS programs of the following CS schools
1- MIT
2- Stanford
3- UC Berkeley
4- Columbia University
5- UCSD
I know my hopes are a little bit high with this GPA but I was wondering if there is a chance to get accepted in those schools (especially first three) if I get high GRE scores. If yes, what are minimum GRE scores should I achieve to raise my chances for admission.

Regards

[CalmLogic]

Unless your research is really ground breaking, e.g. something that could win at least a best student paper award at an international conference, then I think your chances are very low for all of those schools except Columbia. (If you are applying for an MS, your chances may be good at Columbia, but I don't know about PhD admissions.)

[maennj]

Hi

Thanks for your fast reply
I have two more questions
What do you think are good GRE scores to consider Columbia a safe option ?
Do you know any good schools like or better than Columbia for MS in networking that may admit me in newyork

Thanks again

[CalmLogic]

No, I don't know any schools in NY better than Columbia overall or for networking. For all I know, Stony Brook could be better for networking. At least it's cheaper

Regarding GRE scores, you want at least the average quantitative score of their accepted applicants. One way to estimate that is by reviewing the profiles at Edulix:

Edulix InfoBank | Reports

Also, you can contact the department directly about the average GRE scores as there is nothing to lose by asking.

Also, regarding the GRE as more like a filter that can't assure anything:
http://www.urch.com/forums/graduate-...school-us.html (Average GRE (Quantitative) score of Top 50 engineering school in US)

[MDK]

It seems that your list is biased towards super ambitious schools, you should really consider adding some moderate and safe choices. Alternatively, you may apply for universities that have already accepted seniors from your undergrad university. Some of them were here at TM, and they got into top universities (UIUC and Brown):
http://www.urch.com/forums/admission...-vs-brown.html (UIUC vs Purdue vs Brown)

I know that the Jordanian University is reputed in the middle east,however you should extend your list, because it's too ambitious even for toppers of the AUB.

[maennj]

Hi

Thanks for your reply I was trying to see if I have chance to get in there now I found it's not easy to get in there
However, I'm trying to find universities that are both reputed and good at computer networking/computer security. And also close to my living location in New York

I found the following universities :
- Columbia University
- State University of Stony Brook
- Rutgers University
- Princeton University
- Polytechnic

But I don't how good are they and how is their selectivity
I'm also applying to UIUC and Brown too =)
I'm guessing, for me:

Ambitious :
UIUC

Moderate to Ambitious
Brown
Columbia Univeristy
Stony Brook
Princeton

But I need list of safe schools that are good too

Regards

[maennj]

BTW, is Columbia considered ambitious as this is my first choice
Did u mean that Columbia is ambitious even for AUB toppers ? if this is case then I might have no chance in Columbia as well

[MDK]

Sorry, I didn't mean to include Columbia in the ambitious list, it's somehow less selective than its Ivy tag would indicates and you may have good chances there.
Regarding your list, please be aware that Princeton has a highly selective computer science department ( as most of the Ivys except for Penn & Columbia). I am not familiar with Polytechnic, but people on Edulix reported about its bad reputation, however I can neither confirm nor deny.

[CalmLogic]

But I need list of safe schools that are good too

Well, the beauty of it is that you can apply to USC and Rutgers after all the other schools send acceptance/rejection letters by April 15, but that can be very stressful waiting for admission at the last minute. With your profile, USC would be a safe option. I don't know about Rutgers, but they I think they would be safe for you if you did okay on the GRECS. So, anyway, you may want to keep USC as a more last minute option if it's not one of your top safety schools of choice.

(BTW, if I had $4k on hand, I would take a distance learning course on algorithms in the fall from UIUC, Stanford, or Columbia as all three offer distance learning CS courses. This would help boost your profile while helping you prepare for the GRECS in November.)

[maennj]

Hello guys thank you for your responses it's been helpful. Today I got email from WSEAS saying that my paper has been selected among the best 85 papers out of 950 submitted, this really made me do more thinking. I decided to take a 6-12 months to conduct more researches,prepare for GRE/GRECS and take distance learning courses. But I'm really concerned about my GPA, do I still have a chance to get admission in MIT/Stanford/UC Berkeley..etc. if I do more high quality researches and get high GRE/GRECS but still have a 3.5 GPA ?

One more question, is it easy to take distance learning course in Staford, UIUC or Columbia without the need to provide undergrad degree, GRE,... etc ?

Regards and thanks.