(Finally) Where should I apply to grad school?

[aneeshm]

This is it - I'm going ahead and applying this year. For a number of reasons, some personal and some out of my control, I didn't apply last year. I'm finally going ahead and doing it now. (I have in the past created a thread on this topic, but that's outdated, so I thought it better to ask anew those who are more in touch with current conditions.)

I completed my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering this year in June, and have been working full-time since July.

I'll be applying to a number of universities in the USA for an MS in CS, but I don't have any idea, being in India, of which places I should target given my profile. So I've come to CFC asking for help, knowing that quite a few here have a good idea of what's going on in the academic scene.




The profile:

1) Academic Record: ~58% aggregate over 4 years. (I aced the practicals, the 'oral' examinations, and the internal evaluations, but I lost out in the written examinations due to my almost illegible handwriting. So the former three have an aggregate of ~90%, and the latter of ~50%, odd thought it may seem.) I don't really know how to convert this into a GPA, but a rough estimate would be a B+ average, consisting of A+ in the practicals, oral examinations, and internal evaluations, but B in the written examinations due to my handwriting.

2) GRE: 800/800/5.5

3) Subject GRE in Comp. Sci.: 850/900 (93rd percentile)

3b) This may not be relevant, but I had taken the GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) this year, and an currently ranked 159th in the country (99.85th percentile overall among all exam-takers). This exam is conducted to serve as a basis for admission into Master's programs in engineering in India, but I had taken it merely to see where I stood in the competitive rankings. To be honest, I was a little surprised by the result - I had thought the competition would be tougher.
(In case you're wondering about the disparity between the percentile here and in the Subject GRE, that can probably be explained by the fact that I took it in a city ~500KM away from Pune when I had a mild fever and a cold, had gone there with effectively no preparation, had flown in a day before and gotten little sleep due to my cough, and had a university exam the day after that, for which I had to fly back to Pune a few hours after I finished the test.)

4) Final-year project: worked with the C-DAC (India's supercomputing centre) to develop an addition to their scheduling and resource management system. It's a bit of an involved project, so I'll provide the details later if required.

5) Miscellaneous: In the third year, I've given a seminar on evolutionary computation, and in the two semesters of that year, implemented two projects. The first was relatively small, and was a database (with a rudimentary GUI interface) designed to allow easy extraction and analysis of both historic and current statistical data relating to the Indian Premier League's cricket games. The other was a complete system to allow our (or any) college to organise their annual event; this was a pretty significant one.

6) Current work: right now, as a hobby, I'm just finishing up a small simulator for the theoretical constructs found in introductory courses on the theory of computation (DFAs, NFAs, PDAs, NPDAs, and TMs). I had noticed back when I studied the subject (and now that I see others study it) that the biggest hurdle to an intuitive understanding is the initial learning curve of knowing how to convert a mathematical abstraction - which is essentially a static one, consisting of a bunch of sets and a function - into a working mental model of a machine. The most difficult part of learning that subject is learning how to transition from static description to being able to run a visualisation of it in your head. This is something I've always thought would have been useful to me at that time, so I plan to finish it (and distribute it those of my juniors I know) in a week, so that it is usable before our University examinations in December. (Batteries - the most common examples used to teach ToC - included.)

This is in addition to my regular job, where I'm working on creating a custom Linux-PAM module for our customer's product.

7) Letters of Recommendation: These I can get from my teachers and project guides; they know me well enough to pass informed judgment.



Given this background, which universities would be appropriate for me to apply to? Any help would be highly appreciated, as right now I'm simply shooting in the dark.

 

[warpus]

The University of Waterloo in Canada is one of the best on the continent for Computer Science. Microsoft, RIM, and Google go there to grab graduates before anybody else does.

Not sure if you're interested in Canada, but there you go.

 

[Karalysia]

I have friends who go to the University of Toronto, Queens University, and the University of British Columbia which I hear are good. Also drinking age 19 FTW.

But the US, I dunno unless you can tell me a GPA. But I know MIT, Texas A&M, Princeton, do all that science engineering stuff.

 

[Arwon]

There's always Australia. We probably won't beat you up.

 

[LightFang]

The University of California, Berkeley!

 

[Mise]

Is there a limit to the number you can apply to? If your problem is, "I don't know which are the best universities", then have a look on the university rankings (you can filter by subject and whatnot). If your problem is, "I don't know what universities I can get into with my grades/record etc", then apply to 1 from the top 5, 1 from the top 10, 1 from the top 20, 1 from the top 50, etc.

 

[aneeshm]

The University of California, Berkeley!

You think that I stand a reasonable chance of being accepted there? Isn't the admission process extremely competitive?

Is there a limit to the number you can apply to?

Yes. 12 at the most. Application itself costs a pretty penny when considered in Indian rupees, unfortunately.

If your problem is, "I don't know which are the best universities", then have a look on the university rankings (you can filter by subject and whatnot).

I know the US News rankings, but I have no idea what is appropriate given my profile.

