Evaluate my profile for MS in CS for fall 2011

[Go_Girl]

Hello everyone!

I would be very thankful if my profile would be evaluated for the following universities

Carnegie Mellon

Texas A&M college station

Georgia Institute of Technology

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Santa Barbara

North Carolina State University

Arizona State University

SUNY, Buffalo

University of Florida, Gainsville

University of South California.

Univ of Minnesota twin cities

Michigan State Univ

Ohio State Univ

[Bukharan]

Probably more details are required. Publications, referees, research experience?

Your GRE score is very good - definitely good enough for the schools you are applying to (and indeed any schools).

Your undergraduate grade point average - it really depends on which school you went to, what you studied there, what grades you got in the last two years - I don't think anyone comment on that.

[Go_Girl]

Thanks Bukhran for the prompt reply

In my UG, I stand 12th in a class of 70 odd.Probably my GPA on a scale of 4 would be 3.2. I study under Vishveswariah technological University here in Bangalore. Of course I don't have much of experience but I will be doing a couple of projects in the coming semester. These projects will be relevent to my field of networks in MS (Networks)

Edited November 5, 2010 by Go_Girl

[Go_Girl]

I would also like to add that I am very active in extra curricular activities. Have been editor of my college magazine and am part of organizing technical fest. ( Am not sure if these are of any importance at all)

[newms]

Are you applying for a research degree or a terminal degree? If it's a research based degree and you ultimately want a PhD a lot of unis in the US encourage you to apply directly to the PhD, so you may want to consider that. If its a research based degree you want, the most important thing the admissions committees look at is your research experience and your research potential. Carnegie Melon is a top 3 school (rated higher than MIT in some areas) so it will be very difficult to get into even for the very best applicants. It is still worth the shot to apply as you will never know if you could get in unless you apply. Georgia Institute of Technology is another top school but it isn't as exclusive as CMU, so you would have a better shot here. For the other schools you would have a decent shot I think, but it depends a lot on the strength of your SoP and your recommendation letters and your research experience/interests.

[Go_Girl]

Actually I'm looking forward to do my Masters first, I am not very sure if I want to do PhD. So I would keep my goal as MS as of now. And ya I would like to know what is the kind of essay is likely to be impressive.

Would it be an essay where I explain my academics

or

Would it be something which demonstrates my over all personality as a good person.

How much would an extra curricular activity matter? Is it worth a mention?

i will be doing 2 projects in next semester.. will that add on?

What is the kind of profile one has to reflect in the SOP so that a positive feeling can be created?

Similarly when would one call a recommendation letter strong?

[newms]

Your extra curricular activities (unless they are directly related to your field, such as maybe volunteering at a conference) have little to no impact on your application. Your essay should focus on your goals - i.e. what it is you want to do? Possibly you could describe a project or two that you would want to work on or research for your Masters. The essay really shouldn't focus on your academics since the admissions committee can see your performance in school by looking at your transcripts.

[Go_Girl]

Oh. OK. Anyways I have a single line telling them that I have not just confined to my books all the time but have been a part of extra curricular. Have mentioned that I was chief editor of college magazine do demonstrate my leadership skills Hope that will add some positiveness..

But now I am really getting the direction to rewrite my SOP.

One more thing is, can I use the stuff written on the college website to justify why exactly a particular univ.

They would have listed our univ aims at blah blah blah.

So can i use this info and support my statement of purpose by explaining how it compliments my goals? Because I heard, using those sentences from the college site might be termed upon as copy-paste. But anyway would like to know more about it.

By the way, the CMU site mentions that for its INI program(the one i am aiming) does not need any work experience before hand. So may be my chances a teeny bit higher?

Can anyone just give a little insight about this program?