Masters in CS, Fall '13: Profile Eval

[ab2013]

I'm planning on applying to a few Top 20/25 Comp Sci Masters grad programs and I'm wondering if my goals are reasonable given my stats. I am looking for a terminal MS program; I do not plan on getting a PhD.

-3.65 overall GPA, major GPA around a 3.3 (a bit weak)

-800 (166) GRE-M, 640 (161) GRE-V (old scale), 4 GRE-W

-Did research 1st (robotics) and 3rd (security) year, but no published papers

-Currently involved in a couple of honor societies at school and also Solar Car, orchestra, and worked for pay in housing/dining services at some point in undergrad (this doesn't matter at all but I just wanted to throw it in)

-Two summer internships in the field in 2nd and 3rd year, both at Fortune 500 companies and the last one at a top tech firm in Seattle, where I have return job offer (convertible to an internship) waiting for next summer

I understand that my GPA, particularly my major GPA, is a bit low - however, because I came in with lots of advanced (AP) credits, I took quite a few upper-level math (e.g. linear and abstract algebra) and econ courses, but I am not getting concentrations in those, and have taken many courses in my own concentration.

Here are a few schools I am looking into:

UMich Ann Arbor, my undergrad school (most preferred because of location and program/curriculum continuity, and I think I can get pretty good recommendations from the professors I've done research with)

and in no particular order:

UMD- College Park

Purdue

UMass Amherst

U Wisconsin-Madison

Caltech, Princeton (both reaches)

I am interested in specializing in computer security or databases/distributed computing, which my project at my last internship covered. I must admit that I'm not sure how strong the schools I have in my list are in these areas, so I am open to any suggestions that people give me!

Location-wise, I would prefer to remain fairly close to home in Southeastern Michigan (earlier this summer my dad was diagnosed with cancer), meaning several hours of driving or couple hours at most by air. As stated above, UMich is my dream grad school.

I have not spent any time talking to professors at other schools yet.

Do I have a reasonable chance at the schools I'm looking into?

Thanks alot!

[victor.s.andrei]

I'm planning on applying to a few Top 20/25 Comp Sci Masters grad programs and I'm wondering if my goals are reasonable given my stats. I am looking for a terminal MS program; I do not plan on getting a PhD.

-3.65 overall GPA, major GPA around a 3.3 (a bit weak)

-800 (166) GRE-M, 640 (161) GRE-V (old scale), 4 GRE-W

-Did research 1st (robotics) and 3rd (security) year, but no published papers

-Currently involved in a couple of honor societies at school and also Solar Car, orchestra, and worked for pay in housing/dining services at some point in undergrad (this doesn't matter at all but I just wanted to throw it in)

-Two summer internships in the field in 2nd and 3rd year, both at Fortune 500 companies and the last one at a top tech firm in Seattle, where I have return job offer (convertible to an internship) waiting for next summer

I understand that my GPA, particularly my major GPA, is a bit low - however, because I came in with lots of advanced (AP) credits, I took quite a few upper-level math (e.g. linear and abstract algebra) and econ courses, but I am not getting concentrations in those, and have taken many courses in my own concentration.

Here are a few schools I am looking into:

UMich Ann Arbor, my undergrad school (most preferred because of location and program/curriculum continuity, and I think I can get pretty good recommendations from the professors I've done research with)

and in no particular order:

UMD- College Park

Purdue

UMass Amherst

U Wisconsin-Madison

Caltech, Princeton (both reaches)

I am interested in specializing in computer security or databases/distributed computing, which my project at my last internship covered. I must admit that I'm not sure how strong the schools I have in my list are in these areas, so I am open to any suggestions that people give me!

Location-wise, I would prefer to remain fairly close to home in Southeastern Michigan (earlier this summer my dad was diagnosed with cancer), meaning several hours of driving or couple hours at most by air. As stated above, UMich is my dream grad school.

I have not spent any time talking to professors at other schools yet.

Do I have a reasonable chance at the schools I'm looking into?

Thanks alot!

Your GPA is fine, especially since you went to Michigan. You did major in computer science, right?

Know that if you go for a terminal master's degree, your chances of funding are next to zero, so I would strongly recommend staying at Michigan, since I'd bet that you already have in state status there or take that job in Seattle and figure out how to get your new employer to pay (tuition reimbursement) for your M.S. from the University of Washington, which is also a top-notch graduate school. I do hope you have a special project that you're involved in at Michigan, and you might not get the extra reputational boost from getting a degree at a different school.

