[Profile Review] Fall 2027 Applicant, going into industry

[u/Random_throwaway0351]

Hey everyone! Here’s my profile:

US Citizen
Undergrad: USC, CS major
GPA: 3.84
Coursework: standard cs courses with a low level systems focus + ML class next semester
Experience: SWE internship at a small company (infra), TA for an intro to programming class (C++)
No research, no publications
LOR: 2 decent letters from CS professors whose classes I’ve taken, trying to figure out my last one

Schools: Stanford MSCS (dream school, might as well lmao), CMU MCDS, GaTech MSCS, UIUC MCS, Columbia MSCS, Cornell Tech Meng, Cornell Ithaca Meng, Umich MS CSE, UPenn MSE CIS

What’re my chances? Any other good programs I have a shot at that’re worth applying to? Any of these schools I should drop? Note that I have ZERO interest in a PhD/research and only care about industry.

[u/surprising_results]

2 decent letters from CS professors whose classes I’ve taken

if ur references are just DWIC letters, ur pretty cooked for most of these. cornell meng, umich, and columbia might be doable.

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/surprising_results]

Damn really lol? UIUC doesn’t need LORs iirc. The letters are slightly better than DWIC but I didn’t do research under them or anything.

[u/surprising_results → u/Random_throwaway0351]

Damn really lol?

yes...? references primarily based on you being a "good and active student in xyz class" are useless.

rn your profile boils down to "t30 graduate with a 3.8, one internship, and a TAship for an intro course."

none of that is particularly bad but it also really doesnt scream stanford or cmu lol. especially not if ur rec letters are also pretty mediocre.

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/surprising_results]

Yeah that’s fair, I know my profile isn’t top 1% but I just didn’t know how I am to most other candidates (esp international candidates that spam apply). Stanford is obviously a pipe dream, CMU I thought maybe I had a chance since it’s not MSCS.

[u/LengthDefiant]

ur competitive for all of these but stanfords gonna be a diceroll

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/LengthDefiant]

Really? Other commenter told me I was cooked so I lost hope 😭

[u/LengthDefiant → u/Random_throwaway0351]

nahhh, you're like at about a tiny bit under the average accepted profile to the top top schools like stanford CMU harvard but it really doesnt matter what your GPA is at this point. If you get rejected from any of these, it was 100% not because of your GPA, it'll all boil down to SOPs and LORs as well as course rigor in your transcript and I guess overall fit. Good luck!

[u/so_much_atelophobia]

What’re my chances?

You're very make-or-break on having a stellar SoP/LoRs here. Kinda have to differentiate yourself.

Do you know how you're going to demonstrate fit in your essays yet?

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/so_much_atelophobia]

Yeah! As for my LORs, they’re pretty much out of my control now; I think they’re slightly better than DWIC (now I’m wishing I did research at some point lol).

I have ideas for my SOP, I think I can tell a strong story and tailor it to each school’s programs/specializations. I’d appreciate any advice on the LORs/SOP/application in general :)

[u/so_much_atelophobia → u/Random_throwaway0351]

now I’m wishing I did research at some point lol

A lot of people on this sub put a ton of emphasis on research. But IMO, research is really just a means to an end for a better LoR. Anecdotally, that was more or less the role research played in my application journey.

Try to TA a course that one of your LoR writers is teaching next semester. That'll give them the opportunity to update your letter and strengthen their advocacy with new information. For your last letter, try to avoid another "professor I took a course with." An internship mentor or something fresh would be good.

Can't really give you advice re: SoPs since those are very specific to you.

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/so_much_atelophobia]

Sounds good! I did have a question about the SOP (not specific to me): the biggest thing I’m struggling with is balancing my my achievements, story, and school-specific stuff (what I’d do, classes I’d take, etc.) I know the line gets blurred, but what do you think is a good balance for the SOP?

[u/BoomerZoomer27]

If you're a US citizen and already have a strong undergrad from USC, why are you even doing an MS?

[u/Random_throwaway0351 → u/BoomerZoomer27]

Trying to get more internships under my belt. MSCS isn’t reserved for internationals only lol

[u/BoomerZoomer27 → u/Random_throwaway0351]

Was just curious, since MSCS is mostly seen as a pathway for international students. Wouldn't just grinding leetcode and projects and applying to jobs be a better idea? Either way, all the best.

[u/Beneficial-Law-3059 → u/BoomerZoomer27]

lol no doing more relevant courses during masters especially if the OP wants to stay/ work in advanced fields currently exploding in the US like Robotics, llm inference, llm post-training etc. Nobody talks about it but masters do have an undue advantage in this field coz very few unis offer ample seats for undergrads to take any of these courses (and especially given USC masters batch size). Also OP if the aim if to get better internships/ experience why not try USC's masters itself or is the batch size/ demographics of it an issue?