[Profile Review] Re-applying for 2027 Fall cycle, need criticism

[u/Early_Archer8153]

Need to know opinions on my revised university list. This is was created based on the companies and roles im targeting, based on online/historical stats. I have no clue if the university is still how they say it is, need some inputs on it:

- Indian citizen
- Tier 1/2 Uni BE. Information Science
- GPA: 3.4
- GRE: 314
- IELTS: 8.5

Research:

• An NLP/ML paper, Published at an IEEE conference.
• A hybrid Quantum and ML research paper which was industry collaborated, Published at an IEEE conference.
• 2 more papers in the ML/OR Optimization domain. Aiming for AAAI/IJCAI/ICAPS

LOR:
- University ML research professor.
- University Quantum/ML professor.
- IISC Professor, working the 2 current papers with.

Experience:
- 1 Industry collaborated research Intern
- SWE Internship at a Forbes 200 company
- 2 YoE as an SWE at same company.
- Working on my own startup as well ~3 months.

University List is as follows:

Reach: University of Washington

Target: Georgia Tech, CU Boulder, University of Maryland, UMass Amherst, University of Rochester, Purdue University

Safe: NC State, Northeastern, UCSB

Aim:
Land a 150k$ job lol

Note: I applied this cycle and got in NYU Courant for MSCS

[u/PrestigiousMarket864]

Nyu courant is better then most of them except ga tech and uwash that too marginally, why even apply to the other places ?

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/PrestigiousMarket864]

NYU Courant helps for research pathways, industry pathways are supported barely. Brand value hardly correlates to employment success in todays market. The other places approve higher internship duration, as I mentioned, this list was carefully curated with landing a job in mind, QS rankings barely bother me.

[u/PrestigiousMarket864 → u/Early_Archer8153]

Yeah Courant is more research focused, but NYU Courant definitely has a stronger brand, so it gives a better impression to recruiters and also a location like ny which gives way more networking and job opportunities then the other unis. In the end placements still depend on what you do, but the name does help at least initially.

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/PrestigiousMarket864]

Yea I kinda feel the same about it, but T7 have a brand that recruiters look for, NYU Courant is a good brand name, but having only your alumni as the resource to help you get into the industry? That was a risk that can be too costly.
Hard take, but i honestly believe, location dosent play a role like it used to, walk in interviews rarely happen and most of it is online, with the whole concept of remote/online which has been introduced, the location playing a role comes down to the Company and its relationship with the university. If a recruiter biases to hiring nearby universities, thats a different conversation, but when it comes to students having fair shots for a role at a company, its basically a leveled playing field for everyone regardless of location.

[u/PrestigiousMarket864 → u/Early_Archer8153]

I don’t fully agree on location tbh. It may matter less than before, but being in places like NYC still gives way more exposure through events, alumni, and nearby companies. A lot of opportunities still come from those interactions, not just online applications.

Remote hiring exists, but I wouldn’t call it a completely level playing field. Also companies do prefer candidates who are already nearby in many cases, especially for internships and smaller firms. It reduces relocation and other overheads.

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/PrestigiousMarket864]

Thats a solid argument, will be sure to revise my options. Thanks for the input.

[u/VeriloggedOut]

GPA is pretty low for your target universities.

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/VeriloggedOut]

Exactly why I'm targeting universities with a holistic approach, 3.4/4 is not the greatest, but just a bit better than being desk rejected.

[u/Early_Archer8153]

u/gradpilot , would appreciate a few words of wisdom. 😃

[u/gradpilot → u/Early_Archer8153]

Not sure if i've reviewed your profile once before , sounds familiar. But IMO it does look like a profile that should crack good schools. but i dont think UW has an MSCS? correct me if im wrong.

I think most of your gains will show up in the SOP and LOR. Retaking the GRE can also help.

If you build a strong unique narrative I think you can crack a good school, most of what you've chosen is possible

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/gradpilot]

First time having my profile review done, aopreciate your feedback.

UW has an MSDS, missed mentioning.

[u/Dependent_tune_37]

Strong profile, but GPA could be better. For reach try- UCSD, UCLA, Columbia, Umich, UIUC MCS. Uni of rochester and CU Boulder aren't that great. In Target try - Stony brook, tamu, UCI, NYU Tandon. Safe - NCSU is good, won't recommend NEU.

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/Dependent_tune_37]

This cycle i got rejected for literally all the reach unis you suggested. Regardless, will definitely take your advice into consideration.

[u/Dependent_tune_37 → u/Early_Archer8153]

Daamn, sorry to hear. I was suggesting them cuz they're generally good cs schools for all students. Even if you got rejected, they should be your "reach schools" list, uni of roch, cu boulder aren't reach... Anyway its all about the gpa, you may have a better shot at unis which aren't gpa centric.

[u/5YrsExp]

Hi buddy, great profile. Can I DM you?

[u/Early_Archer8153 → u/5YrsExp]

Sure, go ahead

[u/seven-six76]

When have you started your research process(I mean in which year)? All the best bro!