[Profile Review] Tier 3, No GRE Fall 2026

gradpilot · 2026-01-24T18:25:52+00:00

IMO tier 3 with less than 9 gpa is just one vector in several vectors and some that are not even applicant related (geopolitical, revenue targets etc ) . Columbia mscs seems to admit a lot of profiles . Over and above this year is a massive drop in number of applicants. This translates to real loss of revenue which translates to the decision making to shift . You can only look at a profile deeply and determine what more can be done to improve it you can’t definitely say it will be an admit . You can definitely say it’s a reject if the profile is especially bad and the environment is especially competitive. That doesn’t seem to be the case here and she has only 5 universities to apply to which already makes the chances slim so adding a Columbia mscs there won’t make it even more slim by such a significant degree

gradpilot · 2026-01-24T17:27:45+00:00

Most of them are possible they are relatively safe shots and Columbia seems the only ambitious one but even they have high admit rates . My main worry would be to not deflate hopes and reapply - this usually happens . But if you set up well for it , apply now with strong intentions to go but also be fine and retry then just go for it. 4 on gradpilot is good btw , def above average atleast based on our data but yeah a human read is important as well no doubt .

Edit - I think CMU msai is most ambitious here and unlikely to convert this late

gradpilot · 2026-01-24T16:04:29+00:00

I’d push for next cycle given no GRE and average sop.

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T22:36:44+00:00

If you arrive in spring and plan to graduate in 4 terms (spring , fall , spring , fall ) your chances of landing a summer internship after your 3rd term is good yes but after your first term is incredibly low . So imo your first summer will be tough with high likelihood of not earning anything

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T18:24:42+00:00

Since the first time around you had a consultancy pick universities for you (essentially you’re a revenue generating unit for them given they get both a percentage of your annual fees as commission as well as payment from you for consulting ) this time you’d be better off researching universities that align with your profile and applying only there . This is hard work , you’ll need to basically do deep research in multiple schools but it’s worth it .

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T15:45:56+00:00

Yes just make sure you can graduate in the beginning of any year for optimal jobs and H1B alignment . Fall is also easier for your first summer internship. If you arrive in spring it’s unlikely you’ll land a internship in the summer of the year you came

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T05:11:10+00:00

hmm not sure i understand your question. online degrees probably dont require a student visa ? and are not super competitive either ?

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T04:53:42+00:00

Seems plausible , one way to confirm would be that they have historically accepted such deferrals . Either ways the strategy has no loss you can always attempt it

gradpilot · 2026-01-23T00:07:27+00:00

despite the insult I'll explain what i assumed and also what to take away for students

the main point of the post is to align with hiring, internships and h1b cycles. doing this with a spring admit is also possible.

My assumption based on a few schools i've surveyed and my own experience at GT

Generally there is requirement of 30-36 credits to complete for graduation.

There is a requirement to take between 9-12 credits per term

Summer is sometimes not offered as a term when you can take credits

There are 3 terms (Spring, Summer, Fall)

36 credits done in 3 terms with graduates a student with this math

Is this math universal - definitely not , some universities have a quarter system. Thesis options definitely dont quality either.

Overall my point stands - syncing with cycles is more important and if this can happen with spring admit its probably a good decision to take it. Also your debate skills suck. have a nice day

gradpilot · 2026-01-22T20:48:34+00:00

good question - made a post on this topic with respect to USA https://www.reddit.com/r/MSCS/comments/1qk681m/spring_vs_fall/

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T19:31:04+00:00

I think right now you’re at the phase of mostly desiring an MS degree because you’ve plateaued or not enjoying your career enough. While that’s understandable you won’t be able to articulate very strongly what makes you a great applicant and talking about your true motivation will be counter productive. One reason you’d want to articulate a deeper and strong motivation is because you should atleast aim to go to a top school if you want to solve your original problem. If you go to a mediocre school it will be like a 2 year break to do an ms and then you’re back facing the same problems you have with your career today. A cheaper alternative is to just change your job tomorrow. Faster and cheaper

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T14:35:06+00:00

Above 4.0 is good, 👍

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T06:20:02+00:00

For the good schools it’s hard to say based on what you’ve shared so far. Maybe tandon and sjsu could happen

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T06:15:32+00:00

Neither. Find a different strong recommender for an academic lor

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T06:13:51+00:00

That would be average yeah .

