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I have BSc in computer science and entrepreneurship background with strong technical skills (software) but low GPA and no publication. I have bean away from university for few years and have not been working as employee so I can't provide any letters of recommendation.

As my previous businesses have not been successful (partly because of country I live in, it is one of the top worst) I'm thinking about starting over by applying for a master program and moving to a better place (preferably US). It can also help me find better ideas and like-minded people for future ventures.

All I can provide are few links to my previous works, some of them shiny.

Do you think I have any chance to get admission and grant from a good university? How should I prepare myself for it?

user4197
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  • It would help a lot if you started contributing to an open-source project and maintain a repository of your work.

    Also, most people here would advise you to wait for a year and then apply with some research background. What about your funding and other such questions should be thought about as well.

    On a related note this question is similar to yours http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/778/should-i-stay-in-school

     – Naresh Nov 28 '12 at 07:05

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At least for admission to strong CS departments in the US, I strongly recommend that you take the GRE, especially the subject test in computer science, and do well. Otherwise, the evidence that you would complete an MS program is rather thin.

Also, you must have recommendation letters. Otherwise, your application may not even be reviewed by the admissions committee. (In my department, for example, incomplete applications are automatically flagged by our admissions database system, and applications that are still flagged several weeks after the application deadline are automatically rejected without review.)

JeffE
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In some countries like Japan, it is ok to apply even if you do not have a good publication record. They care mostly about the entrance examination, which is focused on math and computer science.

You could apply to some Universities as well as to the Mumbukagakusho Scholarship, which depending in the country might be really easy to get (about 50% chance) or really hard (about 1% chance).

Good Luck

Leon palafox
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In some countries, e.g. the Netherlands, for a lot of masters there is no problem to get in, as long as you can pay. Ofcourse some have restrictions in terms of prior knowledge you need to have.

Paul Hiemstra
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