[Profile evaluation Fall 2018] MS in CS (Machine Learning concentration)

[Lian109]

Hi!

Please I need help trying to figure out if I have chances to get admitted to some MS CS Programs.

Here is my profile:

Research Focus; Machine learning (Deep learning, reinforcement learning, unsupervised learning)

Final Objective: PhD from a US university. Looking to work as a professor or a research scientist in industry after graduation. 

Undergraduate: BS in EE from an ABET accredited university in South America (TOP 500 worldwide, best in my country)

Position in class: Class topper

Research experience: Small projects in signal processing, controls and VLSI. No publications.

Work experience: Unrelated to the field I intend applying to, I was a TA at my home university though (math, physics and EE courses).

Motivation: I got motivated by small exposure to AI from signal processing and controls graduate level courses that i took as a free student, and also from online MOOCs.

GRE (310): V149, Q161, AWA 3.5

TOEFL (100): R27,L27,W24,S22

My plan: Since I consider that my profile is not competitive enough for top/middle tier PhD programs, I am planning to apply to MS programs first and then jump to a more prestigious one after graduation.

Here is the list of universities I've come up with, which offer good coursework and research opportunities related to my interests.

1 CMU

2 Stanford

3 UT Austin

4 U Mass

5 NYU

6 Columbia

7 Purdue

8 UC Irvine

9 U Michigan

10 USC

11 Northeastern U

Please guys, be honest with me about which universities should I take off of my list and which ones should I add.

Thanks !

 

[malt_cheeze]

Hey, I'm also applying to a MS in CS (with ML concentration) as welI. I don't have much credential to give people advice but take what you will. TBH, you should consider improving your GRE score. I feel for CMU and Stanford, you need to have 160+ (165+ if you absolutely want to be competitive) for Quant section. All the schools you list are within top 50 CS grad school and so very competitive (except maybe Northeastern U but I might be wrong). You should consider taking some schools off the list and replace them with less competitive schools to be absolutely sure you get a decent chance of getting in somewhere. I'm in the process of consolidating my list of schools to apply as well so I don't have concrete suggestions for you. Good luck with your application!