mr_grad

I'm sure it's terrible (...)

If you make an effort to be social in the first 6 weeks, I don't think you'll have a problem making new connections anywhere! Why? - everyone is nervous / new / excited at that point. there's plenty common ground to talk about (what classes? what advisor? thesis? background etc etc) - (mostly) everyone will also want to make new connections - it will warm outside (if you are somewhere that has cold winters - best to make friends before people are terrified of coming out of their apartments haha) Good luck 🙂

(you might also want to think about where you'd like to land up, actually Raleigh NC is one of the best job markets right now. -> https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-the-jobs-are-11551441214?mod=article_inline, obviously California is the US' tech economic engine...) also - maybe think about your political sensibilities. you may feel far more "at home" in one of these locations... Great programs. Good luck!!!

Duke.

The schools don't really communicate with each other TBH. It sucks but do what is right for you. Just MAKE SURE that if you withdraw from school B -> you still have a concrete acceptance at school A.

Similar universities. Personally I think UCSB has a stronger research tradition - but that might be conjecture. You might want to think about where you might like to land up afterwards? Texas? California? What about summer internship? College Station is kinda in the middle of nowhere IMO. Santa Barbara is beautiful, and very close to Los Angeles. Are you able to check out their recruiting / career fairs? Going to any UC school in California is highly regarded. I'm not aware of TAMU reputation in Texas. Good luck!

I live in Los Angeles and am fairly familiar with the schools. Of course, I haven't been a grad student at them all so take this with a grain of salt. Firstly, congratulations those are all excellent programs. Purdue is not on the same level IMO as any of them, personally I would take that off. If you want to work here and be well positioned to find a job - I would choose the one of the schools in California. Why? Because most of the students will be from California so you are already building a good local professional network. In addition, you could easily find an internship in Los Angeles / San Diego (etc) without potentially having to relocate. That's obviously beneficial financially. So personally, I would take a hard look at the California schools (although Michigan is an excellent school - but is 'communications' what you would like to do?). So in my opinion two solid choices would be USC or UC San Diego. USC is a different crowd... I know USC accepts A LOT of graduate students to CS so you apparently sometimes it is difficult to get into popular classes. Maybe try do some research on this to validate/invalidate that claim yourself. Los Angeles is very expensive to live in, but obviously huge opportunity. San Diego is very nice, and more affordable (not cheap though). Hope that helps. Those are amazing programs - you could do well with any of them. Congrats! Think about location, professional networks (longterm), and which of those subjects you really want to do. Take a look at indeed and glassdoor for the most in-demand jobs... you can also see what's available in the area. This is a good indicator. A summary http://blog.indeed.com/2019/03/14/best-jobs-2019/ https://www.glassdoor.com/List/Best-Jobs-in-America-LST_KQ0,20.htm Hope that helps.

Hi all! Looking for any advice and input from anyone familiar with MSCS programs. I have an unrelated undergraduate degree and would like to know which schools are worth applying to, and which are not. I know there are other individuals trying to get into CS without a CS undergrad degree - so perhaps this will be useful for them too in future. For context: I have a Bachelor of Music as an undergrad. In preparation to apply for masters programs in CS*, I have completed the following 10 courses (by application date): Discrete Structures, Programming I, Programming II (completes one-year CS sequence), Calculus I, Calculus II (completes one-year sequence), Statistics, Linear Algebra, Intro to Data Science, Operating Systems, Data Structures & Algorithms. I have a 4.0 in this course work, as well as my undergraduate degree. Q: What are some reputable programs that might accept a candidate such as myself? What are some programs that are simply not applying to, considering my background? I understand certain programs are looking primarily for students likely to excel in research. These might be universities to avoid considering my background. I am more interested in doing really good coursework from a reputable** university. What might that list look like? *In California - and many states - a second bachelors is not permitted. I live in CA. **Let's define reputable as any top 60 program from any well-known source (usnews.com, csrankings.org etc).

Taking it in a month is good. In all likelihood, you will take it again to improve. Having taken the real test is an excellent step. Use this in your back of your mind to alleviate any pressure on yourself. In terms of study, look at your analyses for the timed tests you've done. If you have done Manhattan (or any other reputable company) there will be a breakdown. Notice what the issues might be - is there any specific topic in quant you're consistently missing (probability, combinatorics, sets, geometry etc)? Or a type of question consistently wrong (maybe quant comparison, or logic reasoning for verbal etc)? Focus on those if so. Also, be sure to check out your timing. QC should be < 90s. Notice if you are being "stubborn" on questions. For example, if you are taking 3-4mins on ANY question - that is ridiculous. Know when to say "OK, this one is not my question." and move on. Don't sacrifice your entire GRE score for one question. Once you've looked at all this stuff. Study that way. Use a timer. Pressure yourself. Do mixed sets as well as focusing on your weaker areas (we all have them, save for 3% of the pop). Vocab wise - you just have to study 10-20 words day every day. That's it. Swatting won't help. Good luck.

RE whether you should apply: the short answer is yes. You need to let yourself explore this if it's something that's been on your mind for some time (which it sounds like it has been). You made a big leap from the state school to the more reputable public university. Your cumulative GPA is 3.03, which is above the minimum. You then succeeded in your work environment in applying all this knowledge. You were promoted and have solid a performance rating. These are positive things. You need to focus on the positive aspects. Highlight these and be confident. This is life and you need to fend for yourself. RE your job: It sounds as though you heave reached the ceiling there. It is natural for employees and people to want to grow. Any good manager should understand this. Whether or not your manager "wants" you to pursue a masters is irrelevant. You can still be respectful to this person, but ultimately you need to think about yourself and do what is best for you. N Apply. It will not be easy. Don't delay a year; you might just learn from this year's applications what you need to do next year and be able to fulfill your ambitions. Good luck!