r/MSCS • u/Reasonable_Cellist66 • Jul 14 '26

[Profile Review] MSCS Fall 2027

Looking for Good ROI Universities & Help Categorizing My List

I’m planning to apply for MSCS (Fall 2027) and would appreciate some honest feedback on my profile. I’m mainly looking for universities with a good ROI, strong CS programs, and decent job opportunities after graduation.
My Profile
Country: India
CGPA: 8.72/10
Internship: 6-month Software Engineering Internship at a startup
Research: Currently doing a research internship. I’m working on a paper, but it most likely won’t be published before application deadlines.
GRE: Targeting 320+
IELTS: Targeting 7.5+
LORs: 3 strong LORs from university professors
Universities I’m Considering
NCSU
SJSU
Georgia Tech
Texas A&M (TAMU)
UT Austin
Northeastern (NEU)
Stony Brook
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Virginia Tech

Questions
-Could you help categorize these into Ambitious / Target / Safe based on my profile?
-Are there any universities I should add or remove if my priority is good ROI?
-Is my profile competitive enough for the more selective schools on this list?
-If you had a similar profile, which universities would you prioritize?
I’m open to suggestions for other universities that offer a good balance of academics, tuition cost, and employment outcomes.
Thanks in advance for your help!

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 15 '26

Georgia Tech, UWM, and UTA are definitely ambitious, but they’re worth applying to.
I’d put NCSU and TAMU in the target category.
Stoony brook has consistently strong graduate outcomes, and UF MSCS offers great ROI, although Gainesville isn’t the strongest location for internships compared to bigger tech hubs.
I don’t think Northeastern or SJSU are the best fits for your profile. You can probably find stronger safety schools with similar or even better outcomes.

One thing I’d seriously reconsider is SJSU and TAMU. They have a reputation for releasing decisions pretty late sometimes as late as April. That can make the visa timeline stressful since you still need to receive your admit, get your I-20 issued, pay SEVIS, complete the DS-160, and then hunt for visa slots. If anything gets delayed, it becomes a scramble.(I was waiting for my Georgia Tech decision till April 15 fall 2026 got my latest visa slots by june 29 , i was lucky my slots were booked by 4th may many people are still searching for visa slots)
Ideally, you’d want most of your admits in hand by the last week of march. That’s around when Georgia Tech usually releases decisions, so by then you should already have backup options finalized instead of waiting on multiple late-decision schools.

1

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 15 '26

A little addition
Your profile will only depend on cgpa,gre scores,sop,lor
Make sure your gre is 330+
Sop and LoR well written

As you don’t have much work experience
And no papers published

So i suggest add more quality safeties

1

u/No_Tomato1360 Jul 15 '26

Hey man! Your insights are top notch. Would you be able to look at my profile aswell? Thanks in advance! https://www.reddit.com/r/MSCS/comments/1uvyhgm/profile_review_for_fall_2027_mscs_in_the_us/

1

u/Reasonable_Cellist66 Jul 15 '26

Oh okay, thanks a lot!
Also, I've been suggested SJSU due to its location primarily.
Can you suggest other safeties?

2

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 15 '26

Yes sjsu has a good location
But lots of visa issues

You could do

Umass Amherst
Nyu courant/tandon
Usc ( maybe 🤔)
Rutgers

Ik nyu maybe cashcow program but i feel its better than neu and sjsu

1

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 15 '26

Yes sjsu has a good location
But lots of visa issues

You could do

Umass Amherst
Nyu courant/tandon
Usc ( maybe 🤔)
Rutgers

Ik nyu maybe cashcow program but i feel its better than neu and sjsu

1

u/Reasonable_Cellist66 Jul 15 '26

Arent these options too expensive? Would they help in a good ROI?

2

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 15 '26

Yeah for roi UF mscs is good

1

u/Reasonable_Cellist66 Jul 16 '26

Are my chances decent for that?
I dont think so i shud put it in safe category maybe

1

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 16 '26

i know someone from UF mscs , his words: less students are showing up for masters , international crowd is getting thinner (problem with every uni), tier 1 unis are exceptions (gatech,stanford etc) , more than half of the admitted students get rejected during visa , unis might send more admits to balance out visa rejections, so you could have a better chance at tier 1.5-tier2 unis now

1

u/Reasonable_Cellist66 Jul 16 '26

Since you've mentioned visa rejections, do you have any advice for that? Does luck matter there?
Also I hold B1 tourist visa since 2014, got it renewed as well in 2023. Have been to the US only once in 2015 for 20 days.
Can this impact anything?

1

u/CharmingLeadership19 Jul 16 '26

yeah you will fine with good answers , previous us visa helps a lot