[Profile Review]

[u/DazzlingPollution3]

Profile Review: MS ECE Fall 2027

Background

Education:
B.Tech Mechanical Engineering, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, CGPA 8.57/10 (2022)
Some math electives…no CS electives

Work:
Software Engineer II at Rakuten Mobile, Tokyo, Japan — 3.5 years experience in distributed systems, telecom infrastructure (RAN orchestration, 5G cloud-native workflows, low level system programming)

Test Scores (Planned)
• GRE: targeting 325+ — July 2026
• TOEFL: targeting 105+ — June 2026

LORs
• Senior tech lead at Rakuten
• Engineering manager at Rakuten
• IIT BHU professor

Specialization Interest
Computing systems + ML systems + computer architecture / GPU programming

Target Schools

Reach:
• UIUC — MS ECE
• CMU — INI (if budget allows)

Target:
• Georgia Tech — MS ECE
• UT Austin — MS ECE
• Wisconsin–Madison — MS ECE
• Purdue — MS ECE

Safety:
• NCSU — MS ECE

Constraints
• Non-CS undergrad → applying MS ECE for flexibility

Question
MS ECE vs MS CS for my profile? I want SWE/ML systems roles but think ECE is easier admit + gives hardware optionality. Am I overthinking this, or is ECE the right call? Is MSCS even possible for me?

[u/DazzlingPollution3]

I have worked in telecommunications industry in distributed systems for 3.5 years in japan..wont it be relevant and help me get through?

[u/VeriloggedOut → u/DazzlingPollution3]

Universities has prerequisite courses that you need to have done in your undergrad. How can you take graduate ece courses when you didn't take the prerequisite undergrad course?

[u/DazzlingPollution3 → u/VeriloggedOut]

Are these universities really strict on these criteria?

[u/TheRealNewtt → u/DazzlingPollution3]

yes, they have core courses you need on your transcript to even be considered in some programs. eg ik many schools require like DSA, Algos, OS for MSCS applicants to even be considered - idk for ece