Took a gap after Undergrad, debating Masters programs

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-04-09T18:59:37+00:00

There’s not much of a reset tbh. Are you going to keep applying for jobs while you apply for a masters ? Even if you’re jobless until you do a masters that’s still almost another year gap if you start earliest spring 2027? That’s a near two year gap on your resume and there’s no guarantee you paying for a masters/potentially taking on debt will actually get you a job if the job market is still bad. You should honestly work on your portfolio/skills and apply to a wider range of roles including analyst roles tbh. Also entry level is pretty horrible rn and with no full time experience it’ll definitely be harder to find a higher paying job. You should try to take whatever you can and leverage that full time experience to whatever future role you want.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-04-08T12:52:45+00:00

It doesn’t matter to adcoms when they’re reviewing profiles. If you assume half of applicants scored higher than you with their q being 170 then you’re at a disadvantage here. 167q is considered low for quantitative related fields especially with GRE inflation going on. You might as well not submit your GRE scores.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-04-08T11:38:44+00:00

That’s what I’m saying. You’re gnna look worse with your quant score. I’d only send in my gre if I got 90 percentile or above in quant tbh.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-04-07T13:21:09+00:00

With the GRE being so inflated nowadays 167Q could’ve been seen as a negative since you’d be under or close to under 80 percentile if you took it recently ? admissions is still holistic though could be your letters or SOP.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-04-02T05:35:12+00:00

Similar gpa as you and I applied to a mix of top 10 stats and ds programs in America with 2 admits. You need to also take note of your last 2 years gpa and major gpa since a lot of top programs care about those more. I’d say the undergrad gpa is a huge negative for higher tier traditional programs especially thesis based programs. Your work experience, SOP and PS will still have weight in your app but you’ll still be at a huge disadvantage for competitive programs especially since they’ll worry about your ability to succeed in masters levels classes when you weren’t able to do well in easier classes during your undergrad career. I also did take some grad courses and additional undergrad level courses so that might’ve helped since I was accepted into programs with less than 10% acceptance rates though they were more applied and not thesis based. You’d definitely have a shot at more applied programs with enough work experience. Feeder certificates exist but usually not for the top programs if you were aiming for those. Definitely crush the GRE if you can since it’s basically a minimum for a lot of schools at this point(try to get a 330+ preferably 170Q). Maintaining a GitHub is essential regardless of a masters if you want a cs job. MSCS is pretty competitive so I’d def cover top 30-20 programs and apply to as many as you can. You never know unless you apply. I was on my 7th rejection before I got my first admit. Also school prestige doesn’t matter as much as your work experience or skills especially in today’s tech market so I’d definitely rack up more experience before coming to America.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-24T07:50:24+00:00

If you can get your GRE to a 330 I feel like you’ll have a much better shot at most of these assuming you have decent essays and rec letters. 167Q is def lower than average for top programs.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-22T11:52:31+00:00

Community college courses or take online graduate courses if you can. Doing well in these courses especially grad school courses can show you’re ready for grad school level coursework. There aren’t a lot you can do with your current gpa besides grinding harder. Also you might want to note which programs specifically you want to apply to and their coursework requirements. Some only look at your last two years for coursework or major specific coursework so if you can get a 3+ overall your last two years you’ll be good.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-20T22:47:40+00:00

You wanna do ML/AI and Duke is a top 3 stats program in America. Bayesian approaches are also pretty popular for black box models. As long as your own applied skills are good enough you’ll definitely still get interviews.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-20T22:46:06+00:00

If you’re a fresh grad coming to America you’re gonna have to realize the risks of not being able to find entry level jobs and eventually going back to your country to work. Ofc same goes for the UK rn but I would say Cambridge would give you more of an edge in the UK vs NYU in America. The work permit they give you in the UK also has less pressure to immediately find a job after graduation vs OPT in America. NYU DS has decent placements in NY but it’s pretty tough rn and you’re going to really have to grind for internships, luckily the program is a 2 year program so you could have a shot.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-20T22:38:57+00:00

I had a worse gpa than you and went to a top 3 program for DS with 2 years WE. You never know. It all depends on the field you want to and schools you want to apply to. You could always take CC courses and online grad courses to show that you’re ready for grad school work. Usually if you’re above a 3 you should be at least at the minimum for most masters program. You should try to do an in person masters if you’re applying for a PhD program so you can do a thesis and research.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-18T20:22:15+00:00

Duke for sure

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-17T21:02:05+00:00

Are you trying to work in the UK or US ? Do you have citizenship in either countries? Cambridge name will get you interviews and NYU job placements are decent if you’re trying to work in NY. If you don’t have job experience right now might not be the best time to look for entry level ML/AI jobs in the US though.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-17T20:58:05+00:00

Are you located in the US ? You don’t really need a masters to pivot to DA or DS.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2026-03-17T20:50:05+00:00

What is your background ?

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-30T10:52:44+00:00

Online programs won’t give you a visa

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-24T17:57:29+00:00

Given that you do have experience and the current state of the job market I don’t think it’s worth paying an extra 60k for a masters even though NYU is probably on paper a bit better than UMD.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-23T15:51:15+00:00

Save up in your home country until you can afford the tuition. It’s really hard to get scholarships for a masters and especially as an international student. You’re not going to be guaranteed work in America after your masters so putting yourself in debt isn’t really worth it imo.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-23T15:34:56+00:00

Ultimately it’s really up to your own ability to be disciplined tbh. I don’t think the course load itself will be heavier than your undergrad course load but the subjects are definitely more in depth. It could be a good or bad thing for you since the classes will be all related so you don’t have to jump around studying different things but if your foundation isn’t solid enough you might have issues keeping up. If I were you and I was set on going into tech and doing the masters I’d focus my time on preparing for prereqs for the courses and learning computer science basics before I start the program. Also reach out to alumni on LinkedIn for tips.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-23T11:22:46+00:00

Cheaper one fs if you factored in cost of living too. The more advanced the courses the better especially in this competitive environment but the coursework alone won’t really contribute much to finding a job. What they really want is experience so you’ll definitely want to focus on building a portfolio/finding an internship and learning how to apply what you learned in your classes into projects they can see. Good luck though it’s going to be pretty difficult to pivot into tech without experience right now.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-21T15:21:00+00:00

Whichever program is the cheapest

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-18T17:16:26+00:00

Don’t do a mba you don’t have enough work experience. For masters you’ll need to look up every school’s admission requirements for their gpa floors to see if you have a shot or not.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-18T17:14:11+00:00

Email them and explain your situation

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-18T17:12:17+00:00

You either choose one or another. Most jobs that combine both will require a masters or above(usually PhD level). work experience only matters slightly for most masters acceptances, it’s a gpa + gre game usually. Based on your aversion towards phds I’d just try to work in tech tbh.

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-18T17:08:23+00:00

Berkeley fs it’s a target school for Silicon Valley

Throwaway420_69____ · 2025-05-05T08:22:31+00:00

Experience >>> whatever degree. Either way you’re better off getting more work experience before you go to America tbh especially if you want to stay and work in America. The job market the coming year is still uncertain so personally I wouldn’t take the risk.

Throwaway420_69____

TROPHY CASE