<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I'm wondering what my chances are for acceptance into the part-time graduate program for Stanford Computer Science.</p>
<p>I just graduated in May and, straight out of undergrad, got hired by Apple. Apple is an affiliate company at Stanford in the HCP program.</p>
<p>My GPA breakdown is 3.0 all around - technical, nontechnical, overall. My GREs aren't stellar 650 Quant and 540 Verbal.</p>
<p>I could get fantastic letters of recommendation from the dean of my department, a relevant, researching professor, and another dean who worked closely with me for four years in a school-wide, tech development program. I did plenty of undergrad research and with all of these folks.</p>
<p>As far as a statement of intent, I could kill it. I want this (and that's how I got into Apple straight from undergrad). But I don't know if I could ride my whole package on an impassioned essay.</p>
<p>I understand my package isn't up to par with typical applicants but would shooting for the HCP program result in a lowered barrier to entry?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, because of moving out here in May, I didn't allow enough time to adequately prepare for the application deadline in December (I took one shot at the GREs after a weekend of study).</p>
<p>If I don't have any chances this year, I'm pretty much blocked on graduate education until next year, eh? I want to focus on hardware somewhat (systems engineering specialization) and I know CMU is also nearby the South Bay, however, they don't offer much specialization in hardware.</p>