sgp3213

You should not focus on the ranking order of programs in my opinion. The rankings are not formed to represent order of competitiveness, so it is not always true that a school of rank x is easier to get into than a school with a worse rank. That being said, if you want to gauge competitiveness I would say that schools with nearby ranks are probably generally similarly competitive. I wouldn't necessarily agree with your school tiers, especially because this depends largely on your particular interests and on who you'd want to work with. But at any rate, there are a handful of schools that have some admissions data that is available from which you could extrapolate rough pictures for other schools. On another note, your title mentions Princeton and Harvard which would suggest that you probably care more about the overall brand name of the university than the actual strength of the AI/Computer Science programs at these schools anyway. All that being said, here is a good chunk of the schools I've seen admissions data for: NOTE: Not all of these are necessarily up to date! University of Pennsylvania -http://www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/admission-stats.shtml Princeton University -http://www.princeton.edu/gradschool/about/docs/ratestable/tablea/COS_PhD.pdf -http://www.princeton.edu/gradschool/about/docs/ratestable/tablea/COS_MSE.pdf UCLA -http://www.cs.ucla.edu/academics/graduate-program/graduate-admission-frequently-asked-questions Duke -http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/admitcps.htm -http://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/masters/admcps.htm UNC -I don't have the link anymore, but I have written down that the average admission stat was like Q771/V567 with a 3.6GPA which I probably formed by averaging a few years of data. I can't find this information on their website anymore. I assume this was for PhD admissions only. Maryland -http://www.cs.umd.edu/Grad/catalog.shtml Columbia -http://www.cs.columbia.edu/education/phd/faqs/applying -http://www.cs.columbia.edu/education/ms/appfaq Ohio State -http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/grad/prereq.shtml Northwestern -Another school I can't find a link for. I have written down a 770Q/638V/4.9W and 3.53GPA with an acceptance rate of about 10%. Rutgers -http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/graduate/ms_program.html#mscadmission UC Davis -http://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/graduate/recruit/faqs.html UT Austin -Can't find a link. Here's what I wrote. MS GRE: Q776 V613 W4.3 CS: 840 (92 percentile) GPA: 3.74 PhD GRE: Q790 V619 W4.5 CS: 830 (90 percentile) GPA: 3.79 830 CS UC Boulder -http://www.colorado.edu/cs/admissions/how-apply Harvard -http://www.seas.harvard.edu/audiences/prospective-graduates/grad_data NOTE: This is for the entire School of Engineering & Applied Sciences UMass Amherst -https://www.cs.umass.edu/admissions/application-faq

^Probably best post in this thread

I don't know too much about either program, but my intuition is leaning me towards Arizona. Buffalo is not known to have spectacular programs in much, including computer science.

Hadn't even realized this. This makes taking an offer at UMCP all the more desirable.

I actually know of a handful of students who have MS degrees from WUSTL and ended up in top 15 PhD programs (a couple of them even in top 5). So the answer is it will depend mostly on your drive and ability to make things happen, along with other factors such as your field of interest, the professors you work with and so on. Of course this isn't to suggest that this is typical or even necessarily likely, but I'd say it will definitely be more useful than some will have you believe. From the little I know, I would bet that doing well here could certainly lead to good employment options. No promises from me on this though. So to answer your question.. its a respectable program. With the right effort on your part, you will be able to make your time there take you places. I can't say much about St Louis as a place though. EDIT: Just noticed that you indicated AI as your area of interest. Unfortunately I can't say I'm familiar enough with WUSTL to tell you what this will mean about what kind of prospects to expect with this degree.

I guess my call would depend on what area of computer science you are interested in. But by a hair, I'm going to go with UWisc. Both are respected computer science schools, so whichever you picked will probably work out great for you.

I voted for Hopkins, mostly because my limited knowledge of this area combined with what information I could find suggests that this would generally be the best career move. Still, I'd probably pick Penn because I like Philly. They're all great options, so I'm sure you can't lose with either one. Good luck

The number one factor should be the potential advisor you are working with. Then maybe the name of the school in the particular sub-field of computer science you are interested in (not just overall department rank!). You mentioned Theory, and as it turns out both Columbia and UCSD tend to be treated in the top 15 in theoretical computer science. In my opinion, it is certainly possible that getting an MS at Columbia will benefit you. But I think you couldn't possibly spend all that money while turning down an offer to UCSD, which is a school that I have a massive amount of respect for. I believe you also mentioned the possibility of attending UMCP funded as an MS student. Now that is a viable and respectable alternative option. I would still pick UCSD (over UCLA for sure), but if you were to do the MS at UMCP I would not consider that illogical. [Also, since I've posed this question before with no responses: does UMCP generally offer MS students funding? Is it just for UMCP undergrads doing a special 5-year program or for other students as well?]

