I’m an international student who went to a state school for undergrad and have been working in the US since graduating exactly two years ago. My goal is to apply for graduate school (as an intl student), for Fall 2018, and get into an Ivy League. I was an average student through college and the only thing that can now really stand out on my application is that I’m currently getting amazing experience at an extremely well known company. I work in IT even though my undergrad major had close to nothing to do with the field. I want to pursue my studies in this field, and I want to do everything possible to increase my chances of attending an Ivy League school- I have looked up programs that I am interested in. However, I’m completely lost regarding how to go about making myself stand out further, and how to productively use these next few months in order to build that image. Severely lacking guidance here and any form of advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Are you sure that the 8 Ivy League schools even offer the best programs for IT? Have you researched other programs as well?
I will be applying to other top programs as well, I should have specified. However they all seem to be a reach without direction
Most important aspect of getting into grad school are GPA, testing, experiences, personal statement, and recommendations. If any of us knew how to stand out more, we’d all be going to Ivy League schools.
That may be true- but I’m trying to get ideas from people who may have been or are aware of similar situations, and had these circumstances work in their favor. I can’t go back and change my testing/GPA. I do want to know what else I can do to stand out at this point in time.
Such as: visiting schools, trying to contact professors, doing side projects? Does any of that help? Other similar ideas would be great
It’s a lot more straightforward than undergraduate admissions. Grades, test scores, research/experience, personal statement. Do them well, that’s all there is to it.
Master’s degree or PhD? What area are you interested in? For a master’s degree, your grades will not matter quite as much. For either degree, your lack of normal IT undergraduate courses will be a big issue for you to deal with. How do you plan to demonstrate the same or similar competency as a student who graduated with a CS or CS Engineering degree?
The Ivy League is a sports conference.
What does that have to do with IT?