Hi everyone,

I'm applying to CMU's MSCS program for Fall 2027. The eligibility states a preference for <2 years of experience, but I will have around 3 years by the start term. (The MSCS curriculum fits my goals much better than the MSE).

Is this a strict cutoff, or will having over 2 years hurt my application during a review?

Would love to hear from anyone familiar with CMU CS admissions or who knows someone that got in with a substantial amount of work experience. Thanks!

I can’t ask my current manager for LOR since they’ll know that I’m leaving and that can cause negative effect. Can I ask my ex manager who left the company to write LOR? Should it have his new companies letter head or is it just a word doc? Please help. Applying for Fall 2027 MS CS

I'm a 2028 graduate, tier 2 pvt college in Bengaluru, India, CGPA 8.76/10, but will hit 9+ by graduation. I have 2 papers planned to publish as the first author (one study based research paper draft is ready for TMLR journal and one project based paper is ongoing). Research internship experience at my college research lab. I'm planning to get 2 LoRs from my prof mentors of these, and the third one from my future job manager.

What should I aim for, or do right now before graduating? I want admission in t25 unis like CMU or equivalent. Is that realistically possible given my non IIT background? I also didn't do too well in 12th, if that matters

Hey everyone, I'm planning to apply for my Master's and would love some university recommendations and a reality check on my profile.

My Profile:

Undergrad: B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering from a Tier-1 institute (NIT) in India.

CGPA: 9.07 / 10

Work Experience: 2 years working full-time at a US-based Fortune 500 company .

Test Scores: IELTS: 7.0,

GRE: Not taken / Not planning to take.

Research - No

LoRs: Expecting strong letters from [e.g., 2 College Professors (done projects under prof) and 1 reporting Manager at my current company].

Based on this, what would be some good Ambitious, Target, and Safe universities for me? Any advice is appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student from India planning to apply for Fall 2027 MS in CS/ML/AI programs in the US.

Profile:

• B.Tech in CSE (Data Science minor) from a tier 2 college
• CGPA: 9.26/10
• 2+ years of full-time experience, currently working at a Microsoft
• No publications due to NDA-bound research work
• Strong LORs from senior researchers/managers
• GRE: Planning to take (aiming for 330+)
• TOEFL: Planning to take

I’m mainly interested in CS/ML/AI programs that have strong industry/recruiting outcomes for ML Engineer, Applied Scientist, SWE/AI, Big Tech, or AI startup roles.

My current shortlist:

CMU
Georgia Tech
UIUC
UW Madison
University of Washington
Columbia
UT Austin
UCSD

Do I have a shot at these colleges with my background?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I was admitted to the Johns Hopkins University MSCS program, but I deferred my admission to Spring 2027.

Right now, my biggest concern is the F-1 visa interview, especially because I will be applying as a self-funded student. I’ve been hearing a lot of stories that self-funded students are having a harder time getting visas nowadays, and honestly, it has made me pretty nervous.

I understand that every visa case is different, so I’m trying to prepare properly rather than rely on rumors.

Has anyone here recently received an F-1 visa for a master’s program while being self-funded?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience, especially:

• What should I keep in mind while preparing?
• Is being self-funded itself really a major disadvantage?

Would really appreciate experiences from recent applicants, especially those applying for Spring/Fall 2026 or 2027.

Thanks in advance!

My background -

I'm a 2022 grad. I've been planning for Fall 2026 Masters in CS since last year.
I currently have an admit from UC Irvine for MCS (non thesis CS masters) for this fall (I have a visa interview scheduled in the 1st week of Sept.)

For the past 4 years I have been working at a fairly large/well-known American company. I got promoted a few months ago and so I'm currently making north of 45 LPA here in India.

For the longest time I was sure I wanted to pursue a Masters in the US - the variety of opportunities for both personal and career growth are unmatched anywhere in the world.

Also a major major personal motivating factor for me being able to work and live abroad for a few years (don't really want to stay permanently).

However, the all the policy changes and confusion regarding International students, plus the experiences of people who've gone in previous years (specifically folks who went last year - most ppl I know haven't gotten an internship) is making me double think about my choices.

Not sure how much the degree is inherently valuable (UCI is a T25 uni, but not T5 or T10) so I think ROI is definitely a factor to consider.

