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Case Study – MS in CS (Surya)

Presenting the case study of Surya Sumukh’s successful application journey for MS in Computer Science for Fall 2014.

syr uiuc  cornell_logo

Surya graduated from BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore with a stupendous GPA of 9.36 and joined a big bank as a developer. His significant achievements in music and 2 years of good work experience made a strong profile for him until he found out that he had scored 301 in GRE. The battle to get into a worthwhile school began when he joined Scholar Strategy for Fall 2014 apps.

Profile:

Undergraduation – BE Computer Science and Engineering from BMS Bangalore
GPA – 9.36
GRE – 301
Experience – 2 years of software engineering experience at a global bank and research internship at CDAC Bangalore
Area of Interest – Network Security and general CS
LORs – 1 academic, 2 professional ones from internship and full-time work

QnA:

Q: What do you think were your strong points before applying?

GPA and project work at CDAC, I believe were my strong points. I also think fulltime work experience at a well-known bank was important.

Q: What do you think were your weak points before applying?

Low GRE score, I had no proper plan and I do lack the ability of expressing myself clearly in the SOP.

Q: What do you think you did right?

I am happy I joined Scholar Strategy!!

Q: What could you have done better?

I would have devoted more time to my SOP to make it more enthusiastic. I should have planned and prepared myself better for the applications and GRE.

Q: What should applicants be more careful about (based on your experience)?

Definitely spend more time in planning for the full application process to be able to see the bigger picture.

Q: Where did Scholar Strategy help you?

Specifically in helping writing the SOP in a very short period. More importantly, suggesting universities more suited to my profile and overall profile evaluation.

Results

Surya has admits from Cornell (where he is heading to), Syracuse (30% scholarship), UIUC MCS program and University of Texas, Arlington and no rejects so far.

Read Surya’s testimonial here.

1 Comment

  1. hello ,
    I am aiming for UIUC, please let me know about the probability of getting it.
    GRE 305(143 V, 162 Q). 86.5% in BE CS. 2 Research papers under process. 2 certifications. I am planning for ms in cs particularly machine learning. One major project that I am handling now is related to Machine Learning. I would be very glad to get back a reply from you.
    Thank You.


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Thank you for the honest feedback on the SOP. The preparation for the SOPs helped me in the interviews and I would recommend Nistha for a friend looking for higher studies especially in US
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