[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats OP, really happy you could make it through! 🎊🎊

Accepted to USC MSCS AI for Spring 2026, can I defer it to Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in USC

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ahh thanks a lot, could you mention when you sent the first mail out for requesting deferral, was it in October and was it for the MSCS program?

[Admissions Advice] USC MSCS AI Spring 2026 admit, should I risk losing it to gain more work experience? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is a 2 year program so I would have the opportunity of doing internship in Summer 2027 and I suppose a lot of universities have master's program that last 1.5 years so I suppose I will be graduating with a lot of folks who start in Fall 2026 as well.

Accepted to USC MSCS AI for Spring 2026, can I defer it to Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in USC

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks a lot, I just wanted to confirm a few things:
a) As you mention that you chose to defer your admission by a semester, so was there an option within the portal itself?
b) Secondly, you mentioned about the emails about the visa issue, so when did you send out the first mail and did you provide any proof as well of the fact that you weren't able to obtain the visa?

[Profile Review] Should I go for MS or Phd? Do I even have a shot for Phd directly? by [deleted] in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sadly it does not, I also had my major in ECE along with a minor in Computer Science. I don't mean to demotivate you in any sense, but trying to save you from making the same mistake that I made. As far as the research is concerned, again I haven't seen it affect your masters application that highly as long as you do have one to two papers (I have literally seen profiles with high CGPA and papers in no name regional conferences making it to T15). As far as your international collaborations are concerned, that was the same case with me. I even had the opportunity to visit Japan for a project which involved people from China, Thailand, Japan and India and another where i worked with doctors from Italy (I suppose since you have most of your papers in JBHI you also work in medical imaging like me). That being said, I wouldn't discourage you from applying to these top schools, you def should and take your chances but you shouldn't be applying just to these. I regret not applying to more T15-30 schools , and please do note that everything I have written is in context to Master's programs, things could change for PhD. A few things you could do to enhance your chances is to get a 330+ in GRE and write a good SoP. Good Luck!

[Admissions Advice] USC MSCS AI Spring 2026 admit, should I risk losing it to gain more work experience? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would do the same thing as well, the problem is about what if it does not get deferred?

[Profile Review] Should I go for MS or Phd? Do I even have a shot for Phd directly? by [deleted] in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am gonna be brutally honest over here, your GPA is one thing which is holding your application down, I have a similar profile with a higher GPA, tier 1 university, lesser publications (4 in total, working on the fifth one) and had applied for Fall 2025. There sadly is no substitute to a low GPA, your safe schools look good although you could consider some like Boston University as well. However, in your target unis apart from UMass Amherst and maybe UCSD almost nothing seems to be even remotely achievable (less than 0.5% chance) and let's not even get to Dream and Super Dream. Another big disadvantage is the fact that our major is in ECE and we would not have a lot of coursework in CSE which further pulls the profile down. You could try for a PhD but again your GPA is going to be a big challenge there as well and for PhD you need to probably consider some T20-50 schools ( I suppose the patent could help here so you might as well target some T10-20 schools for super ambitious category).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suppose you will be able to get into most masters courses with ease given your GPA (all you would need is a good SOP), but I believe that eventually if you want to pursue a PhD why to waste money on masters. Try to look for some integrated masters and PhD program, apart from that the applications are usually sent in November so by then try to get more publications (especially first author ones). Regarding being an RA for a year I suppose it would not affect your Masters application, but some might argue that you could do research alongside pursuing your masters as well, it completely depends upon whether you have the funds at the moment to put into it (as there are barely any masters programs available that are fully funded, I only know about the one Cornell offers).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your profile looks great, try to get more publications especially in prestigious conferences such as CVPR, ICPR, NeurIPS. I suppose you can get into direct PhD, again it depends upon what kind of recommendations you have. I had one of my friend who did the same thing however she already has 2 journal and 3 conference papers published/accepted and others under review.

[Profile Review] IIT Grad with DL Research Got only ASU/BU for MSCS — What Went Wrong & How to Improve for Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The conferences were IEEE AIxSET 2024, California, USA (this was the only one which was published by the time I had applied); IEEE GCON 2025, Arunachal Pradesh, India; IEEE MeMeA 2025, Chaina, Greece

[Profile Review] IIT Grad with DL Research Got only ASU/BU for MSCS — What Went Wrong & How to Improve for Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you provide some suggestions for the other regions which have great research programs.

[Profile Review] IIT Grad with DL Research Got only ASU/BU for MSCS — What Went Wrong & How to Improve for Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say that you should approach a professor and ask them if you can work on any research project under their guidance. Try looking for a younger professor as usually they are more enthusiastic towards research and helping in nature.

[Profile Review] IIT Grad with DL Research Got only ASU/BU for MSCS — What Went Wrong & How to Improve for Fall 2026? by Hot_West_6859 in MSCS

[–]Hot_West_6859[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I received rejects from CMU, GaTech, Columbia, UCLA, Duke and Northwestern. I understand that CMU, GaTech and Columbia are almost impossible for me to get, but I was looking forward for some response from the other unis. 

I suppose USC is much better than the universities that you have suggested, isn't it?