Another "review my chances" thread

[rev316]

I'll make this as concise as possible-

Prep'n now, taking the GRE's in early Nov (should be enough time?).

Field: collaborative software / HCI / software engineering / web-related

UG University: UWEC (1st tier)

UG Dept: CS (comprehensive major)

GPA: 3.29

Type: I'm a domestic student

Academic Experience: two research projects (no publications-pretty much did it for fun)

Profesional Experience: 2 internships.

-One was non-research (but I was placed with my own project).

-The other was a "research" position with a top 5 CS company (near MiT)

GPA isn't hot, but I'm really hoping my LOR pull through. I really love doing research (wish I figured this out a bit earlier). Problem is, I'm not sure how far this'll take me. I tend to be an over-reacher (if that makes any sense).

So my question is, what types of schools will admit me for a 1) PhD and/or 2) M.S. student. The whole grad school thing sprouted on me awfully fast. I kinda looking for a pick-me-up (well, an honest one). My apologizes for the long list, but they're my target schools at the moment.

-MIT

-CMU

-UIUC

-UCSB

-USC

-UCSD

-UCLA

-UCI

-UCD

-GeorgiaTech

-Purdue

-UF

-SUNY

-UT-Austin

-Boston U

-UArizona

-UMassa-Amherst

-Cornell University

[thisAintNoGame]

SUNY isn't a school; it stands for State University of New York. There are many schools in the SUNY system and they all are completely independent (except for the fact that they all receive NY state funding).

A big factor that you did not list is the quality of letters of recommendations that you are going to get. Do they say good thing about you (like you could be a successful researcher)? Are they written by someone who is well known? Also, are you going to write your statement well? Will you statement show that you have done research into the schools that you are applying to and have an idea of what advisor you would like to work with? These things are all extremely important.

I can't really comment as to how good your chances are, but keep in mind those are all top universities that many people (who all have above a 3.3) will be applying to. You need to convince them that you can be a better researcher than the other applicants.

Good luck (by the way, my advice applies mainly for PhD).

[joro]

Your stats look a lot better than mine. From your list, I was accepted into USC and UCI last year for a MS. I think you should get in there no problem, good luck.

Thought I'd add some of my stats:

School: unranked (possibly 3rd tier?)

Major: CS + minor in Math

Type: California Resident

GPA: 3.11

Research: no publications

Professional Experience: 2 internships

-IBM (Software Engineer Intern) 11/07 - 5/08

-Stanford University (Research Assistant) 6/08 - 6/09

[rev316]

Pardon the delay,

thisAintNoGame -

I meant SUNY-SB* (heh, my bad!)

My LOR are (in order of importance):

1) Professional Researcher (@ my recent internship, he's probably my strongest recomm, given his history), Mentor

2) Academic Professor (who I've done research with, 2-projects now), Mentor

3) Dept Chair Professor

I'm scared piss-less that the GRE's will instantly remove me from candidacy. How bad can a GRE score get?

joro - Wow! Finally, somebody with a similar profile. Thanks a lot for the post! I'm definitely going to look at Irvine now.

Thanks,

[joro]

Pardon the delay,

thisAintNoGame -

I meant SUNY-SB* (heh, my bad!)

My LOR are (in order of importance):

1) Professional Researcher (@ my recent internship, he's probably my strongest recomm, given his history), Mentor

2) Academic Professor (who I've done research with, 2-projects now), Mentor

3) Dept Chair Professor

I'm scared piss-less that the GRE's will instantly remove me from candidacy. How bad can a GRE score get?

joro - Wow! Finally, somebody with a similar profile. Thanks a lot for the post! I'm definitely going to look at Irvine now.

Thanks,

I'd say your profile is a lot better than mine. Good luck on your GRE. Have you finished your SOP?

Edited October 31, 2009 by joro

[rev316]

I'd say your profile is a lot better than mine. Good luck on your GRE. Have you finished your SOP?

I have not. I'm finishing up my round of emails for potential advisors, that should be next.