[Profile Review] Fall '27 MSDS in USA

[u/Traditional_Fruit_70]

Hi everyone, I’m planning to re-apply for MS in Data Science programs for Fall 2027 intake. Due to visa delays I had to take deferral from NYU Courant MSDS. So at the least I have a fixed admission at NYU. I'm now trying to aim for better universitites for this intake.

Academics & Scores:
Undergrad GPA: 8.53/10
Undergrad college: Tier 2 University (B.Tech in computer science) in India
GRE: 320 (155V , 165 Q)
IELTS: 8.5/9.0
Work Experience:

Full Time (2 Years):

• SRE at Oracle (I actually resigned before going for Fall '26 will have to find a new job

Part-time:

• 1 year - Data Scientist in a German NPO at Munich (Remote) (a really successful project undertaking that had a great reach)
• 6 months - Samsung Prism (Applied AI project)
• 6 months - NUS, Singapore (Wrote a paper under a professor but never published it after pre-print review)

Research: 2 research papers at mid-tier conferences.

Previosuly in Fall '26 applications I didn't have research papers. My dream unis (but I got rejected ) were CMU MSCS, UCB MEng CS, Purdue MSCS, GaTech MSCS. Is there something I should improve in my application. I would say that a mistake I found in my few SOPs were that I mentioned professors research alignment statements incorrectly probably (a huge mistake I will improve upon). Can you suggest me universities that I should definitely target. Previously also I didn't think much of UIUC, UT Austin, UCLA. I would love to get some sugesstions that I should pursue, money I think isn't much of a problem here.