JAY LOHOKARE
JULY 01 2017
Mastering the masters application process
1. Should I do MS?
2. Should I do MS or MBA or MISM?
a. Technical education; typical cost is between 30-60 lakh (upto 1 crore in worst case)
b. It can be followed by a job(industry career) or a Phd(academic career) or startup
c. No VISA issues (3 years assured), Great job prospects in emerging fields
d. Coding and related jobs
e. Typically, a good salary is around 100k+ $(Depends on location)
f. No compulsory prior work experience (But does benefit to some extend)
g. Very competitive to get admits to MSCS
h. Needs strong logic, passion towards technology, coding is must, decent communication skills
i. A typical MS course take 1.5-2 years
a. Non-technical education; typical cost is 80-90 lakh+
b. Can be followed by job or Phd(rare) or startup
c. Great job prospects overall. VISA issues may arise
d. Jobs typically not related to coding
e. Typically, a good salary is around 100k+ $(Depends on location)
f. Prior work experience is almost necessary (Even if you get admission, jobs will be sub-par without prior work experience)
g. Very competitive to get admission to MBA
h. You need to be extrovert, excellent at communication, strong math, ability to sell yourself is must
i. A typical MBA course take 1.5-2 years
a. Semi-technical education; typical cost is 30-40 lakh (Varies a lot from university to university, some courses are as costly as an MBA)
b. Can be followed by job(most cases) or Phd(rare) or startup(Very difficult)
c. No VISA issues (3 years assured), not so great job prospects compared to MS/MBA
d. Jobs are semi-technical; mainly in support tasks – IT support, giving presentations, etc
e. Typical salary is lesser than MS/MBA – around 80k+$
f. Prior work experience a huge plus point to get admission
g. Not so competitive
h. Not so enticing career – No innovation or leadership roles involved
i. A typical MISM course take 1.5-2 years
a. Extremely technical, academic education; FREE EDUCATION (You get money to do Phd)
b. In most cases leads to academic career – Professorship. Companies may hire you to senior technical roles directly (After PHD) if your field of work and contribution is outstanding.
c. No VISA issues (PHD people get special VISAs), almost assured academic career opportunities
d. Jobs involve core research, teaching roles or very senior technical positions in esteemed companies
e. Salary during PHD is not much (Initial 6-7 years), but when you join a college as assistant professor (After PHD), salaries are really good (Professors earn a lot in USA unlike India)
f. Prior work experience not important; your research proposal gets a huge weightage
g. Very competitive
h. You should have a research oriented mindset, lots of patience, willingness to study for 5-6 years
i. Typically, Phd will take 4-6 years to complete.
MS-Computer science is different from MS-Computer Engineering – CE is more hardware oriented. ECE is different from CS/CE – ECE involves Electronics/Electrical courses. COEP BTech is in Computer Engineering, not Computer Science. MS CS is typically for people having under-graduation in CS/CE (Hard for Entc/Electrical people to get CS admits). COEP CS/IT students usually apply to MSCS, unless they are extremely interested in hardware-electrical side of computers. MS CE is for people with under-graduation in CE/ECE/Entc/Electrical (Electrical/Entc people often take CE to switch branch, though it’s still hard for them to get admits) MS ECE is typically for Electrical/Entc people as it involves lot of Electrical subjects.
3. What are the steps involved in application?
So you decided to go for MS huh? Congrats! You just added a huge financial burden on your parents! So now, prepare yourself mentally to work hard to make your dreams come true (And to repay the loans :P) 2. Shortlist colleges
This is a part that starts early, but keeps changing till the last moment. Shortlist around 10-15 colleges initially. By the end, when you have GRE scores, SOPs ready, reduce the list to 7-8 colleges (depending on how many applications you can afford). Don't finalize list of colleges - Changes may happen any time as colleges list is based on your overall profile. I added many colleges (From top 20 rank) at last moment, as my research papers got published.
Discussed in next section 3. Start searching recommenders (Beg for recommendations)
LORs are important only if they are from really well-known people. Indian PHDs are minimum requirements (Unless the person knows you really well, to write genuine good stuff about you). The college admission committee knows that Indian students write all LORs by themselves. So make sure none of your LORs are bad or negative (That will be very bad for you). Typically, 3 LORs are needed per college. If you are applying to X number of colleges, you will need 3X LORs. In COEP, few professors are really helpful, some are very arrogant (You will know the names :P). So find a professor who is willing to help.