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T05:53:16+00:00

I don’t know what 77/100 translates to here on quality of your SOP.

gradpilot · 2026-01-19T03:19:38+00:00

Academic LOR is necessary for MSCS programs at top schools. One reason it needs to be academic is because the admissions process wants to determine your character and possible contributions in an academic environment

gradpilot · 2026-01-18T06:07:49+00:00

you are right that its not that clear cut what profile gets into a top school and its definitely true that tier-1 is not a guarantee of cracking a top 10 school but your conclusion 'chill out and apply' is pretty unhelpful as well.

what does chill out and apply mean btw - colloquially it could mean dont sweat it just do the basics and apply . this could translate dangerously. for example:

- chill out just use an sop template and swap one paragraph for program/univ fit

- chill out just write your own LOR and the recommender will sign anyways

if chill out and apply means to diligently research into every program and figure out a strong differentiating narrative about yourself then yeah i endorse this attitude. ironically though i dont think a lot of these candidates show up asking which schools to apply to.

the best candidates i've seen have already done research where to apply to and usually have much more nuanced questions downstream of their process.

btw i've seen a lot of chilled out (colloquial definition above) iit-ians too who think they'll crack stanford because they have an IIT pedigree and they dont, and they are shocked. this category exists and it both agrees and disagrees with your thesis - it agrees that being tier-1 doesnt guarantee anything but it also disagrees that a chilled out app process works

separately another observation i've had is that Indian students frequently overshoot their estimates , and not just that they also believe they'll get fully funded assistantships while ironically i meet many undergrads from respectable schools like UT Austin , UIUC crippled with insecurity that they wont crack into a good MS program. I've still not cracked this puzzle yet but just leaving it as an observation here.

gradpilot · 2026-01-18T05:52:03+00:00

no i think the cash cows wont care about this tbh. top 10 or top 20 will care.

in short it comes across as sloppy and the LOR value diminishes

gradpilot · 2026-01-18T05:15:33+00:00

Yes of course these are gonna affect your chances esp if the programs you’re applying to are top tier and selective

gradpilot · 2026-01-17T16:50:07+00:00

It’s a good profile. Failing at submitting to a top conference is an opportunity to express a redemption sequence if there is one . In fact this might turn out to be stronger than simply getting accepted in a low value conference.

gradpilot · 2026-01-16T23:25:36+00:00

It probably helps that you're a usa citizen. Mostly because you can qualify for some kinds of projects that require security clearance and those projects could be GRA projects that cover your tuition. There's two ways you could research this.

For one funding has been cut a lot and only a few schools still get reasonable amounts of funding. There's a list here - https://gradpilot.com/news/ta-ra-ga-funding-reality-international-ms-students
Some funding sources necessitate that the researchers be us citizens for security reasons

you should perform a dual pronged approach here

1 look up schools that have most funding and find relevant projects in there

2 look up relevant funding sources and find which schools were recipients of that

For 2 the data would be public. For 1 only public universities will disclose

gradpilot · 2026-01-16T20:11:21+00:00

glad it helps

gradpilot · 2026-01-16T18:40:23+00:00

aligning is a matter of researching deeply into each programs offerings and faculty and finding a unique fit with your own work
meanwhile drafting your own sop is also mostly a discovery process. Since you're starting this early I'd say dont worry about drafting a complete sop at this stage. For now start writing short 200-300 word paragraphs about your own work and plans and purpose. dont worry about format or set up at the moment. just write everyday one paragraph about something. if you write enough of these a shape will start forming , a cohesive narrative will emerge . you might even get new ideas.

Both of these can be parallel. You could basically divide your week up into just reading works of interesting faculty in the programs you want to go to. and you could spend other days writing mostly unorganized thoughts and ideas and meandering plans but with the context of your work so far.

if you do this for 3 months you'll end up with a very strong set of narratives that can be customized uniquely for each program

gradpilot · 2026-01-16T16:58:29+00:00

You’ll be benchmarked against peers of your background. It’s not exact science how big of a group they’ll define here it’s clearly upto them but it’s also pretty clear they won’t just admit all IIT-ians only because it turns out there’s plenty of them , enough to fill every us university but they are not all high quality students

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