Non-CS Background What are the Chances?

[nabusman]

I am an entrepreneur and have been involved in various successful IT-based businesses (mostly e-commerce, but also black-box trading).

My work experience include two Fortune 100 finance companies (total 2 years).

My academics are not very solid. I have a BBA in Finance and an MBA in Finance (minor Systems) but the universities I attended are in random, remote corners of the world, and my grades were never very high since I was always starting/running a business or two on the side.

I am an American Citizen (if that makes a difference), though I've spent half of my life in foreign countries.

On the whole I would be an applicant way out in left field, I know that.

Essentially, my question is simple: do off-the-wall applicants like me have a bat's chance in hell of getting into the top 4 CS programs? If so, which programs would be the most "open-minded"?

[starmaker]

Stanford will probably like the whole entrepreneurship thing, but they will still probably want you to have significant CS background. So will most other programs, including programs well out of the top 4 (why are you only looking at the top 4?). You might want to take a couple of classes as a non-degree student.

[anacron]

Unfortunatly, I think your chances at a Top 4 are small given your non-technical background. Keep in mind that very strong CS undergrads get turned away every year due to the competition.

I second starmaker's question, why are you chasing the Top 4? If you plan on pursuing only an MS in CS then there really is no need to study exclusively at Top 4. Sure - having that label is going to give you more opportunities/interviews but you still have to convince people to hire you. Your employability will not decrease if you steer outside of the top 4 and given your entrepreneurial/business background I'm sure you can network well enough and open doors without it.

[sandipan_b2002]

I am also a NON CS background, i did my undergrad from India in mechanical engineering, i have 4.5 yrs work experience in software testing, working for two different MNC's. I dont have research experience or any papers published

I am not aiming for top4... It will be really helpful though if someone can give me some names of universities where i have a good chance of getting funding and which will also be a safe category univ for me....

[nabusman]

@anacron

@starmaker

Thanks for your responses. You guys are right in that there really isn't any reason for me to target the top 4, after all the second I get a chance I will be off doing a business where it doesn't really matter where you got your degree from (or got your degree at all). I guess its more of a curiosity thing: I have always wondered what life is like at the top schools.

In reality, I was only thinking about Stanford because I want to go into more depth in computer science from a entrepreneurial angle, which of course Stanford is famous for.

Anyway, from what I've read is that if someone has a peer-review paper published they are pretty much a shoo-in. I'm pretty sure I can make that happen by doing the grunt work on a paper or two and getting my name in at the end of the list of authors. Do you think that would help?

Thanks,

Nabs

[anacron]

Anyway, from what I've read is that if someone has a peer-review paper published they are pretty much a shoo-in. I'm pretty sure I can make that happen by doing the grunt work on a paper or two and getting my name in at the end of the list of authors. Do you think that would help?

Absolutely; research experience, and by extension, publications are a great way of convincing ad. comms that you are a strong candidate. Your entrepreneurial background would definitely help at Stanford. The caveat is that you still need experience in CS either by doing courses or by doing well on the CS GRE. Do these, and you will be very competitive - assuming you can get great LORs.

Are you applying for a PhD or a Master in CS? If you go for the MS then you may have difficulty getting in because you already hold a masters degree. Of course, this depends on how they view the MBA.

[Amogh]

@nabusman

You could try studying for the CS gre and do well on it. That will help you show admissions that you can do well in CS. They may give you a conditional admit. But your MBA presents a major roadblock. Most every university has a policy of not admitting some1 with a masters degree.

[finknottle]

MBA is a different thing altogether, and explaining why you want to do a Master's in Science after an MBA might be difficult. However, I don't think universities would have a problem in admitting students who have a Master's as long as it is not the same or a closely related program that they hold a Master's in. One valid reason off the top of my head for doing a second Master's would be to gain more experience for working in an interdisciplinary domain. In any case, it is something that will be evaluated on a case by case basis and a lot would depend on the SOP.