Usually, LORs make no difference to your profile. But, if you can get LORs from famous people (Alumni or professor of well-known colleges in US/CXO level people/celebrities), those boost your profile like anything. Position of person giving the LOR does matter as it indicates authenticity and power. Having said that, it’s also good to take LORs from people who have worked closely with you.
I took LORs from:
Dr Vandana Inamdar – HOD Computer department COEP
Prof Rahul Adhao – Project guide for BTech project
Prof Jignesh Mangukia – Professor for 2 subjects, I have done a project under him.
Mr Atsushi Doira (Senior VP of NTT DATA) who was my internship coordinator 4. Start writing SOP/LOR drafts
Start with SOPs as early as possible. LORs can be managed at last minute, but SOPs need lot of work. Typical MS-CS application deadlines are between 15th November and 15th January. It’s recommended to start writing 1st draft of SOP in AUGUST. 1st SOP draft has to be written without referring guides or samples. How-so-ever crude the first draft is, it will decide how good your final version SOP will be. SOP has to be original. Admission committee has seen all sorts of SOPs; you need to make your case strong by being true – write what you really feel. Leave the work of final touches for later. First draft should have a clear view of why you REALLY want to do MS. Do not ask someone from a consultation agency (like Dillip Oaks) to write your SOP. No one but you can express your thoughts, aims, ambitions and choices. Even if you do opt to get so called ‘Professional help’ from such classes, make sure that your SOP content comes from you. Use grammarly to check your SOP grammar: https://www.grammarly.com
SOP should be proof read by atleast 3 people. DO NOT SHARE SOPs WITH OTHER MS APPLICANTS – Ideas need to be original (Sharing results to indirect copying of SOP content)
SOP is one of the most important evaluation criteria for getting admits. Make sure that it’s the best 2 pages you can write about yourself. Avoid flowery content – “I got my first computer when I was 10, and since then I love computer science”. Admission committees had enough of all this, and they can look right through fairy tales. At the same time, DO SHOW YOURSELF AS THE MOST DESERVING CANDIDATE TO GET ADMISSION. You are advertising yourself. You have just 1-2 pages (Depending on limit on SOP size for the college) to market yourself. IMPRESS THEM! A little lies here and there are fine – Don’t claim you went to Mars when in reality you went to Goa. But, you can claim you went to Mauritius. 5. Book GRE, TOEFL dates
Plan this well in advance. Dates fill up quickly. Its my observation that GRE scores are high when exam is taken in 1st half of the year. Most students take GRE in July-August-September. I have observed that GRE scores are higher in March-April-May. I am not sure if this is absolutely true, but I think you can score higher if you take GRE exam early. 6. Prepare for exams
YOU DO NOT NEED CLASSES FOR GRE
Being in Pune, you will surely have one friend who has been to Oaks or is in Oaks. Get the Oaks study material from that person. Xerox the books if you want. Other than that, you don’t need to buy any material. I have attached links to some really good resources at end of this blog QUANT:
If you are from COEP, you DO NOT NEED TO WORRY ABOUT QUANT. Your target should be getting full in quant. You just need to solve a few questions (To avoid making mistakes out of over-confidence during the actual exam). VERBAL:
Verbal section is mainly about vocabulary. Learn as many words as you can, get used to the lengthy and boring passages.
1. Download the ‘Memrise’ app from Playstore. Complete the Barrons 333 and Kaplan 500 words lists. These 800 words are the ones you absolutely need to know. If you want 330+ in GRE, you will need 160+ in verbal (Assuming 170 in quant). In that case, you should rot learn around 3000 words.
2. Verbal questions are of 2 types – All answers look same, or all answers are completely alien. You need to practice if you are in such a condition. There are a few tricks/methods to follow – Oaks books and Kaplan will help you understand them.
3. Knowing words is very important. You can crack the verbal section easily if your vocabulary is good. AWA:
Don’t work on this section for more than 2 weeks or less than 3 days. It’s SIMPLE and STRAIGHT FORWARD. I studied for 1 month and scored a 321 (153 verbal + 168 Quant + 4 AWA)
The 1 month study was mainly doing words and practicing Verbal from Oaks/Kaplan. For quant, I solved only the sums that my friend (Also studying for GRE) had marked as difficult in the Oaks books. TOEFL is an easier exam (The only tough part is Speaking section) The speaking section is the only one different from GRE. You get 30 seconds (for preparation) and have to speak on some random topic for 1 minute (This happens 5 times in all). Scoring 100+ in TOEFL is very easy if your school education was in English. 7. Crack the exams
Give a few mock tests (Ideal number is 5). Once you are confident, it’s easy to score!
