cs_phd

No one expects BS degree holder to do ground breaking research. If you are confident that you can get 3 good reco letters from the professors you worked under for those 3 papers then you have a good chance. If those professors are well known in US for their research then you have a good chance. SOP is also important. Any case apply to wide range of universities (i.e, apply even to outside top 20 and 30 universities) to be on the safer side.

if your work experience is good and related to your Masters area, then you can apply for good universities.

I would accept Netherlands offer. Unless the Ireland university is a top tier universities and the chances of getting PhD offer is more, I won't accept it. Also, are you sure of getting PhD seat if you do well in your internship? Do you know? If there is a guarantee that you will get PhD seat after internship and the university is ranked higher than one at Netherlands (ranked higher such that it makes a difference once you complete your PhD) then you can consider Ireland.

did you try this like others suggested: http://www.wes.org/students/igpacalc.asp This converts your 3.9/5 to GPA on scale of 4. I think you would get a better rating. You can apply to US schools.

From what I know, you cannot go to interview without original I-20. You can cancel your appointment. Then, you can fill a new DS-160 and use the same receipt number that you used for paying visa fees and schedule a new interview once you get your I-20. This is what I read in some forum and from what I heard from people who have done this. You can check with people who have done this and also consult the vfsglobal.

GPA is just one criterion. 3.55 is a decent GPA and you don't have to worry. You are in a good situation to get good reco letters from professor you are working under. If you get 3 good letters from professors and if you maintain your GPA around 3.5 there is nothing to fear. Recommendation letters from reputed professors helps a lot. Research experience helps and you need to sell that in your SOP and mention that you are very much passionate about research. There are other good schools in top 10 as well for CV and AI like WashU, UMass Amherst, UMich, UPenn etc. You can try those as well. They are good for CV and AI.

@techboy, I can 100% tell you that you don't need to reapply. You can use same SSN. This applies to even people who lived in other countries for a while and then moved again to US on a different visa.

columbia MSCS is great. since you want to join industry, columbia gives you enough opportunities.

@bbdd2, I think your assistantship is enough to show for visa interview.

anyway, check with people who had this experience before.

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/ds-160-form/travel-information.html As per this, you need to enter your department details.

all networks provide service throughout us. service bought at one place works in all states. There is no extra charge when you move to different states within US.

You can get as many I-20s as you want. there is no restrictions. If you are already in US and are enrolled in a uni and if you want to change, then you need to get I-20 from your new school. I think there is some status change or something like that to be done, I think your new school's international student services should handle it I think. You can contact them if you have any questions or to know whether there is anything to be done on your side. You may have to get visa stamped for new school only when you move outside US and re-enter (clarify with your new school). If you are outside US and if you have already got visa stamped for school-A and if you now need to move to school-B, then you have to appear for visa interview again. You need to be ready to answer the question as to why you wanted to move and many such related questions. If school-B is better and higher ranked in your field, it is easier to defend. If you are outside US and if you have not yet got your visa stamped, then there is no problems. You can schedule interview for your top choice school.

No, they consider the university but it is one of the criteria. You need to mention (tell that it is in top 10 in the world and how difficult it is to enter there and get good gpa) about your university in your sop and also mention about the reason for your gpa. If you can demonstrate that with some good research experience or some projects you have worked under professors, then it will add to it. Also, in such cases, good recommendation letters matter to offset the gpa. University rank is one criterion. Consult some seniors or professors whom you are close with to discuss what was in your application and how exactly you can improve your choices.

no difference between MS or MSE degree. Each university has different names. at UPenn there is only MSE.