CS Grad School

<p>Ok so I'm quickly realizing that it's not as easy to tell where I can get in for grad schools as it was for undergrad. Can anyone help me figure out what kind of schools I should be looking at? I'm aiming for a master's degree in computer science.</p>

<p>I had a 3.54 from Emory with a major in Applied Math. My major GPA was 3.8. I had 3 semesters of CS (a yearlong intro course and data structures and algorithms, all A's), so I'm looking for programs that have some sort of immersion phase or that will start slow. My rec letters will be fine, I'm not worried about them. </p>

<p>A lot of the schools I'm looking at require the general GRE, so I've been studying for it. I know my quantitave score will be solid, 750-800, but my verbal will suck (500 on Barron's diagnostic test, which was already after 5 days of studying). No idea how analytical will go. </p>

<p>I spent the summer of 09 programming a web crawler for a private equity firm. I graduated in May, and will have a year of teaching experience in an urban school before I enroll (calculus and algebra 2). I'll also have a masters in secondary education (which will require research). This is part of the teaching program I'm in. Honestly I just applied to it because I needed a job. My real career aspirations are to work in information assurance.</p>

<p>One program that really appeals to me is the Naval Postgraduate School's Monarch program (for civilians), because it focuses on security and places you in a government position after you graduate (and I'd love to work at NSA). Am I shooting too high, though? Too low? I really can't tell. It's pretty important that I get into at least one school, but I don't wanna end up in a poor program either...</p>

<p>Any suggestions/feedback welcome. Know that I don't have time to take more CS classes before next fall though</p>

<p>Come on I know someone out there has an opinion. Am I setting myself up for disappointment here? Can I even get in a master’s program without any CS research? I honestly didn’t think it would matter that much, but reading other threads on here has gotten me pretty worried. </p>

<p>Like I said it’s important that i get in SOMEWHERE. It’s a lot of time and money to put together these applications. I’m looking at Purdue, Johns Hopkins (MSSI), Chicago (CSPP), Minnesota, Indiana (Security Informatics), and the NPS (Monarch program for non-CS majors). Be honest, am I wasting my time?</p>

<p>You can get into plenty of top 20 programs.</p>