A score of 320+ is good, 325+ is great, 330+ is god like. Get 100+ in TOEFL to be safe, 25+ in every section is super safe. 8. Finalize SOP(s) – Review, ask others to review
Reach out to people with good writing skills. Ask them to evaluate the SOP and give inputs. Don’t lock your SOP till you are absolutely happy about it. 9. Search which professors you want to work under (Optional, applicable only for a few colleges). This step is compulsory for PHD applicants
Some colleges need names of professors you want to work under as a part of the application process. Be careful while choosing the professor. You have to work under this guy for 2 years. That particular professor most probably will evaluate your application. Don’t choose someone too bad (just to get selected) or someone too good (as it will be competitive). This professor will be associated with you during the most crucial part of your career. So be very cautious about your choice.
PHD applicants may also need to provide research statements (Details of what they want to research) 10. Send transcripts and GRE scores
Order the transcripts from COEP TRUECOPY well in advance. It takes around 1 week (max) for them to send you the transcript. You get a PDF from true-copy which you have to upload on the application page of the college (This is called ‘uploading an un-official transcript’).
Some universities need your transcript to reach them “officially”. This costs you extra bucks. True copy has an option to send the official copy to them electronically or by mail. Check your university requirements before you order your official transcripts.
Every university application requires GRE and TOEFL scores to be submitted before deadline. Visit ETS website and send it to the appropriate university and appropriate department. 11. Filling application forms is boring, lengthy and repetitive.
Keep plenty of time to do this task. 12. Pay the HUUUGE application fees
It’s really huge! Usually, every college application costs around 100$. Be careful not to cross expenditure limits of your credit cards in a day :P 13. Make sure your LORs are uploaded
After you enter the email IDs of your recommenders, they get an email with link to upload the LOR. Through that link, the recommender has to rate you (on scale of 0-5) based on around 20 parameters, and then upload the LOR document. LORs should be on official letter-heads (It looks official).
Some colleges are behind ruining the mood of our recommenders - they make them answer to weird questions (Why is this applicant good, give example of his excellence, etc). It’s better to be there near the recommender when he/she uploads the recommendations. 14. Wait desperately (Checking emails every morning/night)
Once you submit the application(s), starts the ‘waiting time’. This span of few months is absolutely horrible, as you will be left anticipating the results. DO NOT EMAIL OR MESSAGE THE ADMISSON COMMITTEE/OFFICE – It doesn’t help at all, and just keeps on increasing your adrenaline levels. The colleges notify you about the decision (albeit never on time). So wait calmly and enjoy your last semester at COEP instead. Avoid reading FB posts of people getting admits (On groups like the one by Yocket) – It leads to some serious levels of depression. 15. Get the admit/reject
Congratulations! You have been granted an admission! 16. Decide one college from the pool of admits, get VISA, get Loan/arrange finances, Fly to US!
4. Will I get an admit at XYZ college? What are ambitious/moderate/safe colleges for my profile?
This is THE most important criteria. Did someone tell you that GPA doesn’t matter? He was a liar. Your GPA will be the deal maker of breaker. If your GPA is less than 8, you already have lost half the battle. On same lines, if your GPA is more than 9, you have won half the battle! Universities look at undergraduate grades as an indication of your ability to cope up with the master’s coursework. If you undergraduate GPA is low, you are considered as someone in-capable of Graduate level studies. Your GPA till 6th semester will be the latest one you have when you apply. First year grades usually don’t matter much - In most cases, they won’t care if your Biology grades or Chemistry grades were bad. They are concerned with courses like Math and courses related to CS. But at the same time, consistent C/D grade in non-trivial courses are bad. 10th/12th grades don’t matter at all (Unless they are extremely low i.e. <50%). A CS guy will have upper hand over an IT guy (Its obvious isn’t it?). Few universities give direct rejects to students from branches without word ‘Computer’ (Like IT, Entc, etc.) applying for MSCS. All colleges other than the IITs, NITs, BITs are unknown to the admission committee. COEP is same as any other college from Pune/Mumbai University.
