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I think the 123 accepted applications excludes those from the coterminal program My reasoning is that I've heard they take about 200 Master's students per year - confirmed by a friend who completed his MS there.

I have a fairly beefy desktop computer which I bought a year ago. I've done the sums and it doesn't seem cost effective simply to sell it and replace it (it's old enough now where the difference between a new computer and its resale value is greater than the cost of shipping it). I'm going to dismantle it into the component parts - leaving the case, power supply and my monitors behind. I was wondering if anyone has any tips to avoid having to pay import duty. I know when shipping stuff into the UK that you can avoid paying import duty if it is unaccompanied baggage of your personal effects (http://www.ukimports.org/uk_customs_procedures_personal_effects_belongings_form_c3.html). Does anyone know if there is a similar exemption in the US? Thanks for your help!

Why not retake the GRE test?

Stanford states on their FAQ that a strong application would have scores in the 90th percentile - http://cs.stanford.edu/content/faqs/#c6 That said, I had a friend who applied a few years back with scores similar to yours and made it in. It may have been less competitive then however. I personally think you should be fine - assuming all other parts of your application are strong.

Yep - it's whatever piece of paper you get on completion of the program - but you won't get that until you graduate. Usually in addition to your transcript.

All submitted - but they're all waiting for a LOR from one of my letter writers. The deadlines vary from mid December all the way through to late February but I thought it was best to be early. Since it is now effectively out of my control - I'm left to wait anxiously for decisions to start coming through (earliest will be end of December, the modal decision date is early to mid March and the latest will be in April). I open every new email with much trepidation! Since preparing and submitting applications is pretty much all I've been doing for the last three months, I do feel like I'm a bit at a loss for what to do in my free time!

This is what I've been told by the head of graduate admissions at one university - mention it briefly in your statement of purpose but in a positive tone. You don't want to sound as if you are making excuses. You can also ask one of your letter writers to mention any reasons which may have affected your grades (again in a positive light).

1. Getting something published is, I've read, an easy way to boost your profile significantly. See if you can get involved in a research project with one of your professors - ideally relevant to your intended specialism at Master's. Even if nothing comes out of it, it will hopefully be a good project to mention on your SOP (and if you do well, you might get a better letter out of it). 2. I don't know if they are easier to get into but on a pure numbers basis, they seem less competitive. 3. Relevant work experience will help.

I have a friend who was admitted. It's incredibly competitive (especially the last couple of years) and your application needs to be very strong to get in. GREs in the 90th percentiles, a very high GPA and strong letters of recommendation. This paper explains the US application process in more depth and was written by a student who was part of the Stanford admissions committee, so it might give you an idea of what they're looking for (even though it's supposedly aimed 'generally') - http://actr.nsk.ru/eic/info/Karthik.pdf

There are several Master's courses for people without a CS undergraduate degree, you might want to contact them and find out exactly what pre-requisite couses might be required. E.g. http://www.cc.gatech.edu/future/masters/mscs http://www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/mcit/index.shtml http://www.csd.cs.cmu.edu/education/master/index.html

Most of what I've read indicates that they will look at your highest score in each section. Worth checking though if you are worried or there is a big change in your scores.

No, the sooner the better! They'll have more time to assess your application. As long as you don't rush it, it can't hurt to submit early IMO.

Are you sure about this? Many universities view 3 year degrees from certain countries as equivalent to 4 year undergraduate degrees from the US. It's worth checking with the department first. I know that my 3 year degree in computer science from the UK is considered equivalent to a 4 year degree in computer science in the US.

2 pages single spaced. Depends on the font, font size and line spacing you use. I have about a thousand words too - this is close to 1 page when I use single line spacing and fits nicely under 2 pages when I use 1.3x spacing.

Incidentally, just read this article from the Economist:

I don't know the specifics but many of my international student friends who graduated with me were unable to find anyone to sponsor their visa after graduation and had to return home. Those who did generally ended up working for big corporations - investment banks, accountancy firms, law firms etc. I wouldn't bank on being able to find a job here which will sponsor your visa after you graduate with much ease - unless you're happy to go work for a large corporate. It's real problem here and a tragic fail of the government immigration policy (IMHO).

Yeah, but if they're not going to write you a letter, what's the harm in bothering them briefly to find out? It's better for your own sake that you find out sooner rather than later.

Three e-mails to different professors I hope? Follow up the e-mail with a phone call if you know there's a time when they are likely to pick up.

The latter sounds more plausible - the shorter, the better!

Yes - I did reasonably well the first time (780/590/5.0) I took the GRE in 2010 after just four weeks of light study after work and on weekends. Earlier this year I retook the GRE and spent four - five weeks intensely studying (in the my evenings and weekends) and did better - 165/165/5.5. The key differences the second time, aside from the increased intensity, were using better books and starting to learn vocabulary much earlier in the process. (I also used a vocabulary app called Painless GRE to brush up on lists while commuting to work.) The three books I would recommend (I bought more but actually used these three) are: GRE Math Prep Course (Nova's GRE Prep Course) Essential Words for the GRE (Barron's Essential Words for the GRE) The Official Guide to the GRE revised General Test (GRE: The Official Guide to the General Test) [Paperback] Hope this helps!

Perhaps ask the department you're applying to whether they put much weight on the analytical writing section?

Is there no word count or character limit? My statements of purpose are either 1 page single spaced or 2 pages double spaced - which I'm told (and have read) is an optimal size.

I haven't done research in any of these areas but perhaps I can help with your initial question. What I did on my statement was to state interest in the field/fields that I'm interested in. If it's possible to take courses aligned with each of the various fields and still meet the degree requirements then there is no harm in listing that you are interested in, say, theoretical CS and machine learning. I've been told that it is good to say what mention have an interest in though and the more closely you can tie it to each individual school's curriculum in your essay, the better it reflects on the amount of research you've done about the program. If you do mention just one subfield, it's worth not stating it in absolute terms, i.e. "I'm only interested in xxx", it's better to say something like 'I'm particularly interested in xxx". Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the process could confirm/deny this.

It's not needed! Try to avoid giving them unnecessary information - as it is, there's a lot to take on.

Just go see him. Professors are much less scary than you think! Go visit his office, ask him if he has a minute and say what you need to.