<p>Hey all, </p>
<p>(Not sure how different grad school is from undergrad admissions ... it's been 4 years since my last "chance me" post!)</p>
<p>I'm planning on applying to a few Top 20/25 Comp Sci Masters grad programs and I'm wondering if my goals are reasonable given my stats. I am looking for a terminal MS program; I do not plan on getting a PhD.</p>
<p>-3.65 overall GPA, major GPA around a 3.3 (a bit weak)
-800 GRE-M, 640 GRE-V (old scale), 9/12 GRE-W
-Did research 1st (robotics) and 3rd (security) year, but no published papers
-Currently involved in a couple of honor societies at school and also Solar Car, orchestra, and worked for pay in housing/dining services at some point in undergrad (this doesn't matter at all but I just wanted to throw it in)
-Two summer internships in the field in 2nd and 3rd year, both at Fortune 500 companies and the last one at a top tech firm in Seattle, where I have return job offer (convertible to an internship) waiting for next summer</p>
<p>I understand that my GPA, particularly my major GPA, is a bit low - however, because I came in with lots of advanced (AP) credits, I took quite a few upper-level math (e.g. linear and abstract algebra) and econ courses, but I am not getting concentrations in those, and have taken many courses in my own concentration.</p>
<p>Here are a few schools I am looking into: </p>
<p>UMich Ann Arbor, my undergrad school (most preferred because of location and program/curriculum continuity, and I think I can get pretty good recommendations from the professors I've done research with)</p>
<p>and in no particular order:
UMD- College Park
Purdue
UMass Amherst
U Wisconsin-Madison
Caltech, Princeton (both reaches) </p>
<p>I am interested in specializing in computer security or databases/distributed computing, which my project at my last internship covered. I must admit that I'm not sure how strong the schools I have in my list are in these areas, so I am open to any suggestions that people give me! </p>
<p>Location-wise, I would prefer to remain fairly close to home in Southeastern Michigan (earlier this summer my dad was diagnosed with cancer), meaning several hours of driving or couple hours at most by air. As stated above, UMich is my dream grad school.</p>
<p>I have not spent any time talking to professors at other schools yet.</p>
<p>Do I have a reasonable chance at the schools I'm looking into? </p>
<p>Thanks alot!</p>