MCS in UIUC

[kalai_nalla]

Hi All,

I graduated in 2010 with GPA in CS courses around 3.8 and planning to apply for fall 2012. I have 1 and half years of Work experience in MNC as Web developer. I am looking forward to specialize in SE. What drove me to UIUC is the research on user interaction and animation which aligns with my career goal to specialize in web development or any application development for end users. I am interested in MCS program. I understand getting into UIUC is extremely competitve. Can someone please help me how I should prepare myself for applying to this program in UIUC ?

Thanks !

[Amogh]

Hey,

You seem to be terribly confused! Do you want to specialize in SE, UI or Animation? You seem to want to do everything.

Cheers

[zep]

I think the MCS in CS is a useful program, but only if it corresponds with what you're looking for. You mentioned that you're compelled by "research on user interaction and animation." However, while UIUC's CS program is very good overall, HCI and animation are at the outer fringes of the department. Furthermore, if you care about research, it might be wise to target research-oriented masters or PhD programs instead of a professional masters.

It's worth noting that the MCS is the only UIUC CS grad program in which most students aren't funded. The overwhelming majority of UIUC CS MS and PhD students have RA/TA positions.

If you're not interested in research and just want to be a web developer, why bother with a masters? I guess you might get a nominally higher salary as a developer with a masters. If you're lucky, they'll you a "head code monkey" t-shirt, too.

Hi All,

I graduated in 2010 with GPA in CS courses around 3.8 and planning to apply for fall 2012. I have 1 and half years of Work experience in MNC as Web developer. I am looking forward to specialize in SE. What drove me to UIUC is the research on user interaction and animation which aligns with my career goal to specialize in web development or any application development for end users. I am interested in MCS program. I understand getting into UIUC is extremely competitve. Can someone please help me how I should prepare myself for applying to this program in UIUC ?

Thanks !

[Amogh]

head code monkey. love it

[kalai_nalla]

Thanks Zep ! That helped a lot . I did not know that the program is not funded. Well I do agree that I am not interested in research but I see myself as a Technical lead in my professional career. I failed miserably in my first project in identifying the correct process model suitable for the project and early engg problems. That is the reason I started thinking about Masters and specialize in Software Engineering. I did some investigation on research that is going on in SE in UIUC. I believe MS in CS with my thesis in SE will align with my career goals. Apart from all this I wonder if I have a chance there in UIUC . Following is my profile

9.43/10 - CGPA in 2010 from PSG Tech

GRE 1270 (770 Q + 500 V, 3.5 AWA).

95 % in 10th

96% in 12th board exams

Work Exp :

-----------

1 and half years in application development in MNC

Internship in application development in MNC

Other activities :

---------------

No papers but participated in SE and programming contests in Inter college and secured prizes.

Appreciate your help a lot !

[weninger]

I am a PhD student at UIUC, and while you're correct that admission is competitive for PhD/MS, its not so bad for MCS.

MCS is also not funded at UIUC, probably not funded anywhere. If you like research topics why not consider MS/PhD?

[kalai_nalla]

Hi Weninger,

I would love to do MS in UIUC. Do I have a chance for my profile that is all am thinking about ! I will probably not spend much time in finding info abt MS in UIUC if I am not qualified.

[weninger]

Its tough to say because at UIUC MS/PhDs are evaluated together, and as you can expect, we are highly selective.

We try take to take the top few students from each country. For example, in the last four years my research area (5 profs) have admitted one student from IIT bombay who had a paper in a top conference.

I can't say for sure without seeing your full application... but I will say that its tough even for the top students at IIT etc.

[uclacolumbia]

FOr a professional masters program like MCS, it's not necessary to have research experience. As long as you have good grades and good test scores from renowned institution, you should be in a good shape.