ahmadka

I don't think applying to top universities only is a good strategy because you might get rejected from all of them Rather, I need to pick universities from high to low, so that I'm accepted at least somewhere .. So in order to filter out universities (which are 50-70 at least), I need some factors to consider .. And still I don't know what those factors are ..

I'm assuming you're trying to say that some CS program are targeted towards industry while others are more research/academia oriented .. If this is what you meant, how do I determine which CS Masters programs are from the first category ?

Also, I admit that if universities hold industry-involved events at the university level, then you can say that the university has ties with the industry. But how can this apply to individual professors ? Say I find a professor who worked for some tech giant five years ago, how can he possibly help me right now, as any ties he had with the company are now a thing of the past, and anything fruitful coming out of a previous professional link will have very limited positive outcome I think .. So why should I look at individual professor's past ? I don't get this point .. The most he can probably help you is regarding things like how the company was, what was his work like, etc. But even these opinions can easily be gotten on the internet nowadays, so what's the point ?

What you've said here is something that hits a bulls eye with me, but its something I've tried to research about myself too ... I've tried typing in all kinds of things in Google to get a list of such universities. I've tried looking at university pages (research sections in CS department websites), and virtually also universities claim to have "ties with industry giants such as Microsoft, Google, etc., ..." So what you've said is 100% correct for my case, but I don't know how to get this information ... Some examples on what to search or what to look for specifically on university websites would be really helpful !

Hi everyone. I'm trying really hard these days to try and figure out which CS programs to apply to, but I don't really know how to filter them out. ... Really, I don't know ! I know there are factors such as location and cost, etc., but to me things like 'quality' of education, future/job prospects, and value of the degree matter more. But as there are so many good universities within the US, how do I decide between them ? One common answer is that people look at the research taking place in the universities. But from what I can tell (after a few days of googling), most universities have very similar research stuff mentioned on their website. Plus, I personally don't have much interest in research as my main goal for getting a CS degree is to help redefine me as a 'CS' person (previously have engineering degrees) and to help me enter the CS job market. So any hints on how to go about this will be very appreciated.

I know about that. I'm just asking if universities can accept scores directly from me. I can send them a scanned copy of my scores. For example, UWashington has mentioned in its FAQ that they do accept scores older than 5 years. They just need to be scanned and sent by me instead of sending them through ETS. Also, I already did a degree Georgia Tech before so they said I don't have to do GRE again as they'll just re-use the scores I had sent them 5-6 years ago. So I'm just asking if its fairly common for universities to accept unofficial 5+ years old GRE scores or not.

Hi guys .. I wanted to ask if it's normally okay with universities accepting GRE and TOEFL scores older than 5 years .. I took both GRE and TOEFL 6 years ago, and earned good scores in both: GRE Quant: 780/800, GRE Verbal: 520/800, TOEFL: 111/120 I know some universities accept older scores, but I want to know if they're generally accepted or not .. I would really like to just submit the same scores again unofficially if I can .. It will lower my workload significantly

Yes funding issues and comfort level are good factors, but I think they're relatively secondary in nature (just my point of view for my specific case - could be different for others) .. But apart from these factors, what other mainstream factors can I use to choose between universities ? Currently I don't have much idea about the research options within the CS field, but generally speaking, I'm not a research kinda guy .. This is why I decided to forego my fully-funded PhD program from Georgia Tech 3 years ago, and which is why I chose to do a Masters in which there's no thesis involved .. This could change once I go to a university (if there's a possibility to switch), but its highly unlikely .. So again I'm not sure what factors to use to choose between different CS programs since I assume they're all more or less the same .. Someone please help :/

Hi guys .. So I'm thinking of giving GRE 2-3 times within the coming 2-3 months. I think GRE allows you to send scores to some universities (I think 4) for free right after the GRE test itself, and sending them later on is $25 per university .. Although I have not finalized my list of target universities (not even close to deciding), I wanted to just apply to same universities in every attempt, to save money in sending just the best score later on .. So if I send the same university my GRE scores multiple times, I assume they'll accept the best ones ? Or to play it safe, should I just wait for my best scores and then send them to my final universities for $25 per university ?

Guys, I seriously need some tips to answer my concerns highlighted above ...

Well I have a very vague idea of where I might want to apply, but that list needs serious refinement .. Thing is, my actual fear is that I don't really know what goes into the process of university selection .. I mean the way I see is, aren't all universities teaching CS more or less the same, assuming you're looking within the same tier of universities ? For example, if I had to decide between picking CMU, Stanford, and Berkeley, how would I pick ? Since their reputations are more or less the same, how do I decide between them ? I know you can talk to professors there and see who you like more, etc., but I've never been good at that (I don't like research, etc,.) ... And isn't that only for PhD dudes anyway, as they have to find an adviser ? The idea of choosing universities sounds intimidating to me because frankly I don't really know what questions to ask when deciding between them. If I somehow knew the answer to this question, I might get the job done in a week. Both times I went to university before, this choosing business was more or less done for me through external help. But this time I'm on my own so I'm a bit worried about this impending doom. Need some help :/

Hi guys ... I'll be applying to universities this fall for a second Masters, this time in Computer Science. These days I'm trying to prepare for GRE so I haven't had a lot of time to investigate about universities, so I'm a bit worried that I might be falling behind on that front. I also know some people who have also finalized which universities they'll be applying to this fall, and this realization is putting even more pressure on me to decide this ASAP. So by when is the best to have decided which universities to apply to ? What date should I give myself ?

