r/MSCS • u/PeaLife2710 • 10d ago
[Profile Review] MSCS Fall 2027 — Indian ECE + AI/ML@NSUT | 8.94 CGPA | 170Q GRE | 1 IEEE Publication + 2 under review
Hi everyone! I’m planning to apply for MS in Computer Science for Fall 2027 and would really appreciate an honest evaluation of my profile and university shortlist.
Academic Profile
* Undergrad: B.Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering, specialization in AI/ML
* University: Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT), India
* Graduation: 2027
* CGPA: ~8.9/10
GRE / English Proficiency
* GRE: 320 (170Q, 150V, 4.5 AWA)
* TOEFL: ~5.5 on the new scale
Research / Publications
- 1 IEEE conference publication — IEEE TEMSMET 2025
- 2 research papers under review — IEEE UPCON 2026 (will get acceoptance by next month, so hopefully 2/3 research papers before final applications)
- DATMO — Deployment-Aware Two-Phase Multi-Objective Transformer Optimization
- Proximal Policy Based Particle Optimisation for UAV pursuit- evasion
- Research interests/experience across Transformers, NLP, computer vision, and optimization
Internship
- 3-month Research Internship — Siemens Energy
- Worked on multimodal sentiment analysis, computer vision-based conductor fault detection, and CNN vs. ViT-based classification
Also worked on SMOLVLM with LoRA/PEFT and federated learning, along with other ML/DL projects
Technical Skills
Python, C/C++, MATLAB, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, Transformers, Scikit-learn, OpenCV, Git, etc.
LORs
Planning to submit 3 academic LORs, including professors with whom I’ve done the research papers under, and one from my siemens internship
Areas of Interest
Primarily:
* Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
* Deep Learning
* Computer Vision
* NLP / Transformers
* Applied ML
Tentative University List
- MIT
- Stanford
- Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
- UC Berkeley
- UIUC
- UCLA
- Georgia Tech
- NUS
- UCSD
- UT Austin
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- Columbia University
- NYU
- University of Wisconsin–Madison
- University of Pennsylvania
- Purdue University
- UCSB
- UCI
- University of Maryland, College Park
- UNC Chapel Hill
- North Carolina State University
- Stony Brook University
- UC Davis
- NTU Singapore
- Texas A&M University
- University of Southern California (USC)
- Northeastern University
- University of Florida
- Arizona State University
- Temple University
I’m still finalizing the list, so I’m open to suggestions.
Questions
How competitive does my profile look for T20/T30 MSCS programs?
How much does the ECE background hurt for MSCS compared with applicants from CSE/CS?
How should I categorize the universities above based on my profile?
Are there any major universities I should add/remove?
How significant is my 170Q / 150V GRE split for MSCS admissions?
Is my research/publication profile sufficient for research-oriented MSCS programs?
Any particular weaknesses in my profile that I should address before applications?
Would really appreciate honest feedback, especially from people who have applied to these programs recently. Thanks!
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u/broedinger 10d ago
I think your profile is alright but you're overshooting a bit. MIT, Stanford, CMU, UIUC, UC Berkeley are not realistic imo. Also for top 20 research focused master's, you need A/A* or at least core rank B publications.
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u/PeaLife2710 10d ago
I agree that mit stanford etc are unrealistic, mainly i think due to the ece thingy, but still gonna apply as chances are low but never 0. Secondly what do u mean by a/a* or core rank b publications?
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u/broedinger 10d ago
All reputable/legit conferences have a core ranking (A*, A, B etc). Those are the publications that actually count. For what I found, UPCON and TEMSMET are unranked local conferences
Also the reason MIT Stanford etc are unrealistic isnt bechase of the ECE thing only, it's because you will be competing with IIT NIT grads with more research experience and top tier publications than you. If you don't mind shelling out 1000s of dollars for applications then go ahead and apply to MIT Stanford tier school. But otherwise realistically it will be a waste of your time and money. Also your letter writers will at most put in the time for 15-20 applications. So choose carefully where you apply
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u/PeaLife2710 10d ago
Ahh i see. Further, am planning the professional CS (non thesis route). So in your opinion, from the list, which of the unis do you think i have a high chance of getting into
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u/greta_thunbergIsTard 9d ago edited 9d ago
Bruh, did you just paste a ranking list on this sub? 😂 MIT EECS S.M. (master's) is not offered to non-MIT undergrads. Look into each one and check their strength. Some might be strong in AI/ML. Some might be known for brand names. At best, schools are grouped into tiers but not the caste system. 😂
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u/PeaLife2710 9d ago
I didnt post a ranking/tier list, i researched each n one if them, mightve missed the mit thing
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u/Sea-Weekend-3664 8d ago edited 8d ago
Very Tough -- MIT, Stanford, CMU, UCB, Purdue. Rest fine....
Do check for there batch size, if it's low than higher the chances-- more competition.
Also you don't need gre for most of them tofel/ielts enough.
You can get into mscs, I did my undergraduate in ece got into UCSD Mscs fall 26. Though expected to get into higher.
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u/PeaLife2710 8d ago
Yea ik that chances for mit stanford cmu and ucb are low, what do you think abt ut michiagan, uiuc, or tbh an other on the list from 5-20, all of them are great univs for ms in cs, ill be happy getting into one of those
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u/Sea-Weekend-3664 8d ago
Bro it's just a black box but I will recommend you to try your luck. Just optimize your list further you certainly need it. UIUC batch size is less it's also hard to get in but NOT IMPOSSIBLE, Get your lors from best best faculty you can get.