So not quite sure what to do. Personally I have enough savings to be able to pay like 90%+ of the (tution fee + living expenses) from my own account without asking my parent for money. So I don't really run the risk of drowning in debt (although I would lose my savings ofcourse).

At the same time I know people (friends/acquaintances) that have gotten jobs in Europe and Asia Pacific simply applying from India - so I have been doing that as well for a few weeks now (although that obviously takes time to work)

TLDR - Really wanted to go to US for masters originally - a major goal was working abroad for bit; but scared by the current situation and not entirely sure what to do.......

I understand this is a personal decision at the end of the day, but just wanted to put this out there for some opinions.
u/gradPilot, hope you could help, please.

Hi everyone!
I’m planning to apply for MSCS programs in the US for Fall 2027 and would appreciate an honest evaluation of my profile.

Profile:

BTech in Computer Engineering, Tier 1.5, 2022
CGPA: 8.92/10

4 years of software engineering experience working at a F500 US based MNC(5 YOE by 2027 fall)
Backend-focused: Java, Spring Boot, Python, Flask, Oracle SQL, REST APIs
Experience with GCP, Kubernetes, Airflow, CI/CD
Worked on NLP/RAG-based Q&A assistant

Mentored junior engineers, led sprint planning, owned releases, coordinated with business/product teams and conducted technical interviews

No research papers/publications or formal research experience

Areas of interest: AI/ML, GenAI/LLMs, NLP and distributed/backend systems.
GRE/TOEFL: [Not taken / scores]

I’d love to know:

What are my realistic chances across different university ranges?
How much does 4 YOE help for MSCS admissions?
How much would the lack of research hurt?
Would a strong GRE score make a meaningful difference?
Which universities would you consider ambitious / target / safe for my profile?

Would especially appreciate feedback from people with similar profiles who have applied recently.

Thanks!

If anyone has any idea about the Fall GT admission decisions timeline, please help me with it.

I'm asking because I heard they send them out a bit late around April, is that true?

Some background: I am a 2024 pass out and I was planning for 2026 Fall Masters in the US for MSCS courses. But amidst the process last year, I decided to drop the plans. This is my profile:

Education: B. Tech 2024 in CSE
CGPA: 9.4 / 10.0
Work Experience:

• Currently working as Software Developer for past year at a MNC. It will become 3 years by next year.
• Summer interned at another MNC.

GRE: 320 (167Q, 153V, 4AWA)
TOEFL: 110/120
Publications:

• 1 Paper at IEEE conference

LORs: Combination of College(2) + Corporate(1)

Target schools: UTA, Georgia Tech, UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UIUC (MCS)

But the thoughts of masters keep coming to me now and then and I am unable to decide. My main aim to do masters is to get international exposure in software engineering and workout on really amazing tech with amazing people. Education comes secondary to me. And of course, earn in $$. I have literally enhanced my profile, updated my resume and tried for international jobs / remote jobs for 3-4 months but unfortunately no luck.

I AM STUCK :

• Am I over-thinking a lot because of the risk ? I do not want to repent later that I didn't take the risk. I have my friends who went, and they are candidates with good / decent profiles....are they not seeing the risk I am seeing (they have gone on loans) Or AM I not able to see the upside and mind you, I am not one of them who is planning to go because "friends are going". What if I miss out on opportunities that I am actually capable of ? (I am not boasting myself, I do have decent skills)
• What if everything works out and I get the internship / job. I really don't mind not getting the H1b after 3 attempts. I can come back to India or try for another country. I want the exposure

Need an honest perspective from people who've faced this decision. I'm an SWE at a well-known MNC with ~2 YOE(Next year it'll become 3), targeting AI/backend roles.. My motivation is exposure to the US tech ecosystem, learning, networking, and long-term career growth. The downside is taking a loan(It'll be a combination of my savings + loan) in today's uncertain job market. For people who've been through this recently, would you still make the same decision today, and why?

u/gradpilot your suggestions would really help me

I believe a one-year OPT has lost its meaning entirely : r/h1b_layoffs

* If you cannot fund 70-90% of the tuition without a loan do not go there.

* CPT, OPT, STEM OPT are a honey pot scam.

* Proposal for $100K for OPT. Most likely will destroy post-graduation ROI even if courts remove it.

* Unis want your money. Immigration wants you to return immediately. Education is a side effect.