Thanks guys ! So I'll definitely try to get at least one done from my ugrad profs. So which is better: A: 2 from ugrad profs, one from masters prof or from job supervisor/boss B: one from all 3 levels Considering that this is an academic setting, I'm wondering which combination will seem better .. Was your masters advisor your academic advisor (normally the graduate head of your department) or your research advisor (in case you did a thesis in your masters) ? Also, since you've already done a Masters, you're doing doing a PhD or something else ? So will your professors send in the same LOR to all 11 institutions or will they write 11 separate LORs for you ? Yeah I guess that puts it into perspective then, thanks !

I have a book from Princeton Review which is like that ... I think it has 1007 questions in it or so ... I'm planning to go through it once I feel I've got the basic strategies covered .. Anything other than Manhattan which might be helpful for the Math part ? Besides, I don't think Manhattan books are available in my locality .. Haven't seen them here ..

Doesn't Manhattan have just one book which contains everything ? I don't think I have any specific area where I feel I might be struggling .. It's just an overall thing I believe, which is why I'm probably after a 'one-book-fits-all' solution ..

Yeah I read about that .. They might even lay off even more people if things still don't improve for their mobile division ..

Yeah that seems like a neat idea that I can certainly consider UWashington, but I'm still hoping that someone can address the question I had .. Even if I remove the Microsoft clause, what universities should I be aiming for ? I know I have to pick universities which define CS, but what other criteria should I have ?

Well, even getting in touch with my undergrad instructors at this stage may take some warming up as it has been a while .. But lets see So maybe I can (try to) get two done from my undergrad ... Regarding the remaining one, which do you think will hold more importance: One from a Tech professor whose course I might have taken ? Or my job supervisor ? Assume both are equally hard to get an LOR from .. Secondly, since these days all applications are online, what if I'm applying to multiple universities and want even writer to send their LOR to multiple places .. Isn't there any easier way to do this ? Otherwise they'll get frustrated if I asked them to write a letter for 4-5 universities ..

Hi guys .. I've done a little bit of revision and practice using the Princeton Review GRE book .. I've practised on the questions in this book, and for some reason I keep misinterpreting questions sometimes, which ultimately makes me solve the question incorrectly on the first try .. If I remove the time constraint, I'm using able to solve the question within the 1st try using my own algebra methods .. I feel that I probably need to brush up more on some of the tricks you can use to tackle Math questions .. I've already gone through Princeton Review, so I need suggestions on which book to practice from for specifically improving my Math section performance .. I was able to get a 780/800 in the old GRE 6 years ago (one my first try too), so I'm confident that I can do better .. Any suggestions ?

Actually, getting the letters done from my Undergrad instructors will be a lot easier for me because I'm in the same locality .. So I can go meet them, catch up on old times to get the ball rolling, etc ... But if I ask my undergrad instructors, the university people might wonder why I'm sending in LORs from profs who taught me 6-8 years ago, and not someone from more recent times .. However I like the suggestion that I send one from my undergrad, one from masters, and one from my current supervisor .. Seems balanced, but yeah it probably won't be super awesome .. Regarding my Masters, I got a CGPA of 3.77 .. So I actually got quite a bunch of A's, etc ... I almost never missed class, but I wasn't the most talkative person in the classes .. Besides, I think it would be hard for a Tech prof to recall me personally when he deals with hundreds of students every year ..

Well, I'm just afraid that its gonna mess up my chances big time because everyone says LORs are very important .. :/ Suppose if I contacted any of my instructors from Georgia Tech and asked them to write an LOR for me, what they do it ? Also, do people normally do this for instructors whose course they just took ?

Hi guys .. So I have question that I can't seem to find an answer to .. I don't really have anyone who knows me that well in recent years, who I can ask for a letter of recommendation .. I did my Bachelors in Comp Engg in 2004 - 2008 .. In 2008 I also applied for MS in Comp Engg through Fulbright. Because I was very in touch with my Undergrad instructors at the time, I asked 3 of them to write LORs for me. Between 2009 - 2011, I did my Masters in Comp Engg from Georgia Tech. Since May 2011, I've been working as a Software Engineer, but the problem is that I don't really have an close by 'boss' who I can ask for an LOR. I do have some senior supervisors but they're all in different locations and I feel I don't know them on a personal level. Also, during my MS in Comp Engg, I chose to not do any research, and thus I don't have much of a connection with any prof there too. So who do I ask for writing my LORs ?

Hi guys ... So I'm planning to do Masters in CS starting Fall 2015. Now I have this (somewhat clichéd) goal of entering Microsoft as a software engineer (long story ...). So I want to try and choose some universities for MS in Computer Science which will maximize my chances for entering Microsoft. I have heard (90% sure I heard it from a Microsoft employee/colleague a few years ago) that there are certain universities which are 'affiliated' with Microsoft, and students from those universities can directly enter Microsoft without any formal interviews !? Is this true ? Anyone know which universities are those ? I think University of Toronto was one which I was told, but I'm not certain. Note that I have an Undergrad degree in Comp Engg, and a Masters in Comp Engg from Georgia Tech (via Fulbright). Reasons for doing a second Masters mentioned

Yeah I'm hoping someone can chime in on which universities are affiliated with Microsoft.

That's actually a good question. There are several reasons reasons behind the idea of getting a second Masters: 1) I want to get US based experience as most of the world's software industry is there. Since I'm currently outside the US, applying from here is proving virtually useless to me because I'm physically far away. If I entered the US again and applied from there, my chances would be much better I think. 2) In my previous years I wasn't very clear about my future direction, and I ended up pursuing degree's which I think help me only partially. My passion is Software Development but I'm by education an engineer. So there' a mismatch which I want to correct. 3) Yeah I would have to study my ass off again for a 3rd time, but I actually want to get a Computer Science degree. This may sound strange to some, but I feel weird having two degrees which actually don't help me out professionally that much. I have people around me who got degrees directly related to their line of work. I feel like I'm missing out on that feeling, so I personally want to get a degree which I know is what I want.