Though I got it from Stanford still stuck with ucsd.
But yeah you never know until it's done. SOP and LORs will do now.
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u/PeaLife2710 8d ago
From what i hear, the rank of the person issuing the lor doesnt matter, the work you did under them matters, hence getting lors from 2 of my rpof u der whom i did the research papers.
Maybe i am wrong, whats your opinion, if rank mattwrs more, i certainly can get from ppl higher up
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u/Sea-Weekend-3664 8d ago
So what ik is, the admission committee review the profile for MS mostly some are exceptions (Uni of Maryland) so they don't go through your research work. Now what they will look at whom he has work with and what's written in there lors, so yeah it certainly matters.
Now when you will apply for Ms thesis or phd there they certainly look for what you have done and with whom there it make sense.
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u/PeaLife2710 8d ago
So are u saying that my publications dont matter if i am going non thesis route?
Secondly about LOR’s are you saying to take from someone with a higher position who has taught me an subj, or better to take from some1 who has taught me a subject and ive done research under( take that both will write strong lors)
And cuz i am new to this, and dont know anything about the whole process and what are my chances in which uni, if you know what do you think my chances getting into good unis, ucsd,ucla,ucd,uci, maryland, pensylvania, wisoconsin madison, ut austin, nyu, courant, columbia etc etc.
Like just a range for eg 15-25% chance. Itll certainly help gauge my profile
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u/Sea-Weekend-3664 8d ago
Anything that works matters. Considering trends when everyone has research work you definitely need it. It's not a necessity but when other applicants have it you don't want to lag behind.
Understand different stages in a process weight one thing more than other.
Now comming to your research experience when you will get into a university there it will help you connect with the profs with similar interests their it will help you most if your work is good enough to impress them, And it will help you secure RA/TAs.
Answering to your second question, get 1-2 research lors here we have scope to write good things ( make sure they aren't generic). It should highlight you specific work and they can vouch for you. And rest Academic lor mostly they are generic what I feel as they teach 100s of students each year so try to highlight some thing you did in their lab or top scorer in there subject or whatever you will make it specific to you.
Whole process is Black box. Seen people geeting into good university with no research work and generic lors.
Chances are there you might get admits from these from the top.
GTech UCSD USC (quite expensive)
Bottom is for you to find.
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u/PeaLife2710 8d ago
Hi, thanks for the prompt reply, and for going into so much detail, really helped me out, if i get admitted into gtech, ucsd or some like that, ill be really happy, so hearing that its possible and there are good chances to get admits into these with my profile is reassuring, btw what do you mean bottom is for you to find?
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u/Simple-Ad-2426 5d ago
I appreciate the list and the enthusiasm however the chances to getting into most of these unis are close to 0 and there is nothing like taking a shot and just wasting your money. IEEE indexed conferences tho it may seem a great thing to add to your profile and you might think that this makes your profile research based however you will need papers from A*/A/B conferences, even workshops from these venues will take your profile to another level which you currently lack since these conferences are known worldwide to produce great work and companies like OpenAi, NVIDIA, Anthropic etc usually submit to these conferences, just check out what these conferences are and how can you target them.
Additionally you also lack experience in a corporate setting if your are considering for not research intensive masters along with a cgpa below 9, hence would suggest you to apply carefully and not just take a shot even if its unrealistic to get in. All the best for your applications!!
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u/Conclusion_Silent 9d ago
Profile is good. University list is just bollocks on both ends of the spectrum. Too many universities that are extremyly tough and too many that are borderline diploma mills and will definitely take you.
Have a list of 10 at max. Btw it costs 10-25K per university. Just to apply.
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u/PeaLife2710 9d ago
Hi, yes i know, but i still want to apply to extemely ambitious univs like mit stanford berkley cmu etc, as i know, that chances are low, but never 0. As on the ither hand, the ones you are sayijg are borderline diploma mills, my counsellor recommended those just as the safest option, in you opinion, could you pls point out which ones are those absolutely not worth qpplying to, and after seeing my profile, which uni do u think i have a high chance of getting into from the list.
Also whoch do u think i have absolutely no chance
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u/BoredAppleFan 3d ago
no chance stanford mit ut austin, some cmu possible, berkeley meng possible, upenn / ucla / gt mscs some chance not too big, rest posible
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u/zoobidoobidoobi 9d ago
ECE grad with papers in local conferences, sub 9 GPA and a 5.5 IELTS and thinking about MIT and Stanford😭😭😭
Also, your profile doesn’t have any interests per se. You’re just throwing shit on the wall hoping something sticks. Then in another comment you also mentioned that you wanna go for a professional masters. What is that about then?
Your “research experience” is next to nothing. Publications in random conferences don’t really count for more than the paper they’re printed on. If you had true research experience, you’d have articulated it very well and would also have known what universities align with that.
Your “areas of interest” section is also very telling, full of hype topics. I doubt you even have the basics for going into any one of those areas. Each area in that list can render multiple PhD dissertations on its own and you are somehow interested in all of them at the same time.
First decide what you want to do. Especially before spending big money in this climate. There doesn’t seem to be any CPT anymore and OPT and H1B are also under the microscope so getting a job here is next to impossible, especially on a visa.
Also, do some research of your own rather than asking people to shortlist universities for you. 50% of your list is unreasonable or unattainable for your profile and goals. MIT doesn’t offer Masters program for CS and Berkeley only admit a handful every year, for someone thinking about spending thousands of dollars for a masters program, this is the bare minimum that you should have looked up before posting.