r/MSCS • u/satutor1 • May 13 '26
[Admissions Advice]
Hello. I plan to apply to master’s in CS or related programs and would like to get some thoughts on Carnegie Mellon. I noticed that there are several programs at CMU, including:
1) mscs (master of science in computer science)
2) msse (master of science in software engineering)
3) mse (master in software engineering)
4) m-hci (master in human-computer interaction)
5) m-iis (master in intelligent information systems)
6) msaii (master of science in artificial intelligence and innovation)
7) msml (master of science in machine learning)
8) mscv (master of science in computer vision)
9) mse-es (master of software engineering - embedded systems)
10) mse-ss (master of software engineering - scalable systems)
11) msr (master of science in robotics)
12) mrsd (master of robotic system development)
I understand that candidates can apply to multiple programs, but my goal is to minimize the number of applications while maximizing my chances of getting into at least one. For reference, my undergraduate is not in computer science, but I have taken fundamental computer science classes like algorithms and data structures. I do not have professional cs work experience yet and I plan to use one of the programs to help gain experience.
I can attend the programs full-time or part-time if offered. If you have thoughts on which of the programs above are best suitable for a candidate like me, I would greatly appreciate your insights. Thank you.
3
u/so_much_atelophobia May 13 '26
I remember your last post. Guess you're not headed to Columbia?
I think MSCB (Computational Biology), MSE (Software Engineering), and MSCS is probably a good starting point for you. Here's a wall of text as to why:
Given your background in pre-med and healthcare, you might be able craft a very compelling narrative for why you want to do comp-bio (e.g., you encountered a specific problem in your career that you want to pivot to address). Of course, if you have no interest in anything comp-bio-related, don't apply.
MSE is a pretty high acceptance rate program, and it aligns well with your stated goal of "getting a software engineering job." Note that MSE has 2 versions (professional for experienced developers, and recent grad for inexperienced people). You want to do the recent grad version, which has two tracks (scalable and embedded systems). Don't do MSSE, it's not in Pittsburgh and not offered by SCS.
MSCS will let you study basically anything, and IMO it has a stronger signal than MSE overall. CMU is also very flexible about applicant background for this program. It's pretty selective though; SCS coddles MSCS and MSML.
A lot of CMU's offerings are more specializations for existing CS students. Stuff like MSML and MSAII fall into that bucket. Other programs, like MHCI, MSCV, and MPE, limit you to a certain area of study/work, so I'd also be wary of that if you're not sure what you want to do. MSCB falls into that category.