* Assume 0 ROI post-graduation and plan finances & life with this in mind.

* Assume you will pay your loans if any, in local currency for the inflated $ education.

* T5, T10, T20, T50 is irrelevant. Your degree paper is not your ROI. Post graduation immigration environment is.

* Visa reform is a bi-partisan issue. Blue may not be any different from orange/red admin. Do not plan based on blue/orange/red admin. Look at the trajectory of reforms and policies: xenophobia, gatekeeping & ladder pulling.

* American jobs are for American. Jobs are NOT for the competent irrespective of American or intl.

* Your ROI is determined by trajectory of sponsorship policies not by the education you gained. Thus T5, T10, T20, T50 is irrelevant if you cannot make do without 0 ROI.

* You are paying 75-120K$ for the chance at a honeypot. Filthy rich people can ignore this.

* Do not negotiate using "exponential returns requires exponential risk". There is a difference between an environment that allows you to make back the invested amount, make more than it, return with 0 ROI.

* Intl students are not $ cash cows for unis irrespective of their tier. Let Americans pay the full fees and unis figure out other ways to get funding for their research. Stop being their subsidy.

Applying for Fall 2027

• Undergrad: B-Tech CS (2024) from an IIT, CGPA: 9.55 / 10.0
• Work
  • Working in India at a well known American Finance/Quant firm since 2024
  • Did a summer internship at the same firm in 2023
• Research
  • Second author in a journal paper at Elsevier - Knowledge Based systems
  • First author in a journal paper (not so well known journal)
  • 2 submissions currently under review at NeurIPS and AAAI (second author in both)
• LORs
  • two professors whom I did reserch work with
  • one professor (CSE HOD) whom I did two courses under and performed well
  • work manager
• GRE: 335 (168Q, 167V)
• Software Projects (work + personal): revolving around realtime-systems, kafka, redis, agentic AI, web development, finance etc

Based on my profile, I have prepared the following list of universities that I shall be applying to:

• Dream: Stanford (MSCS AI Track), CMU (MSML/MSCS), UC Berkeley (MEng EECS)
• Ambitous (Target): UT Austin (MSCS), UIUC (MSCS), Georgia Tech (MSCS), Cornell (MEng), U of Toronto (MSc CS), NUS (MS CS)

I have not added any to safe list as I want to go to the US (by paying huge sums of money) only if I get admission in one of the best/top univs

Please let me know if this list is realistic. What additions / deletions should I make.
TIA!

I know I’ve posted my profile before, but I’m posting again because I’m still struggling to get a clear idea of my chances and how I should structure my university list. Would really appreciate an honest profile evaluation, especially from people familiar with these programs.
Profile:
B.Tech ICT, Tier 1.5 University
GPA: 8.72/10
Currently working as a Research Intern at my university
Around 6 months of software engineering internship experience
Targeting 330+ GRE
By the time I apply:

1 Q4 journal paper expected to be published
1 manuscript expected to be submitted to a Q1 journal
Research experience through my university + summer research internship
LORs:
1 from my current research professor
1 from my summer research internship professor
1 from the Dean / professor under whom I performed well in courses
Current university list
Main list:
UIUC — MCS
Georgia Tech — MSCS
Purdue — MSCS
Virginia Tech — MSCS
NCSU — MCS
TAMU — MCS
Stony Brook — MSCS
UMass Amherst — MSCS
University of Minnesota Twin Cities — MSCS
UCSD — MSCS
Safer options:
SJSU — MSSE
CU Boulder — MSCS
Questions
How would you rate my chances for each of these universities/programs? Which would you consider ambitious, target, and safe for my profile?
Is this list reasonably balanced, or am I being too ambitious?
I’m considering applying to MCS and other non-thesis/coursework-focused programs because I assume they may give me a better shot at admission. Is this actually a good strategy?
Do MCS/professional/non-thesis programs have any impact on F-1 visa chances compared with a traditional MSCS?
I’m particularly interested in whether there are any practical differences during the visa interview, assuming the program is a full-time, on-campus, STEM/CS-related degree.
Are there meaningful differences in job outcomes, internships, OPT prospects, or ROI between an MCS, MSCS non-thesis, and MSCS thesis if my primary goal is software engineering/industry rather than a PhD?
Should I add more universities to this list?
I’m looking for universities with:
Strong CS/SWE job opportunities
Good ROI
Reasonable tuition/cost
Good outcomes for international students
A realistic chance of admission with my profile
I don’t want to add universities that are extremely expensive just for the name.

