Masters in Operations Research at Ga Tech

[DennisthePrincess]

Hey guys, I plan to apply to the Masters OR program at Gatech and I'm wondering if you guys can give me some advice/what are my chances of getting in?
GPA: 3.7

GRE: 158Q 158V out of 170

Co-op experience at Delta Air Lines and ~1 year of research experience.

What are some other programs that I should apply to? Particularly the ones with financial aid. What are some other general advice that you have?

[ace589]

Financial aid is unlikely for masters.  You should apply to PhD programs or the trick to funding masters is to find an employer that offers tuition reimbursement and take part time courses.  Generally this is the cheaper route anyhow.  I would not recommend full time study and full time employment as you will burn out. If not right away, you will towards the end. Also, you will get better grades when you have less to focus on.

Last I checked GA Tech was #1 rank for undergraduate IE so it will be difficult to get in. They do have an online program that is likely much easier to get into.  From what I've read the online program has high enrollment and they are capitalizing on the scalability.

 If your goal is a Phd down the road then you should also do a thesis.  

My last bit of advice, OR specific, for math based courses you will want to do problems 3 times over  to make sure you get the right answer.  For the writing based courses you will want to give yourself lots of time to write and review.  The literary reviews are comparatively easy, but open ended questions from professors are the worst.  Many students including myself struggled with answering open ended questions.  i.e. some professors expect 1 page answers that we have been trained to answer, and until now, answered with 1 paragraph or even 1 line answers.

Best of luck!

[DennisthePrincess]

I'm replying late but thank you for your response!