Hi! I'm a 4th sem BTech CS student from a tier-3 college in India, aiming for Fall 2027 MS (mostly in the US). I'm torn between MS in CS and MS in Data Science, and would love advice on how to best use the next 2 years.

📌 Quick Stats:

• CGPA: 9.84/10
• 12th: 88.4%, 10th (IGCSE): 95%
• No internships or research yet
• 200+ Leetcode/DSA problems solved
• No ML projects yet, planning to start (Andrew Ng course)
• No GRE yet (open to giving it)

🎯 Target Schools (ambitious):

USC, Purdue, UT Austin, Georgia Tech, UIUC, UCLA

❓ Looking for advice on:

• MSCS vs Data Science — which fits better for me?
• How to build my profile (projects, research, GRE, etc.)
• Do I have a realistic chance at top 30 schools?
• Does IGCSE (10th) help at all?

TL;DR:
Tier-3 BTech CS student with strong GPA, no internships or ML yet, targeting Fall’27. Confused between MSCS & DS. How do I best use the next 2 years to get into top CS schools?

Thanks in advance! 🙏
I did use ChatGPT to help convey my thoughts better.