Old IITs > New IITs, BITs, Top NITs > Other NITs, VIT > Rest
My CGPA was 7.13 when I applied to universities. Sadly, no senior(s) told me during my early days at COEP that GPA matters the most. I spent most of my time learning, exploring and networking; thereby completely neglecting studies. Had I known about importance of grades, my GPA would have been better. I recommend you all to share this with your juniors – it will make their future better!
NOTE: A GPA less than 8 is bad
8 – 8.5 is Ok
8.5 - 9 is safe
9+ is good
Sadly, there are few colleges in India where entire class gets high GPAs. For example, a student who scores 8 at COEP can score 9+ at VIT (Vellore institute of technology). Hence, a student from some such colleges have benefit over COEPians. Also, there are colleges where scoring high is easy due to poor class quality (A COEPian can easily top if he goes to some random college). So a topper from a low ranking college might not be as able as you, but his/her score card will look better than yours. These all are demerits of the education system we are a part of, and we can’t do anything about it. Universities in US might realize discrepancy, but it’s highly unlikely (As for them, COEP is as unknown as any low ranked college).
The SOP tell the admission committee about your passion, ambitions and most important of all – how you can present yourself. The world is 30% skills and 70% presentation. Write the SOPs extremely well. SOPs can bolster your application tremendously; but they can also ruin your application if not written properly. I know people with 8.8 GPA getting colleges better than people with 9.8 GPA, just because they wrote really good SOPs.
For those with high GPA: Your SOP can ruin your application if your language, content does match you GPA. Your profile is strong (As you have high GPA, which is the primary criteria for getting admit). Support this fact by getting high GRE, publishing a few papers, winning a few competitions, etc. Reflect your academic superiority in your SOP. If the admission committee finds your SOP weak, they will doubt all your achievements altogether. So please be cautious. You have good admits assured – With no extra efforts, you will get admits to MS CS rank ~30-40 colleges. Use your SOP as a tool to get into top 20 category.
For those who have low GPA: With my 7.13 GPA, it was impossible for me to get any decent admits (For me decent was top 30/40). However, I used my SOP to explain my case – How I was involved in startup activities, I pointed at my abilities and understanding of CS fundamentals, etc. Fortunately, my CGPA increased every semester – which I used as a point to show how I am getting better at curricular activities with time. If you have low GPA, it’s absolutely necessary to have some other achievement to compensate your GPA. Write research papers, win hackathons, get internships, work under some good professors, etc. If not, your application will be very weak, and you will end up getting admits only from tier 2/3 colleges (rank below 60/70). You need to prove it (within 2 pages) to the admission committee that you being in that university will be beneficial to the university.
Admits to top colleges will need a good research experience and/or good internships. Good internships are usually the ones abroad – Highly ranked universities or reputed companies. A research internship at some good university is highly valuable. Rn’D internship at a reputed company will add value based on your role there. Internships in IITs are good too. Internship at banking companies (Typical internship you get from COEP) is not of much use. Try to get LORs from your internship – It’s the best possible outcome of an internship. The more qualified and well-known the recommender, the better it is.
Research papers are valuable if publishes to well-known conferences. If the research is really top-notch i.e. field defining, you will get assured admits from top colleges irrespective of your GPA/GRE/SOP. Publishing papers to unknown conferences adds very little value to your profile. Do not send papers to fake conference – The ones assure paper publication by taking money. Typically, a good conference has acceptance rate of under 20-25%.
GRE and TOEFL marks act as negative filters. For most colleges, 320+ is good enough for GRE.
However, a few colleges need 325+.
A score of 330+ DOES increase your chances to get an admit (But no one knows to what extent)
TOEFL score has to be above 100. Keep scores in individual sections above 25. (Speaking section score often is considered for TA opportunities at the university)
Projects do matter to some extent. They show your abilities in CS, and can demonstrate technical know-how. If a professor finds some project of yours is related to his work, he may offer you admit and offer you Research assistant-ship.
However, projects done don’t contribute a lot (Else I would be in Stanford).
Work experience can compensate drawbacks in rest of your profile to some extent. Work experience that is considered most effective is the one at product companies (Google, Microsoft, Startups, etc). IT or Banking work experience isn’t considered technical work experience (Such work experience contributes to a minimal extent – due to the industry exposure you get. The work you do is hardly considered of any value towards your profile.)
