I just got rejected by all my choices (Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, UCB and UT Austin) for an MS in CS for Fall 2016... They were all ambitious and like a naive little fool I did not apply to any safe schools -
I am planning to apply again in fall 2017 .. here is a breakup of my profile -
1. Undergraduate from an IIT in India - GPA 9/10, No papers, Department rank -3
2. GRE - 330, Toefl - 115
3. 2 years of work ex in an MNC - the best one among its peers
I realize now that my profile looks like a thousand other ones and doesnt stand out ... I was looking for ways to boost my profile - Here is what I came up with
1. Quit job and find a research intern ... try hard to publish paper - either India or abroad
2. Quit job and join an NGO (dont know how this will effect the application but i really wanted to work in an NGO for a year)
3. Join a startup - It is a service startup for now with <10 people
I have a lot of time before my application and I would love and appreciate it if you guys could give me suggestions. Thanks a ton!