<p>Hi everyone,
I am an international student attending a top 5 school for undergraduate engineering program in the US. I am actually finishing my Masters in Electrical Engineering here with a thesis in a CS topic (undergrad in EE from the same school). I am applying for M.Sc. programs in Computer Science to some Canadian universities and was wondering how it would look to the admissions/faculty that I already have a Masters in EE. I wanted to switch fields and that's why I'm going for a Masters again. I have some background in CS from my undergraduate and graduate courses (took most of the CS courses offered plus some grad CS courses as well).</p>
<p>Second, I was wondering if those familiar could tell me if I am aiming too high. I have a 3.2 in undergrad (with 3.5 and 3.3 for the last two semesters) and my grad GPA is 3.4 (not stellar GPAs, I know). My GRE is 770 quantitative and 610 verbal, 3.0 analytical (terrible). I have an internship experience with a reputable financial software development firm. My thesis is also on a CS topic but I don't have a paper from it yet. I know my references fairly decently so they should be able to write a fair appraisal of me. I'm applying to University of Calgary and Alberta, maybe British-Columbia.</p>
<p>My school is not really well known (unlike HYPS, MIT etc) even though it is highly ranked among schools with undergraduate engineering programs. I was wondering how much this plays a part since I don't really know Canadian system. If you could advise me on things I could do to improve my application, I'd appreciate it as well.</p>
<p>Although CS isn’t my major, I think you have a shot at those schools. I am not sure whether Canadian schools will mind if you have a master’s already, but in most Canadian schools, you need to secure a supervisor before the school accepts you, so as long as you have a prof who will accept you, it should be fine.</p>
<p>Thx ladeeda. Yeah, some schools want me to secure prof before applying. I dunno if I’m doing it wrong coz I am getting few replies back from prof I have emailed. I tell the profs what kind of research I am interested in (usually what they are doing) and tell them a bit about my background (familiarity with concepts, work, etc). Then I ask them if they are taking students for their group. Should I be doing something else?</p>
<p>In addition, are their other people who are applying to U Alberta, Calgary, UBC here? When do we hear back regarding the decision? I heard its pretty late, around April or so. Is that true?</p>
<p>Yes, for Canadian schools you almost always need to find a supervisor willing to take you prior to applying. That professor will help push your application through the system. If you are accepted by the prof, you will almost always get accepted to the program. </p>
<p>In terms of contacting professors, what you are doing is good, but I noticed you are mainly talking about yourself (YOUR interests, YOUR background). Profs are people too, so they will be more interested if you also write about THEM. Tell them what it is about their research that you find fascinating, tell them how you might contribute to their program, why their department is so fantastic, etc. You can also ask them more specific questions ex. what projects they have in mind for MS students, what future directions they’re taking their research.</p>