As mentioned earlier, these can help only if the recommender is someone really famous or revered.
5. How good is XYZ college? Where should I apply?
Master’s degree usually has a field of specialization – You don’t study Computer science, but rather study one of Big-data/Systems/Data-science/Security, etc. Before you apply, decide what field you want to specialize in. Even if there is no explicit specialization available at the college, you should check the courses available. Talk to seniors to find out which courses are really good; what’s the major field of research in the college. Do a thorough search regarding the courses, professors, research at the university you plan to apply to.
For example, UCSD is a top ranked college (In top 10 for MSCS), and it’s really good for Systems and Bio-informatics. University of Minnesota is ranked 35th for MSCS, but its Machine learning program is ranked in top 5. SUNY Stony brook is ranked 40, but is in top 10 for systems.
Check the research contributions of the university, evaluate contributions of professors from the university to top conferences and journals, check the patents filed by the university (Professors) – These parameters determine how good a college really is.
At post-graduate level, one should consider reputation and rank of the course you apply to, and not the college rank/reputation. The overall rank of a university is rank of all its schools considered together (Engineering, medical, Law, Arts, etc). You should be concerned only with the rank of the computer science department rank. Overall ranks are misleading.
Proximity to big cities is a huge plus point. Being in California (Near Silicon Valley) or new New-York City provides proximity to opportunities, research and networking hubs. Being in a big city would mean more events to attend, more meet-ups, more conferences to go to.
Do not apply to college because you want. Apply to colleges that you can get.
Few colleges are extremely GPA centric – USC is almost assured MSCS admit for 9+ GPA, assured reject for GPA<8.0
Few universities have high GRE filter (UCLA – 325)
Few universities straight away reject non-IITians.
Check the admissions history for that college – www.Yocket.in provides profile search with admits/rejects for a particular university.
Some universities have very less MSCS class strength (UCBerkley – 25). Do not apply to such colleges.
Applying to universities is costly – Minimize your number of applications.
Let me make this very clear – Job opportunities are INDEPENDENT OF UNIVERSITY where you study. Unlike India, US job scene is very open. You apply to companies, prove your worth in tests and interviews; get selected. University is just a name associated with you.
However, University name attaches some level of authenticity and ability to your name. There are some companies which allow students only from top universities to apply for jobs.
As I said, MS is heavy on pockets of your parents. You need a minimum 30 lakh (INR) to do MSCS. Typically, State universities are cheaper than others. ‘State university of XYZ’ is cheaper than ‘University of XYZ’
Most of the Universities in California are costly. Ivy League universities (New York) are costlier.
Don’t end up taking huge loans (50 lakh+) to do your MS. Do not worry about VISA and if you will get a job or not. A MS degree is worth it even if you don’t get a job in US. Go to US for the knowledge, experience and exposure. Ensure you work hard, and the rest will be fine. I advise not to take huge loans as its better not to start a career with a huge debt.
My MS Applications
MSCS Stanford MSCS
UC Berkley MSCS
CMU MSCS
UC San Diego MSCS
UIUC MSCS
UWisconsin Madison MSCS
UMaryland College park MSCS
UPenn MSCS
USC MSCS
USC MSDS (Data science)
UMinnesota Twin city MSCS
UC Davis MSCS
UC Irvine MSCS
UC Santa Barbara MSCS
SUNY Stony Brook MSCS
NCSU MSCS
MISM CMU MISM
UCincinnati MIS
I ended up with admits from SUNY Stony brook MSCS and University of Cincinnati MIS courses.
All my applications were to top 40 colleges (Which I later realized was a stupid decision due to my low GPA). Unfortunately, people I consulted gave me a false belief that I can get admits from Stanford easily.
Though my overall profile was decent, my low GPA was a major set-back.
Hence, I highly recommend you all to keep a decent GPA (Minimum 8)
On other hand, even with a GPA of 7.13, I do have an admit to an university with rank in top 40. I will soon be joining SUNY Stony brook for MSCS with specialization in Big-data/Systems. Stony brook is in top 40 colleges for CS; top 15 for systems-big data.
So its not end of the world if your GPA is less, make your profile strong by getting involved in other related activities, and get your dream admits!
So I will be ending this blog here. I hope this post has helped you all to get a better picture of the application process, criteria for shortlisting universities and MS in general. I shall keep updating this blog based on the feedback I get from you all.
All the best for your applications, may you all get the admits you want!
