-B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
-2.42 cumulative GPA
-3.67 GPA for last 60 credit hours (including post-bacc coursework)
-GRE: 169 verbal / 170 quant / 5.0 writing
-Math/CS courses taken since graduation, with A’s in all of them:
CS50 Intro to Computer Science (online through Harvard Extension)
Math E-15 Calculus I (online through Harvard Extension)
CS 112 Data Structures (Rutgers University)
Math 250 Intro to Linear Algebra (Rutgers University)
CS 205 Intro to Discrete Structures I (Rutgers University)
A few semesters of D’s and F’s early on in college destroyed my cumulative GPA, but my grades improved significantly later on. I’m also good at standardized tests and did well on the GRE, and I got A’s in the five math/CS courses I took this year.
Realistically, do I have a shot at getting into a Computer Science M.S. program? If so, what can I do to maximize my chances? Could I get into a top 100 school? Top 50?
I think that your post graduate coursework and your last 2 years of undergraduate give you a chance along with the fact that your GRE scores are very strong. However, I would not count on getting into the most selective programs and try to find some programs that you would be pretty sure would take you.
You need to also make sure that you have a lot of the prerequisites taken care of before you apply. The courses you have taken as a post-bac might be sufficient for some programs but not for others.
You also have to expect to self-fund a Masters degree.
You ask about top 50 or top 100. i really don’t pay a lot of attention to whatever “rankings” you might look at but rather what the placement rate is for graduates. Find that out and make sure you get into a program that places its graduates well.
"My grades are poor. Can I still go to graduate school in physics?
Poor grades will make it more difficult to get into graduate school. Doing poor in your freshman year is generally not a problem, but if you have low grades throughout your career, or if your grades drop over time, that will probably make the admissions committee nervous. Low grades can be compensated by a strong research effort and a good GRE score. You will find that different schools have different thresholds on grades."
As far as top 50 schools are concerned, it depends on the professors who write your LORs and what they think of your potential. All we can see is that you took some lower level courses after graduating.