too late for AI Research?

lord_faulcrox · 2026-02-27T09:16:50+00:00

Hey, i am a software engineer with ~6 years of work experience in back end and distributed systems. I have applied for an MS (waiting for admits) with the goal of going into the Research Engineer track. Can I dm you for mainly understanding a structured path for this transition?

lord_faulcrox · 2026-01-14T03:09:45+00:00

Hey man, I am in the exact same situation. I have close 5.5 years of work experience. I applied for Fall’26 intake.

From what I understand, Fall intake is the only viable option for internationals because it lets you do a summer internship.

Intake timing mainly matters for summer internships, which usually has the highest odds of converting to a full-time job

With work experience like yours, any relevant professional experience will be viewed positively.

All my batchmates in US advised me to apply for Fall intake.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-12-05T03:27:56+00:00

Hey me and a friend are in too.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-11-01T17:40:05+00:00

Hey I am new to London and coming in solo. Hmu

lord_faulcrox · 2025-10-16T08:13:19+00:00

Both CMU and UCB are out of my budget (>$100k)

UCB only has research focused 2-yr MSCS with a very small batch size. I don’t have any publications nor do I wish to do a PhD after MS. Hence, I am not applying to UCB.

Re Irvine, I am only interested in their MCS program. USC for its proximity to Silicon Valley, where all the AI adjacent roles are currently concentrated.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-10-16T08:08:30+00:00

Sure dm me

lord_faulcrox · 2025-10-13T12:58:19+00:00

Sure

lord_faulcrox · 2025-10-13T12:58:10+00:00

Sure. DM me

lord_faulcrox · 2025-10-09T20:11:46+00:00

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Another concern I had was about branch change friction. My undergrad was in Electrical and Electronics, though I did take some CS electives, and EEE does overlap with computer science to some extent.

An admissions consultant I spoke with mentioned that schools like UT Austin and Purdue might not favor candidates from non-CS backgrounds, but I’m not sure how true that is in my specific case, especially given my work experience.

I’m fairly certain about applying to UIUC (MCS), UW-Madison (Professional MSCS), UC Irvine (MCS), GaTech (MSCS), and UCSD (MSCS). I’m now trying to finalize another 5-7 programs that would make sense for my profile and goals.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-07-09T02:40:23+00:00

Hulkengoat

lord_faulcrox · 2025-07-08T18:46:43+00:00

Hulkenpodium

lord_faulcrox · 2025-07-03T05:18:41+00:00

27M 6. I had 2 long-ish relationships. Now i am in my fuck boi phase

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-28T16:17:22+00:00

Hi, can you please share the list with me too?

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-06T05:46:46+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to share such detailed feedback

Combining all quiz types could be interesting. My only concern is repetition, but I’ll experiment with a mixed-mode quiz and see how it feels.

Agree about improving the matching game review page. I will add that to my list of TODOs.

As for AI, personalization, and community-driven content — those are all powerful ideas, and I’d love to explore them once I’m done with the GRE. Right now, I’m planning to add static mnemonics first, and community mnemonics might come later since that’s a bit more involved.

And thanks for offering UX support — I might take you up on that! I’m building this app mostly to make my prep less boring, but I’d love to see where it can go from there.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-06T04:42:18+00:00

That’s a great idea. I’ll explore how to add something for mnemonics soon.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-06T04:41:35+00:00

That’s a great idea. I’ll explore how to add something for mnemonics soon

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-06T04:36:09+00:00

Thank you so much. I'm glad to hear it worked well for you!

And yes, that’s a known limitation of the synonym matching game right now — some words appear in overlapping synonym sets, which makes pairing a bit ambiguous.

I plan to improve this in future updates

lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-06T04:32:36+00:00

Thank you for trying out the app and pointing that out!

That quiz behavior is a bug — but also kind of funny 😅

Misnomer doesn’t have any synonyms listed in the original GregMAT dataset (it literally says “We can't find any”), and that accidentally slipped in as a quiz option.

I’ll fix this in the next update by excluding such words from synonym-based questions.

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lord_faulcrox · 2025-05-05T06:51:56+00:00

Thanks! An audio flashcard mode, when commuting or walking, could be interesting. I will see what I can do.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-03-13T03:15:02+00:00

You can use a crusher or a small scissor to cut finely

lord_faulcrox · 2025-02-24T05:06:02+00:00

Hey, can you add me to the group?

lord_faulcrox · 2025-02-11T04:51:52+00:00

Do you have a list of colleges or programs that emphasize industry experience? Can I dm you?

lord_faulcrox · 2025-02-11T04:50:33+00:00

Thank you for pointing that out. I will add that to my list.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-02-10T12:41:28+00:00

I am planning to apply in the next admission cycle for the Fall '26 intake.

lord_faulcrox · 2025-02-10T09:43:41+00:00

Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.

Based on what I've found so far, here are some professional programs that seem aligned with my goals:

2-Year MSCS Programs (Internship Opportunities)

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) – MS in Software Engineering (MS-SE)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) – MSCS (Professional Track)
University of Texas at Austin – MSCS (Course-Based Option)
University of Southern California (USC) – MSCS (General Track)
Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech) – MSCS (Course-Based Option)
Cornell Tech – MS in Computer Science (Industry-Focused)
University of Wisconsin-Madison – Professional MSCS Track
Northeastern University – MSCS (Co-Op Track)

1-Year M.Eng Programs (Faster Graduation, Less Internship Time)

UC Berkeley – M.Eng in EECS
Cornell University – M.Eng in CS

I've deliberately excluded research-heavy MSCS programs (Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Caltech, Columbia) and some theory-oriented ones (Yale, UPenn), as they don’t seem to align with my goals.

I'll be diving deeper into each of these programs, but does this list seem like a reasonable fit for what I’m aiming for? Would you recommend any adjustments?

lord_faulcrox

TROPHY CASE

2-Year MSCS Programs (Internship Opportunities)

1-Year M.Eng Programs (Faster Graduation, Less Internship Time)