kirti09

My undergraduate school graded us on percentage. However, equivalent GPA is 3.5. I did my ug in electronics and telecommunications. Thereafter I worked for 5 years in the software industry

I was recently rejected by Purdue (MS Infosec - CERIAS). The rejection came in jan. From previous years results I figured CERIAS results are out only in feb or March. Considering how early they decided on my application, I can only think of my undergraduate GPA and department as a major contributor. My undergrad GPA is 3.51 (not bad!) and department is Electronics and Telecommunications. But I have 5 years of development experience and plenty of software related skillsets backing up my application. I also did a very good research in my final year of engineering (no papers/publications though!). To add up, I believe my SOP is very decent. Hence I really feel bad about this rejection. Guys, any idea what could have happened in my case? (ohh btw, my GRE is 1290 - 740Q 550V and TOEFL is 109 Speaking - 27. But does Purdue really care about your GRE scores?)

Hello, I would really appreciate if you could evaluate my profile. I am interested in Information Security and applying to programs that offer exclusive Masters program in Infosec or Computer Science programs with concentration in Infosec. My profile is as follows: GRE - 1290 (740 Q 550 V 3.5 AWA) TOEFL - 109 (R 27 L 27 S 27 W 28) Work Experience - 5 years in the software industry. Worked on several development and maintenance projects. Out of those 5 years, 3 years were in the US. Skilled in many technologies related to Mainframe, AS400 and VMS/VAX. Also know Matlab and SAP. I was a project lead at my last organization. Research Experience - Final year undergraduate project was a research project. I implemented an IEEE paper on speech recognition. SOP - is decent. Listed my professional and research experience but did not mention design level details. Indirectly presented a research idea in my SOP. Also mentioned that I want to pursue phd after MS. LORs - 2 academic and 1 professional. very general ones. Not so great. No publications. Planning to apply to the below universities: Georgia Tech George Mason WUSTL Purdue Carnegie Mellon Vanderbilt SUNY Stony Brook Johns Hopkins Also what are the chances of financial aid at these places? I am an international student and cannot survive without an aid. Do you guys/gals suggest any other university for me?