Lacking research experience will definitely lower your odds, especially because you won't have recommendations from people who can speak to your research ability. Completing a masters degree can both prepare you for a PhD and be an opportunity in which to participate in research. Some other courses you may be interested in could include real analysis, ordinary/partial differential equations (though you may have included these in advanced calculus, I can't be sure), Topology or so on. But honestly, I feel as though you should try to pick classes that are related to your interests and will drive your passion. These will be the most useful for yourself in the long run, especially because your other preparation seems to be an adequate coverage of undergraduate math.

Hello everyone. I am a student looking to apply for graduate programs in computer science to start Fall 2014. I was wondering if anyone know whether UMCP offered funding to students in their masters programs. I ask this because, though most CS programs do not offer any funding to MS/MA students, the wording on UMCP's pages seem to suggest that getting a TAship or fellowship is actually quite common for all grad students. Anyone know something that might help clarify? On a related note, what are your opinions about applying to a PhD vs MS? Has anyone tried applying to a combination of MS & PhD programs if they were unsure of their chances of getting into a PhD program they'd like? EDIT: Thought it might be a good idea to defend my suggestion by quoting/linking the source information: " Both M.S. and Ph.D degrees are offered, and almost all full-time students receive financial aid in the form of assistantships, fellowships, and grants." http://www.cs.umd.ed...d/catalog.shtml

Rutgers is actually not even cheaper than USC. IU Bloomington and USF are really lower tier schools, so for me the clear winner is USC. However, if you feel that USF really has enough to offer you and the savings in money is worthwhile, then go for it.

I have found only two schools that had information about their average scores on the Computer Science GRE. UT Austin 840 (92 percentile) MS, 830 (90 percentile) PhD Rutgers 752 (63 Percentile) MS [They didn't clarify whether or not this average also included PhD students] UT Austin is a top 10 school, so no surprises there regarding their very high score averages. Rutgers is roughly top 30, so it looks like your score is on par with what a top 30 school would like to see. Edit: URLs for this information Rutgers http://www.cs.rutger...ml#mscadmission UT Austin http://www-old.cs.ut...ate/admissions/

I don't think reputation should have no bearing on a person's decision to attend a particular school. Still, this should not be the only or primary factor in consideration. With that said, I'd pick San Diego State in this case (not that I think that they differ by all that much).

Actually, the UTEP estimator is not that out of date. From the site page - "These estimates are based on information gathered from public web sites in October 2010." And depending on the program, the estimator may or may not have very concrete data to work from (some only provide minimums or rough guidelines, while others provide averages/ranges/percentages). Anyway, it can't hurt to sift through the rankings on US News or ARWU and read the programs' websites. Many schools say exactly what they require, or provide average admissions data or guidelines that allow you to make a rough idea of your admissibility. This isn't a fool proof process, but without more specific information regarding your situation, I think its as good advice as you could expect to get.

Hey all. I am just wondering a few things about applying to graduate programs in computer science. -1st off, I am wondering if I should do a masters at my school (as part of a 5-year BS to MS program) or if I should go ahead and apply to other schools? (What I am getting at is if a masters in a computer science at a top-tier private school is worth taking out tons of loans for) -2nd, I want to know what range of schools would be reasonable for me (stats below). Just starting my 3rd year at a Top 40 CS program at a State University Enrolled into my school's Computer Science Honors Program ; Double major with Applied Math Current Overall GPA: 3.55 GRE: 800 Quant, 640 Verbal, 4.0 Writing (Took GRE before it changed) Other: 1-1.5years of internship/work experience, primarily during summers (the rest part time during school). These experiences cross a wide range of fields -- IT, Web Development, Game Testing/Development, Teaching programming at a technical summer camp (and soon I will be teaching a GRE prep class). Also, was a teaching assistant for a upper-division probability & statistics course. I haven't decided whether or not I ultimately wish to pursue a PhD.. so I hope to do some research either next term or during the summer to gain some insight as to whether or not a PhD matches my interests. Lastly, any advice regarding graduate study in computer science would be appreciated.