As for your choices, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Princeton have good reputations, but I would vote for the University of Maryland at College Park. There are several major computer security companies located in very close proximity (Sourcefire in Columbia and OPNET in Bethesda), and if you want to do research of any sort, the market here is very good - in other words, there are employers (NSA at Fort Meade, MITRE in Tyson's Corner, DARPA, etc.) that offer the chance at stellar research opportunities in your areas of interest.

Edited September 6, 2012 by victor.s.andrei

[ab2013]

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You did major in computer science, right?

Yes. My impression was that the major GPA is a bit low, based on what I understood in my conversations with my undergrad advisor.

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I do hope you have a special project that you're involved in at Michigan,

I do research. I think I'll be going back this year.

Quote

University of Wisconsin at Madison and Princeton have good reputations

My impression is that these, including Caltech and UWashington, are reach schools for me. What would be good safeties with my profile? (I would love to go back to UMich, admittedly) The choices are overwhelming, and there is only so much time I can spend filling out applications, and not everyone in undergrad does apply to grad school.

I am taking the GRE Subject Test in CS in October, if that helps.

Quote

There are several major computer security companies located in very close proximity (Sourcefire in Columbia and OPNET in Bethesda), and if you want to do research of any sort, the market here is very good - in other words, there are employers (NSA at Fort Meade, MITRE in Tyson's Corner, DARPA, etc.) that offer the chance at stellar research opportunities in your areas of interest.

I have a return offer with a firm in Seattle (Amazon). I don't think that they pay for grad school, but they are supportive of me wanting to go to one.

Thank you so much for your help!

[victor.s.andrei]

On 9/6/2012 at 7:24 PM, ab2013 said:

My impression was that the major GPA is a bit low

For a direct Ph.D. program, yes. For a terminal master's degree, no.

On 9/6/2012 at 7:24 PM, ab2013 said:

I do research. I think I'll be going back this year.

Piece of advice: if you like research but only want a master's degree, do an M.S. (not one of the M.E. or M.S.C.S. degrees) with an actual thesis.

On 9/6/2012 at 7:24 PM, ab2013 said:

My impression is that these, including Caltech and UWashington, are reach schools for me.

Go work for Amazon and do some fun things. Take a couple classes at UW as a non-degree student. Then, apply.

My understanding is that Amazon has a tuition reimbursement program of $2,000 per year after three years. Kinda sucks, actually. Then again, working for a company like Amazon will do wonders for your resume (or CV) in this field.

On 9/6/2012 at 7:24 PM, ab2013 said:

I am taking the GRE Subject Test in CS in October, if that helps.

The GRE subject test in Computer Science is a mixed bag. Professors at my undergraduate school (UVa.) told us that most folks don't do so well. It's a challenging test due to the breadth of material covered, and the pickings are very slim when it comes to study material, unless you really want to review all of your undergraduate textbooks.

You will get better bang for the buck in taking and doing well in graduate classes as a non-degree student at your target school.

Or, go back to Michigan. You have a home court advantage there as a current student. If you choose that route, one of my classmates from a graduate algorithms class that I took two years ago at Mason is there now - say "hey!" to her for me, please and thank you.

[ab2013]

For a direct Ph.D. program, yes. For a terminal master's degree, no.

I spoke to 2 profs at my school. One said I had a 90% of chance of getting into UMich. The other said that UMich was a slight reach... Will be talking to a few other profs, but I'm starting to worry, because both were talking about the terminal MS program here. The second prof cited the surge in extremely competitive international students applying as a reason.

Go work for Amazon and do some fun things. Take a couple classes at UW as a non-degree student. Then, apply.

I want to do grad school while I'm still in student mode. I did not hear about a tuition reimbursement program at Amazon while I was there. The only well-publicized one was one for the warehouse workers for career transitions. (Amazon after all did buy Kiva Robotics)

one of my classmates from a graduate algorithms class that I took two years ago at Mason is there now - say "hey!" to her for me, please and thank you.

Haha ... will try! Don't know too many students in theory though.... (also not a strong point for me... those were among my weakest classes in CS)

Edited September 18, 2012 by ab2013