wifey99999999

But that doesn't mean Yale's CS, as a whole, is a bad place to pursue CS graduate study. I would bet that many students would prefer to go to Yale over UMass for CS PhD for both prestige and resources available. The dude also said UMass CS isn't looking to admit students who only intend to get a master degree without continuing onto PhD. But he's wrong. UMass' CS department actually accepts application for MS only program. Does he really work in CS Dept? http://www.cs.umass.edu/drupal/admissions/degree-programs

The dude's advise is pretty much spot on. But I don't understand his attitude for the MS only applicants (Some people would rather go into industry directly after MS degree instead of getting PhD, and there is nothing wrong with that). Also what's his problem with Yale? Yale is not MIT, but Yale's CS is still pretty top notch.

So your friend feels as if a master in IEOR is good enough to work in his current industry for similar salary and his PhD is kind of redundant for his current job? cuz I am currently pursuing a master in OR at Columbia (no intention to go into PhD).

What is exactly your ugrad school? cuz while 3.71 GPA sounds great, it could be different thing depending on where you went as ugrad.

3.0 GPA is low even if you went to Cal. I doubt you'd get into Masters programs at those schools in your list with just 3.0 GPA (a minimum for most schools, but most schools admit students with much higher GPA than the published minimum). PhD is even highly unlikely.

Your chance of getting in is 0. There is no way you can hide your 3.23 GPA from the "small liberal art" school. Cal and Stanford admission office will ask both transcripts from both schools. So there is no way you can hide the 3.23. And with 3.23 GPA, your chance is basically ZERO.

I would also recommend you go for UCLA's M.S., Engineering program. This is also interdisciplinary engineering master degree designed for working professionals, but it would require you to do a capstone project at the end. If you want to go for PhD, I'd recommend that you do an on-campus degree. I don't think you can get into PhD program without developing relationship with professors, who you need to write good recommendation letter. Also, you need to have research project or papers to be considered for PhD. These can not be done away from campus. But if you are going directly into industry after master degree, then it doesn't really matter you get the degree off campue or on campus.

Yea. I am already taking classes at Columbia. Everyone is saying Columbia MSOR is not top-notch, but I beg to differ. The material is definitely not easy at all, and you have to really work hard and understand the topics to get good grades.

Are you going to Columbia for sure?

$$$ for ETS. Now they'll introduce new format of GRE next year...

What is the top school you got into?

If you want to go for PhD, then research is obviously an important factor. But if you only shoot for Master, then research is not a do-or-die thing, but obviously it'd help.

Your profile looks good, but what is the "Large State University"...? Is it Cal Berkeley? UCLA? Cal-State Los Angeles? Ohio State? Michigan State? Where you go to school can affect your chance of admissions. Also make sure your Quant in GRE is respectable (above 770), then you have good chance.

cornell... columbia > cornell > unc-chapel hill...

UIUC IESE graduate coordinator is pretty difficult to deal with.... she is always late to respond, and sometimes she doesn't even respond your inquiry at all... One tip of UIUC's IESE master's admission review process,... they don't have a "committee" to decide whom to admit (but they do decide whom to reject as a committee), once you pass the initial screening (rejection screening by committee), your file is circulated around the faculty, and if one faculty is interested in you and needs someone to work under him (with emphasis on the word, "needs"), then you are likely accepted..... if none of the faculty finds you to be suitable with their work, then you are not accepted....

Check the UNC's OR website yourself.... you can find placement info, and funding there... they do offer funding to MS students, though priority goes to PhD.

UNC-Chapel Hill for sure.... UNC-Chapel Hill is far more prestigious and selective than NC State.

Columbia Video Network - Columbia M.S., Engineering - UCLA SCPD - Stanford (your company must be one of their "members".) DLPE - Georgia Tech.

How did you get "719" on quant section?

Cal's IEOR program is super hard to get in (even harder than Stanford, Cornell, Columbia).... GA Tech, similar to Columbia, generates a lot of complaint that the intake is too big and class size is too big also. But their OR (ISyE department) is ranked No.1.

What did you tell Columbia when they called?

UCLA > Columbia > Yale. UCLA not only has higher ranking, but also is in great location in west coast. As you know many high tech companies are located in West Coast (google santa monica is just couple miles from campus, and Boeing, Raytheon have locations in El Segundo, 10 miles away from campus). So if you are interested in working for high tech company, UCLA is your best bet. If you want to pursue Ivy brand name, I'd suggest you choose Columbia over Yale, because Columbia SEAS has better industry connection over Yale's CS (which is not part of their engineering school).

Maybe if you tell them firmly that you are going to attend Columbia during that interview, you'll hear from them soon.

That's interesting.... so they want to erase their image of "accepting too many people". But GA Tech has more MSOR than Columbia.... and GA Tech is No.1 in OR.

I mean, other than helping ETS make more money, I can't think of another reason why most schools require applicants retake GRE if score is older than 5 years. Do the math and verbal knowledge change every 5 years? Same for TOEFL, does English language change so much in 2 years that you have to retake TOEFL if you took it prior than 2 years ago?