Profile Evaluation for Fall 2016 MS

[LostMyDucK]

Applying for a M.S. (and possibly a PhD). How do I fare for top master programs, i'm worried about my GRE score and that my undergrad institution is a state school.

My Letters of Recommendation includes both Advisers from my two REU experiences (UNT and GSU) and the Chair of Computer Science from my University so i'm confident my LoRs will be strong since all those writing my LoRs have shown high satisfaction in me and my SoP has been reviewed by them all as well so i'm sure those are strong points.

Quant: 160 (I'm hoping this will be offset by my mathematics major and competence with higher level math; i'm not a very good standarized test taker  )

Verbal: 155  

AWA: 4.5

 

Another strong point which I think is unique on top of my research experience is "  Mathematics Professor Selection Committee: Selected as the only student to work with faculty from the mathematics department to fill the vacant mathematics position. Responsibilities include reading applications, attending committee meetings, telephone interviews, and attending campus interviews."

Here's my profile:

 

Education

·         Bachelor of Science in Computer Science expected May 2016

·         Double Major: Computer Science GPA: 3.86; Mathematics GPA: 3.56; Cumulative GPA: 3.76.

·         Enrolled in Honors Program

 

Experience

 

·         Researched electroencephalogram (EEG) waves at University of North Texas (REU) during summer of 2015

o    Assisted in developing an approach to distinguish between normal activities and malicious activates for the purpose of insider threat detection.

·         Researched Deep Learning at Georgia State University (REU) during summer of 2014

o    Developed an algorithm to categorize documents into a fixed number of predefined categories using Word2vec.

·         Tutoring Mathematics & Computer Science: 2012-2016

·         Computer Science Lab Assistant: 2013-2016

 

Skills

 

·         Operating Systems: Windows, Unix

·         Languages: C++, Visual C++, MySQL, Java, AWK, SED, Python, GREP. C#

·         Soft Skills: Selected for two REU research opportunities which have only an 8% acceptance rate (competitive). President or leadership roles in multiple organizations (confidence, leadership, adaptability & conflict resolution). Participated in programming, sports, and research teams (cooperative, communication, assertive & teamwork). Selected to work with the mathematic departments search committee (collaboration, attentive & critical observer).

 

Accomplishments

Publication

·         Conference publication as first author: Lilleberg, J.; Yun Zhu; Yanqing Zhang, "Support vector machines and Word2vec for text classification with semantic features," in Cognitive Informatics & Cognitive Computing (ICCI*CC), 2015 IEEE 14th International Conference on , vol., no., pp.136-140, 6-8 July 2015
DOI: 10.1109/ICCI-CC.2015.7259377

Honors and Awards

·         Mathematics Professor Selection Committee: Selected as the only student to work with faculty from the mathematics department to fill the vacant mathematics position. Responsibilities include reading applications, attending committee meetings, telephone interviews, and attending campus interviews.

·         Math & Computer Science Club: Elected as Vice President 2013. Elected as President 2014 & 2015.

·         ACM-International Collegiate Programing Contest: Honorable mention in 2013, 2014, and 2015

·         National Honor Society of Leadership and Success: Promoted to Presidential status in 2013

·         Dean’s List: Achieved Dean’s List award ten times. 

·         League of Legends Club: Founded the League of Legends Club in the fall semester in 2014.

·         Chess Club: Elected as Officer in 2012

·         University Newspaper Spotlight: Interviewed for founding the new League of Legends Club.

 

 

Scholarships

·         Schwan’s Scholarship: annual renewal; 4 year recipient: 2012-2016; academic excellence

·         Schwan’s Computer Science Scholarship: non-renewal; 1 year recipient: 2014-2015; academic excellence

·         Science, Math & Computer Science Scholarship: annual renewal; 3 year recipient: 2013-2016; academic excellence

·         Dean’s Award Scholarship: maintain GPA requirements; 4 year recipient: 2012-2016; academic excellence

·         College Now Scholarship: maintain GPA requirements; 4 year recipient: 2012-2016; academic excellence

·         Ann C Peters Scholarship Endowment: annual renewal up to 2 years; 2 year recipient: 2014-2016; academic excellence and active participation in organizations

·         Lillian Mellenthin Scholarship Endowment: non-renewal; 1 year recipient: 2015-2016; academic excellence and leadership

Activities and Interests

·         Math and Computer Science Club: Member 2012-Present | Vice President 2013-2014 | President 2014 – 2016

·         National Honor Society of Leadership and Success: Member 2012-Present | Presidential member 2013-2016

·         League of Legends Club: President 2014 – 2016

·         Honors Club Member: 2012-2016

·         Chess Club: Officer 2012-2016

 

Schools that I have applied to thus far

1. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
2.     University of Southern California
3.    University of California, Santa Barbara 
4.    Columbia University 
5.    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 
6.    University of California, Riverside
7.    University of California, Irvine 
8.    University of Pennsylvania (I have expressed interest in my SoP in a professor who's research interests directly correlates to my publication which I was first author)
9.    University of California, San Diego

 

Thank you!