Are there any specific MCS/MSSE/non-thesis MSCS programs you would recommend adding?
Given my profile, would you recommend changing the list toward more MCS/non-thesis programs, or is the current mix reasonable?
I’d especially appreciate realistic feedback rather than just “apply and see.” If possible, please rate my chances for each university/program and suggest additions/removals.
Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I am finalizing my application strategy for the Fall 2027 intake, with my primary dream target being Carnegie Mellon University (specifically programs like MSAII, MSCS, or MCDS).

My profile is a hybrid of applied medical AI research (with quantified clinical impact) and industry execution (2 YOE + multiple internships). Given CMU’s highly competitive applicant pool from India, I am trying to figure out which specific SCS/LTI master's track offers me the best admission odds, and whether certain parts of my profile will trigger administrative filters.

I would love an honest, brutal evaluation of my chances.

my_qualifications :-

• Academics: B.Tech in CSE from a newer/lower-tier National Institute of Technology (NIT / Institute of National Importance in India).
• GPA: 8.95 / 10.0 (Department Rank 1 ).
• Work Experience: 2 Years of full-time experience at a major service based company (like Infosys/Tcs), AI intern (3 months), SWE Intern(6 months), Big data intern (3) months.
• Standardized Tests: Preparing for the GRE and IELTS -7.5(6.5L, r/W/S >7).

Research & Project Portfolio

• Medical AI Publications (2 Papers):
  • Paper 1 (Improving LLMs Hallucination)[Accepted - Springer] : conference paper on mitigating hallucinations and factual inconsistency in automated Chest X-Ray generation. Impact: The implementation of these models demonstrated that 40% workflow automation is now possible
  • Paper 2 (Computer vision) [Under Review- IEEE]: Peer-reviewed IEEE conference paper focused on cross-dataset validation and hallucination-free segmentation in neonatal brain MRI. Impact: Effectively removing an entire manual layer of segmentation previously required by clinical experts.
• Funded Project & Grant ($32,000 USD):
  • Conceived and pitched a data-driven mobility and dynamic route/taxi dispatch optimization system.
  • Secured an institutional research grant of ~$32,000 USD from a 2nd-generation IIT, along with a Project Associate offer for technical execution.
• Leadership: Lead Student Coordinator for a nationwide technical hackathon organized with state government and law enforcement agencies.

I am from Nepal and I am planning to apply for a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, especially outside Nepal. I am looking for university recommendations.

I am interested in:

• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Competitive Programming
• Robotics
• Software Engineering

I enjoy learning new things, solving problems, and building projects on my own. I don’t want to focus on just one area. I would like to explore different fields during my degree.

I would like to ask:

• Which universities would be a good fit for someone with these interests?
• Which universities value coding skills and personal projects?
• Which universities give students freedom to explore different fields?
• Which universities are strong in AI/ML, robotics, and software engineering?
• How important are grades compared with coding skills, projects, competitions, and extracurricular activities?
• As a student from Nepal, which universities offer good scholarships or financial aid for international students?

I would especially appreciate recommendations from current students, graduates, or people with experience applying to universities, particularly international students from Nepal.

Thanks!

LEETCODE PROFILE

Hi everyone! I'm a 4th year EEE undergrad at a Tier 1 Indian university, graduating in 2027, and applying for the Fall 2027 cycle. I've been working primarily on generative models and AI safety. I'm looking mainly at research-oriented MS programs in CS/ML/AI in the US and Europe.

The GPA is definitely the weak point in my profile, so I'd really appreciate some honest feedback.

CGPA: 7.5/10

GRE: Will appear soon.

TOEFL/IELTS: Will appear soon.

Research Experience:

- Major French research institute — Research Intern, onsite (~3 months, ongoing) — video generation methods.

- Top-5 UK university — Research Intern, remote (6 months) — LLMs and interpretability.

- Top Norwegian university — Research Intern, remote (9 months) — Diffusion models and biometric applications.

- Independent research group — Research Fellow, remote (7 months) — Multimodal foundation models, including collaboration with researchers from a US T20 university.

- My home university — RA under a faculty member (1+ year) — Trustworthy AI and LLMs.

