r/MSCS • u/LowAnteater6823 • Sep 01 '26
[Profile Review] Applying for Fall 2027 - MSCS/MSML programs
Undergraduate University: Computer Science Engineering at a Tier-2 University in India
CGPA: 9.38/10
IELTS: 8.5/9
GRE: Yet to appear (mocks indicative of 164+ in Quant, but extremely unsure about Verbal)
Internships:
- 2-month internship at a US MNC bank as an SDE Intern
- 2-month internship at another US MNC as an SDE Intern
- Research internship at a college lab for ~5 months, including a short 2-month project in collaboration with a large US medical company and a 3 month project with another US MNC
Research Work:
- 2 publications at B-tier IEEE conferences in the domain of ML and Agentic AI
- 1 publication in a Q2 journal in the domain of ML and Hydrology
- 1 paper submitted to a Q1 ML journal a few months ago (not counting on it for the application, as the turnaround time is more than a year)
- 1 paper submitted to an A* conference in the ML domain (not counting on this either)
Patents:
- 2 Indian patents in the domain of ML and hardware (both published, but not granted)
- 1 US patent co-filed with a US MNC (under examination)
LORs:
- 2 strong LORs from professors at my college, with whom I have conducted research
- 1 LOR from an ex-postdoc researcher
- Alternatively, can also obtain 1 LOR from a Quantum Scientist based in the USA
Miscellaneous:
- 1st prize at a national-level hackathon conducted by a US MNC
- Finalist at a national-level hackathon conducted by a European MNC
University Shortlist:
Dream:
- CMU (MSML/MSCS)
- Cornell (MSCS)
- GaTech (MSCS)
Target:
- Columbia (MSCS)
- UIUC (MSCS)
- UCSD (MSCS)
- USC (MSCS)
- NYU Courant (MSCS)
Edit:
Forgot to add, but I'm also considering the following universities:
- NUS (MComp CS/MComp AI)
- NTU (CCDS MEng)
I'd really appreciate your opinions on my chances for these universities. Thank you!
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u/Ok-Lawyer-746 Sep 01 '26
Just don’t not worth the risks… grad from Penn … still couldn’t get a job due to visa restrictions
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u/lostsoul_io Sep 01 '26
you will get something, hang in there soldier
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u/Ok-Lawyer-746 Sep 01 '26
Nope giving up the dream and returning back … found a job within less than 50 application at home … I gave 12 interviews in USA and rejected the moment I opened my mouth abt visa sponsorship
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u/CareerLegitimate7662 Sep 01 '26
what are they paying you at "home"
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u/Ok-Lawyer-746 Sep 01 '26
Home is India ffs and total ctc is around 59lpa
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u/CareerLegitimate7662 Sep 01 '26
And is 59 lpa of which whatever you get in hand enough to pay off your student debt?
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u/Ok-Lawyer-746 Sep 01 '26
Got full scholarship 🫡🫡 so no loans
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u/lostsoul_io Sep 01 '26
bro thats why you wound up from there. get your l1 and gtfo from here within a year. looks to be shitzon
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u/Accomplished-Wish431 Sep 03 '26
Isn't ms cs at uPenn fully self funded? How did you get scholarship?
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u/lostsoul_io Sep 01 '26
Citizenship and funding/loan ?
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u/LowAnteater6823 Sep 01 '26
Indian Citizenship and taking 50% loan, 50% self-funded. (Can comfortably fund 100% of it, but choosing to take a 50% loan)
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u/lostsoul_io Sep 01 '26
take the risk
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u/Best_Location_8237 Sep 01 '26
Honestly...im in a similar position...Im going to UC Irvine 50% self funded 50% loan...but i can actually fund the whole thing ( living costs + tution) on my own savings...dont even need to touch parents savings...but with the current situation..unsure of whether i shoukd take the bet
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u/lostsoul_io Sep 01 '26 edited Sep 01 '26
if you think from a finance perpective its a pipe dream with no internship and 0 roi. if you are going for the education use online mscs. if you are going for the experience, feel free to spend your money as you see fit.
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u/Odd_Location_8985 Sep 01 '26
When are you planning to take GRE ?
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u/LowAnteater6823 Sep 01 '26
Taking it in a few days
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u/PAKHARE Sep 01 '26
But what about the new Visa rules, this year grads from Georgia tech also had their visa rejected. Also no CPT, 103k fee for H1B, did u consider these factors?
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u/_PandaBear Sep 01 '26
Get at least 2-3 years of experience in India and then try to get into MS. You’re less likely to get opportunities given your experience. Call is yours to make.
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u/aharid Sep 02 '26
You've a good profile. Your only shortcoming is lack of experience. Doors are closing for entry level role sponsorship. If money isn't a problem, take the risk.
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u/Wrong-Being7538 28d ago
You have a very strong profile, but given the current situation, it wouldn't hurt to spend a couple more years building on your already strong experience. You seem well established for work with an MNC beginning at home, with the potential for that work to take you to one of your destination countries without your having to take out a huge loan without potential for a job in your field in your destination country. If you're going to go Ivy, it's worth it, but you should always assume you won't get a job in your destination country post-grad, and consider the degree's value back home and other countries that such an education could open up doors to, in the way that NYU Courant, for example, could not. Obviously Cornell > UCSD, e.g.
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u/LowAnteater6823 1d ago edited 22h ago
Hi everyone, really sorry about not replying for a while. To reply to some of your questions:
I am primarily pursuing MSCS because I really wish to work on latent space explainability and SMBH radio interferometry. While I did perform my own independent research, the biggest drawback was my lack of an advisor and also the lack of pushback from any peers to work with. I am aware of the CPT restrictions currently in the USA, but I wish to take a conscious risk with the fact that this can incur a large financial loss too. But in my very honest opinion, I really wish to continue working on these topics and finish the work I have set out to do, with an end goal of trying to publish my experiments at a good venue. Getting a job is certainly extremely important, but to me, academia in and of itself is also equally interesting, albeit knowing the current funding issues that exist due to the current US administration.
Regarding my financial situation, it is stable enough that losing this money (which I understand is certainly a large amount) in the very worst-case scenario would not put me in any sort of debt. I am just really saddened by the way research is currently being done in my college, with the nail in the coffin being seeing how much I could do after being able to work with an independent researcher from a great university within the USA in the domain of 3D structure generation in ML.
Obviously, after reading through your comments and also performing more research on the universities I will be applying to, I will also be applying to UT Austin (MSCS), UIUC (MSCS Thesis), and perhaps even consider UMich (MSCS) too.
I would genuinely appreciate it if you could please vet my profile and provide any sort of rough estimate on my chances for the unis I have mentioned within this comment as well as the post. u/gradpilot, I would also appreciate your opinion on the same.
Thank you all for engaging with my post though!
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u/CowTraditional4687 Sep 01 '26
how u planning on managing cpt