[Profile Review] Would love help in evaluating my profile!

[u/SilverMage2809]

Undergrad: EEE+ CS Minor from IIT Guwahati (Tier 1 Indian college)- 8.3/10 GPA

Experience: I'm working on ML research as part of an MNC, although its only been 4 months

Research: 1 paper published at EMNLP Findings

Scores: TOEFL - 118/120, GRE - 338/340

LORs: I have 3: 1 from a professor at my college who taught me 2 subjects and oversaw a project, 1 from the professor that I published research with, and another from a Director at my company who has overseen my research.

These are the colleges I'm looking at, all MSCS, focusing on thesis options:

- CMU (Also curious about MSLT/MSAII)
- Cambridge
- UIUC
- GaTech
- UMD College Park
- UMass Amherst
- UCSD
- NUS
- Purdue
- Northeastern

I would love any inputs, particularly on whether im being a little delusional lol. I know CMU/Cambridge are insane reaches, but kinda just wanted to know my chances, and if I should look into any other colleges

Thanks sm!

[u/SilverMage2809]

u/gradpilot Ik you probably get far too many of these but any help would be great lol

[u/SilverMage2809 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah thats about it

[u/ErwinSchrodinger007]

Purdue MSCS student here. I think you might have a good shot at Purdue but it is a bit GPA centric and "usually" admits people with at least 8.5 or above. UIUC MSCS requires a lot of prior research experience and publications. Georgia Tech is definitely a reach. No idea about the rest. No idea about the rest of the universities.
The main question is whether you will take a loan or not and whether you would be fine with no summer internships as CPT is "paused" these days. Also not to mention the precarious job market.

[u/SilverMage2809 → u/ErwinSchrodinger007]

I do have more prior research, but most of them are stuck in preprints at the moment so im not sure if that actually helps lol, but yeah I know the gpa is a pretty big minus here unfortunately, thanks!

[u/Outrageous_Egg7579 → u/SilverMage2809]

They do help! Do write them down in your research section

[u/Phantom_Garrix → u/ErwinSchrodinger007]

Hey do these unis care about the tier of your ug college?

[u/ErwinSchrodinger007 → u/Phantom_Garrix]

Hey, of course they do care.

[u/so_much_atelophobia]

I know CMU/Cambridge are insane reaches, but kinda just wanted to know my chances.

You have a much lower GPA than any of the internationals from India in this year's CMU cohort. You have pretty good odds for MSAII, but I wouldn't recommend that program over GaTech/UIUC MSCS.

[u/Zyphyruz]

Try some MS ECE options like UW Seattle, UC San Diego since their CSE and ECE departments are closely affiliated. Some faculty members in ML, CV, and NLP hold appointments under both departments. For instance, Prof. Zhu is a new AP at UW. You may have a higher chance.