Publications:

- ICPR 2026 Main Conference, Oral (co-author, with the Norwegian university)

- WACV 2026 Workshop, Oral (first author, with the Norwegian university)

- ICML 2026 Workshop (first author, with my home university)

- CVPR 2026 Workshop (co-author, with the independent research group)

- IEEE T-BIOM — Under Review (first author, with the French research institute)

- AAAI 2027 — Under Review (first author, with the UK university)

Other (not sure if it matters, but here it is): Reviewer for an ICML 2026 workshop. Won a competition held at IJCB 2025 as a part of my lab at the Norwegian university, with a published competition paper.

LoRs:

I expect 3 LoRs from my internship advisors:

- Current supervisor at the French research institute

- Research supervisor from the UK university

- Research supervisor from the Norwegian university

I should also be able to get LoRs from the professor I worked with at my home university and from the founder/research scientist at the independent research group, if needed.

School List:

Please tell me if I'm still being too optimistic given my low GPA.

Ambitious:

UCSD, UMD, Georgia Tech, UCL, UMass Amherst, University of Waterloo

Target:

University of Edinburgh, KCL, Saarland, University of Amsterdam, NUS, École Polytechnique, Virginia Tech, McGill, UBC, MBZUAI

Safer (not entirely sure, they might be targets):

NEU, ASU, University of Alberta, SFU

I'm primarily looking at research-oriented MS programs in CS/ML/AI at these universities, but I'm still figuring out the exact programs.

Questions I'd really appreciate advice on:

1. I'm considering a PhD eventually, but I'm still quite undecided given the commitment involved. Would an MS first make more sense, or is it worth considering direct PhD applications?
2. How much does the GRE matter for someone with this profile? Is it worth spending substantial time preparing for it?

Thanks a lot in advance! I'd especially appreciate feedback from people who have applied with relatively low GPAs.

Best of luck to everyone applying this cycle!

I have a ~average GPA but will have a decent amount of work experience by Fall 2027 , and I'm trying to figure out whether my target list is delusional or actually reasonable. Would appreciate blunt feedback and any changes, other options you could suggest.

Profile

Undergrad: Btech CSE from a Tier 2 University based in Bangalore , India

Degree: B.Tech Computer Science, graduated 2024

CGPA: ~8 out of 10

Work Experience (will be ~3.5 years by Fall 2027):

- Jan 2024 – Jul 2024: SWE Intern, AI startup

- Jul 2024 – Feb 2026: SWE, same startup - mostly ML infra and backend

- Mar 2026 – present: SWE at a distributed NoSQL database company.

Research: One paper from my bachelor's capstone .

GRE/TOEFL: Not taken yet. Targeting 325+ and 110+. Will sit both by Nov 2026.

LORs: Planning 2 professional (startup founder + current manager) and

1 academic (capstone advisor).

This is just a rough shortlist for now , But I wanted to have some idea , I am open for anywhere in the world and any CS and CS allied programs

