Application profile for US top 20 Universities

[neo123]

Hi all,

I am interested in doing MS (or Phd) in CS. I have been working with IBM Software labs from 2008. So total experience is 2 years till today.

I have done my B.Tech from IIT-Roorkee with a CGPA of 6.6/10 in 2008. My branch was Electronics and Communication. My college projects including final year projects

were more of CS.

I have a GRE score of verbal: 380 Quant: 790 (1170 total).

What do you guys think? do i have a change to get admission in US top 20?

In case not.

I am planning to give GRE again. how much difference will it make if i get a score of 1300-1400 and 1400-1500 range?

Do you guys think taking one more year of experience will add to my profile or is it the right time to apply?

why i have written both MS and Phd? Answer is in case i get a University from US top 10 i will do Phd. In case i get University from US top 10 to US top 20. i will do MS and after MS i will apply for Phd in US top 10 after working on my profile and completing MS. Please put your expert comments and views. Thanks

[newms]

Hi all,

I am interested in doing MS (or Phd) in CS. I have been working with IBM Software labs from 2008. So total experience is 2 years till today.

I have done my B.Tech from IIT-Roorkee with a CGPA of 6.6/10 in 2008. My branch was Electronics and Communication. My college projects including final year projects

were more of CS.

I have a GRE score of verbal: 380 Quant: 790 (1170 total).

What do you guys think? do i have a change to get admission in US top 20?

In case not.

I am planning to give GRE again. how much difference will it make if i get a score of 1300-1400 and 1400-1500 range?

Do you guys think taking one more year of experience will add to my profile or is it the right time to apply?

why i have written both MS and Phd? Answer is in case i get a University from US top 10 i will do Phd. In case i get University from US top 10 to US top 20. i will do MS and after MS i will apply for Phd in US top 10 after working on my profile and completing MS. Please put your expert comments and views. Thanks

It's hard to say what your prospects are from this bio because the most important things that admissions committees consider are research experience, your letters of recommendation and then your GPA/GRE. You didn't state that you have research experience, or how strong your letters of recommendation will be, so I don't know your chances at top 20 schools. Research experience is very important for top 10 schools, probably essential. Have you been doing research at IBM labs? If so, that will boost your application a lot. Your GRE total score is a bit low, so it would help if you could boost it to at least 1300. Keep in mind that the verbal score is not so important for CS, but they will look at it since you're an international student (I think).

If you don't have research experience and can get that in another year, then doing so will greatly improve your chances at a top 10 and top 20 school.

[neo123]

It's hard to say what your prospects are from this bio because the most important things that admissions committees consider are research experience, your letters of recommendation and then your GPA/GRE. You didn't state that you have research experience, or how strong your letters of recommendation will be, so I don't know your chances at top 20 schools. Research experience is very important for top 10 schools, probably essential. Have you been doing research at IBM labs? If so, that will boost your application a lot. Your GRE total score is a bit low, so it would help if you could boost it to at least 1300. Keep in mind that the verbal score is not so important for CS, but they will look at it since you're an international student (I think).

If you don't have research experience and can get that in another year, then doing so will greatly improve your chances at a top 10 and top 20 school.

thanks for your reply. I have strong recommendation letters form my college and from the company i worked in. I don't do exactly research at IBM but i have worked on some of the latest technology like IBM cloud. I have done some of the good projects in my college. Those were innovative but i don't know i can say it was research. Apart from IBM i have worked on image text retrievel and i am selling that as a product also. I was thinking i will apply this year anyway. I am planing to give GRE again on oct 16.

[newms]

All the best with your application. Your strong recommendation letters will help you a lot. I would also encourage you to apply to a few schools outside the top 20, say top 50, just because getting into a top 10 or top 20 school is so hard. Top 10 schools admit about 5%-10% of applicants and top 20 schools admit somewhere around 15%, so applying to a couple schools that do good research in your area, in the top 50 range, will greatly improve your chances of getting in.