Dear Student,

For admittance to premier universities like MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and CMU, your resume must be exceptionally strong.

• GRE - on the safe side, 325+
• GPA of at least 110 and a TOEFL score of at least 110.
• Do as many articles as you can, attempt to participate in research activities at your college, and if at all feasible, try to obtain patents.
• Internships: I firmly feel that internships are important. Utilize your vacation time for internships, and attempt to concentrate on professions that are research-based or pure CS.
• Extracurricular Activities: Present Papers, Participate in GSOC and Other Coding Events, etc.
• Do two or more projects during your undergraduate studies, preferably ones that are linked to your field of study.
• Work Experience - This is an optional consideration, but if you spend a few years in a top product company's R&D, it might be worthwhile.
• Put a lot of time and work crafting your SOP and make sure it accurately expresses your reasons for obtaining an MS in Computer Science.
• Get letters of recommendation from top management at your job and from research faculty at your college—they must know you!

Even if you address all of the aforementioned criteria, there is no assurance that you will be admitted to one of the universities you have named. When you make a decision, a combination of all these criteria will be taken into account, but these 10 ideas are a fantastic place to start.

I know someone who received acceptance letters from MIT, UC Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University for their MS and PhD programmes after scoring between 1400 and 1600 on the GRE. He applied with an excellent resume that included a 9+ GPA throughout college, two years of research in Microsoft R&D, and a few patents. Therefore, what matters is your whole profile.

I hope that helps! I wish you the best!