REACH

1. CMU, MSCS or MSAII (SCS Pittsburgh)

2. Stanford, MSCS or MS&E Data Science track.

3. MIT, MBAn (Business Analytics).

4. UIUC, MS CS (Siebel, research track).

5. UW Seattle, MSCS.

6. UT Austin, MSCS on-campus.

7. Harvard SEAS, MS Data Science.

8. Cambridge, MPhil ACS or MLMI.

9. Oxford, MSc Advanced CS or MSc Social Data Science.

10. ETH Zurich, MSc CS or MSc Data Science.

TARGET

1. CMU, MSE-SS or MSIT-SE or MSE-AI (Silicon Valley campus)

2. CMU, MISM (Heinz, 16 month or BIDA track)

3. UC Berkeley, MIMS (School of Information)

4. UMich Ann Arbor, MSI (Data Science / Big Data pathway)

5. Georgia Tech, MSCS (Computing Systems) or MS Analytics, on-campus

6. Cornell Tech, MEng CS or MEng ORIE

7. Columbia, MS CS or MS Data Science (DSI)

8. NYU, MS CS (Courant) or MS Data Science (CDS)

9. Imperial College London, MSc Computing (AI/ML) or MSc Business Analytics

10. NUS MComp (AI) or NTU MSc AI or EPFL MSc Data Science

SAFE

1. USC, MS CS (General) or MS Applied Data Science

2. UIUC, MSIM (iSchool)

3. UT Austin, MSITM (McCombs) or MSCSO (online)

4. UW Seattle, MSIM (Information Management)

5. Northeastern, MS CS or MS Data Analytics Engineering

6. NC State, MS CS

7. Arizona State, MS CS or MS Information Systems Management

8. UT Dallas, MS CS or MS ITM

9. Indiana Kelley MSIS or UMD MS Information Systems

10. UNSW or Melbourne MS CS, or TCD / UCD MSc CS

I’m applying for Fall 2027 MS programs and I’m currently trying to figure out how I should shape my university list and overall application strategy.

I’d really appreciate some blunt feedback on my profile, program selection, and whether my current approach makes sense.

I’m primarily interested in MSCS and MS AI/ML programs in the US, but I’m open to related programs if they provide a better fit for my background and career/research goals.

Profile

Undergrad: B.Tech in Computer Science with specialization/coursework in IoT, Cybersecurity & Blockchain from a Tier 2 university in India

CGPA: 9.09/10 (through 6th semester)

Expected graduation: 2027

Research/Publications:

• 3 research publications (2 IEEE, 1 IET)
• 1 patent
• Research/projects involving AI/ML, computer vision, IoT and related areas

Internship Experience:

• Currently working as an AI Research Intern at a US-based startup
• 6-month internship experience at another technology company

Projects:

• Multiple projects across AI/ML, full-stack development, blockchain and IoT
• Several projects developed through hackathons/competitions

GRE: 310s — currently not planning to retake

IELTS/TOEFL: Planning to take before applications

LORs:

• 1 from Founder
• 1 from Project Guide
• 1 from Head of Department

SOP: Planning to build a coherent narrative around my research experience and growing interest in AI/ML rather than making it a generic CS application.

Funding

I will not be taking an education loan.

My MS will be funded by my parents, so cost is an important consideration when building my university list.

I’m willing to consider expensive universities when the program, research opportunities and career outcomes justify the cost, but I would prefer to be strategic rather than apply to a large number of very expensive programs.

What I’m trying to figure out

I currently have a rough university list, but I’m having difficulty deciding what type of programs I should actually prioritize.

My main interests are:

• MS Computer Science
• MS Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning

I’m also open to closely related programs if they make sense for my profile and long-term goals.

The main things I’d appreciate feedback on are:

1. Does my profile have a coherent enough research/AI narrative for top MSCS/MS AI programs?
2. Is my combination of 9.09 CGPA + publications + patent + AI research internship + projects strong enough to make highly competitive programs worth attempting, despite having a GRE score in the 310s?
3. Should I primarily focus on MSCS, or would programs specifically focused on AI/ML make more sense given my research direction?
4. Are there any program types or universities that I should be considering but am currently overlooking?
5. Since I’m parent-funded and not taking a loan, how would you approach balancing tuition/cost, research opportunities, and career outcomes when building the list?
6. If you were building an application strategy with this profile, what factors would you use to divide universities into ambitious, realistic, and safer options?

I’m particularly looking for honest feedback rather than encouragement. If there are weaknesses in my profile or parts of my current strategy that I should change before applications, please point them out directly.

And if there are programs that you think would be a particularly good fit for my background in AI/ML + research + systems/software, I’d appreciate recommendations.

Thank you! :)

PS: I’m not looking for admit statistics or a database of past admits — mainly looking for feedback on profile positioning, program fit, and application strategy.

Hi everyone,

I need some advice on which university I should choose.

I’ve received admits from for Spring 2027:

• ASU – MS CS
• Northeastern Boston – MS CS
• UTD – MS CS

I’m still waiting for decisions from:

• UMass Amherst
• Purdue

My first preference is Purdue, followed by UMass Amherst. However, I need to pay the deposit for the admitted universities before September 1st, so I may have to confirm one of the current admits before getting a decision from Purdue/UMass, which of ASU, Northeastern Boston, and UTD would you recommend for MS CS, considering job opportunities, ROI, internships/co-op, location, and opportunities for international students?

Also, I applied to Purdue and UMass on July 20th, with all the required documents submitted. Should I email the universities to ask about the status/timeline, or is it better to wait? Does anyone have an idea of when I might hear back from them?

Any insights from current students/alumni would be really helpful.