Will I be able to get an admission in good universities like University of Texas, University of Michigan, University at buffalo (SUNY) as Im changing my stream from Mechanical to Data Science?

Question

I am 22 years and a Mechanical  Engineering graduate from VIT university, Vellore. I graduated in August 2021 and had been doing a job in Triad software as Software Development trainee . I have 8.56 CGPA. I took IELTS and achieved 7.5 while in GRE I got 307. I want to pursue Masters in Data Science. I am aiming for good universities. Will I be able to get an admission in good universities like University of Texas, University of Michigan, University at buffalo (SUNY)  as I'm changing my stream from Mechanical  to Data Science?

Accepted Answer

Well, the answer is not that simple. Even if all three universities you mentioned are excellent, their GPA requirement differs. Like it is true that you need good scores for good universities, but it&rsquo;s not necessary that a bigger university will ask for a bigger GPA. Because there are many other aspects of your profile that a university considers as important.
But before going into that, first of all, I would like to inform you that your current profile looks very good to me.  You have done a degree in science and engineering, and you have some work experience at the age of 22; that&rsquo;s impressive. Plus, your 8.5 CGPA equals to GPA score of 3.52, which is, by the way, more than impressive. This score falls under grade A and is very good to apply to lots of top universities.
On top of all these, an IELTS  band of 7.5 and GRE 307 is quite impressive. Combining all these, you have an excellent profile that will be enough for applying to tier-A universities in the USA (like the ones you mentioned). You can definitely get into good universities even by changing your stream from mechanical to data science. Only the University of Michigan has a higher average GPA, around 3.8, than the other two; the University of Texas and Buffalo have lower average GPAs and requirements.
I would say that most universities similar to the ones you named are good to go. You can definitely apply to them with your current profile. You only need help with the profile building like your application, documents, SOPs, LORs etc. Because it is important to know what details are important and what isn&rsquo;t. I recommend getting in touch with study abroad experts here for FREE. They can prepare a complete profile layout for you and help you ace your application. Hope this helps!