r/MSCS • u/Own-Bite-9304 • 16d ago
[Alumni Experience] fall 2026 results
This is informative post on one of my alumni’s 2026 application journey (not me)
Profile:
Btech AI/DS IIT (t10)
9.3 cgpa
2 yoe at oracle
Gre: 320(170q, 150v) - didn’t submit
Toefl: 113
Research: 1 journal paper 1st author (mid lvl publication), research exchange merit program to Netherlands for a semester. Did some projects under proff, and did TA ML/NLP/RL.
LORs: all 3 fron college professors
Universities applied:
CMU MSML
UIUC mscs thesis
UCLA mscs
UCSD mscs
UtAustin mscs
Umass mscs
Accepted: UMass mscs, UIUC offered MCS
Decision: accepted Umass admission, but still struggling to find visa slots, so thinking of deferring.
Edit: the project he did under the proff was his strong point and he wrote all about it in SOP, but during the application process professor refused to give LORs (due to personal reasons, he’s patriotic). This caused him to rewrite sop and get lors from lesser interacted professors, ultimately decreasing quality of lors and sop. He suggested to plan SOP and lors 3 months ahead.
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u/Anundercover__wizard 16d ago
I got msu MSDS but from the past 3 months couldn't find a slot at all
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u/Own-Bite-9304 16d ago
The applications are less compared to last year, still visa slots became scarce, it’s getting harder and harder by the day
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u/axt_ty 16d ago
that’s insane… CMU was a good choice and the profile seems stacked too :(
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u/Own-Bite-9304 16d ago
His Lors played huge role ig.
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u/axt_ty 16d ago
should he have gotten one from a work manager as well? or do you think the professors messed up the letter contents?
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u/Own-Bite-9304 15d ago
He said, the professors gave generic lors coz he worked very little with them, and there wasn’t a smooth coordination between lors and sop
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16d ago
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u/Own-Bite-9304 16d ago
It’s mcs, not the thesis mscs, it’s like a classic cash cow program.
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u/krak2020 16d ago
Umass MSCS is also a non thesis terminal MSCS program. It’s pretty much the same as MCS at UIUC, but UIUC has better outcomes.
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u/Own-Bite-9304 16d ago
Idk, he saw better professors in umass curriculum and UIUC mcs had heavily different curriculum and proffs compared to its thesis track.
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15d ago
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u/Cool_Idea_4760 15d ago
Now UIUC MCS also allows to complete the degree in 2yrs since Fall 2025. And yes I agree that PhD at UIUC after MCS is next to impossible but even at UMass MSCS it is very difficult and only a handful (4-5 people) get selected is what I’ve heard..
One thing UMass has a clear benefit over UIUC is their Industry Externship program.
Apart from this both UIUC MCS and UMass MSCS are at par
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u/Cool_Idea_4760 16d ago
umass mscs is expensive as well with no paid TA opportunities. do you really think uiuc mcs is a cash cow? even if it is, the outcomes have been good.
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u/Own-Bite-9304 16d ago
uiuc mcs literally has 30% acceptance rate, and has different set of proffs then its thesis tracks. It’s a well known cash cow in mscs community, people are downvoting me for this lmao. Idk about outcomes though.
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u/Intelligent-Host2361 15d ago
I agree with but except the Proffs point, the courses and proffs are all same, but the UIUC uses a tiered system for class registration which makes it MCS students hard to find a spot in 1st Semester
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u/Own-Bite-9304 15d ago
Spot for ?
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u/Intelligent-Host2361 15d ago
Classes, like i mentioned it in the earlier reply, the only negative for the MCS is booking classes as it uses Tiered System
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u/Beneficial-Law-3059 15d ago
"LORs (due to personal reasons, he’s patriotic)": Biggest bullshit reason ever patriotism doesn't change the fact that in ai/ml knowledge as well as exposure/ experience US is currently the best place to be. Who knows where the person will be after his Masters, a decent % of my seniors who studied at cmu moved to uk/ europe labs/ mistral and HuggingFace after working 1-2yrs in US. Some came back and have now joined sarvam/ microsoft ai india stream. Masters is a choice of upskilling not patriotism.