choward

@pclaradactyl Your selection of coursework sounds like a good mix. I think that, given you do well in those (and make sure you continue to do so), the next important step would be to do some notable projects that flex your new Computer Science muscles. The easiest way to show your skills is to create some codes that use a mix of algorithms/data structures and also your software engineering knowledge. I would recommend doing projects that are algorithmically challenging since those will likely be most impressive. In terms of coursework, I think you have plenty of the bases covered for most programs you will apply for. I am going to be going to UIUC as a thesis Masters student having only taken one CS course, a data structures/algorithms course, and having studied Aerospace Engineering in my undergrad which largely covers unrelated topics relative to CS. If I can find success without nearly as much CS coursework as you, you can surely find success as well.

Profile: BS in Aerospace Engineering from UIUC with computational focus (computational science, computer vision, numerical methods). Independent studies with two professors in computational areas. Graduate coursework in computational science and numerical methods. Internship with Jet Propulsion Lab doing computer vision work on drones. Worked 3 years with Raytheon Missile Systems (RMS) building guidance/control algorithms, machine learning algorithms, and other assorted mathematical algorithms for missiles; designed and built weapon prediction, simulation and planning app at RMS for mobile devices so SOCOM weapon operators could better plan missions (vs doing it on paper). Built lots of open source mathematical and other software (optimal control, numerical optimization, simulation, lexical analyzer, etc.) that has been used at RMS on many systems. GPA: 3.53/4.0 (Overall) | 3.71/4.0 (AE) | 3.78/4.0 (Graduate Coursework) GRE: 163Q / 157V / 5.5A Accepted: UIUC MS w/ funding Rejected: U. Wisconsin - Madison MS TBD: Berkeley PhD U. Michigan PhD Gatech PhD Comments: I have been very nervous about getting in anywhere after I got rejected from UW Madison in early February. I actually lined up a new job offer working on DARPA funded prototype weapons at Lockheed just a couple days before getting accepted at UIUC. At this point, I expect to go to UIUC and pass up the opportunity with Lockheed, even though I think it sounds awesome. I would probably choose UIUC MS over the TBD schools, except for possibly Berkeley (which I don't expect an acceptance from).