If your problem is, "I don't know what universities I can get into with my grades/record etc", then apply to 1 from the top 5, 1 from the top 10, 1 from the top 20, 1 from the top 50, etc.

That's OK, but that's the last resort, and I had rather hoped someone here would be able to tell me where I would fit.

 

[Bill3000]

You think that I stand a reasonable chance of being accepted there? Isn't the admission process extremely competitive?

Not with your GPA as a non-American, no. You need to be perfect as a non-American, considering we can't just let any foreigner steal our jobs.

 

[Karalysia]

Actually universities are now more eager to accept foreigners and out of state kids now since they can charge them much higher rates than the in state kids, so he might actually have a better chance it's just going to cost him.

 

[aneeshm]

Not with your GPA as a non-American, no.

Problem is, I don't have a GPA. I get marks. I'm pulling grade estimates out of my posterior orifice.

 

[Zelig]

Problem is, I don't have a GPA. I get marks. I'm pulling grade estimates out of my posterior orifice.

You're going to have to check with specific departments of schools you're interested in attending; email administrative assistants either of the CS departments or of admissions to ask how they convert grades from your school, and what the admission requirements for Indian students are.

Also, for an MS in CS, you should probably be contacting profs to find some who's research interests match yours and are looking for additions to their groups.

 

[plarq]

Hey, I'm also applying graduate school.

I'm physics major, both in undergraduate and graduate (master) school. I'm planning to apply a PhD position.

In my undergraduate study, I got a GPA at 80/100. I do molecular simulations in my master studies, which is statistical physics related. No publication yet.

Since I'm doing molecular simulation, both physics and chemistry (computational chemistry) are valid targets for me.

The GRE part was a bit unfair: in India you took CBT and in China we have to do PBT. The computer based test has a limited number of questions, which could be recorded by other test takers and formed a database for others to crack. (See this Link)

The paper based test cannot be prepared this way - questions in paper-based test were almost all new. And we have 2 test date per year.

 

[Bill3000]

what the hell why didn't i know about this beforehand

/me takes test again

 

[plarq]

History: in the early 2000s, China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan and South Korea did host CBT version of GRE, approved by ETS. However, those people had overdone the database thing, produce tons and tons of 2400ers (Before then Analytic Writing was Analytic multiple-choices). ETS was fed up and revoked CBT tests in said regions.

Mine is 510/800/4, Subject in Physics 920(89%)

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Kent State

In Kent, Ohio

We could practically be neighbors. And I can hook you up with the local hoes we have here.

 

[GoodGame]

Aneesham,

Why don't you try for some Bioinformatics work? They can make six figures. Problem is you'd have to learn some biology. I think UC Santa Cruz would be a good choice. There's others though.

 

[aneeshm]

The GRE part was a bit unfair: in India you took CBT and in China we have to do PBT. The computer based test has a limited number of questions, which could be recorded by other test takers and formed a database for others to crack. (See this Link)

The paper based test cannot be prepared this way - questions in paper-based test were almost all new. And we have 2 test date per year.

If it helps to know this, I didn't refer to any database, or do any cramming, or anything like that. The marks are purely my own, and the questions I faced were all new to me. (I didn't even take any of those popular 'practice tests' offered by Kaplan's or other such material.)

 

[plarq]

I guess I can only say this.

 

[Brighteye]

MIT is the most respected over here of American computing courses.

 

[Zelig]

FWIW, I was looking at some CS programs, and your academic marks look to be about borderline for Canadian schools, but I'm not too sure how your grades translate to rankings:

University of Calgary, requirements for students from India:

Master's-Years of study Bachelor's degree

Master's-Grade Required First class/division standing. If student holds a 3 year undergraduate Bachelor's degree, the student must also hold a Master's degree as a minimum requirement for entrance to the Master's program.

Doctoral-Grade Required First Class Honours

Notes on Eligibility Indian degrees are classified 1st Div with Distinction, 1st Div, II Div, III Div and Pass. If this is the typical university scale used, we required a minimum of Second Class Upper Division, however, some universities have a scale using the "class" system. In that case, the minimum requirement is 1st Class Honours.

Grading Grade and Canadian Equivalent
70%+ First Class with Distinction
60% to 69% First Class
50% to 59% Second Class
40% to 49% Pass Class

Notes: * At selected institutions, a lower grade may be considered passing.

University of Waterloo, students from India:

Minimum equivalent qualifications (for admission to Master's program):
Bachelor's (4 year), or Bachelor's (3 year) and Master's
Students who have graduated (within two years of the application date) from the following universities, are exempt from the English Language Proficiency Requirement: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Anna University, Annamalai University, Banaras University, Bangalore University, Birla Institute of Technology (Ranchi), Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras), Indian School of Mines, Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Kerala Agricultural University, Mahatma Gandhi University, Mangalore University, Panjab University, Punjab Agricultural University, University of Calcutta, University of Calicut, University of Delhi, University of Hyderabad, University of Kashmir, University of Kerala, University of Mumbai, University of Roorkee

Minimum overall academic standing:
First Class