mem7892

Background: Undergraduate Institution - University of Texas at DallasUndergraduate cumulative GPA - 3.435Undergraduate major GPA - 3.998Undergraduate junior/senior GPA - 3.823GRE - 332 (QR - 167, VR - 165, AWA - 6.0)No research experienceCapstone project involved me designing analog sensor/comparison circuits and programming the controller for the solar tracking portion of our project, which we won 1st place overall forCurrently employed at a large engineering company in Austin doing something related to my degree, but not really related to what I want to do in grad schoolMy interests are in RF/analog/mixed signal integrated circuits, which I understand is extremely competitiveThe MSEE will basically be used as a springboard to a top PhD programHere's the problem, and I suspect it's what will limit me in my applications. I failed 15 credit hours of courses my freshman year; one class was in my major, two were related, and I got put on academic probation as a result. I've got an explanation, but I'm not sure if it's something that will make a huge difference. My father passed away during my last semester in high school, and the financial uncertainty and depression that came with that pretty much knocked me out for almost the next two years. I really should have just taken a break, but didn't know what else to do at the time. A few professors that I asked about schools gave me the following list of schools based on my performance, but I'm not entirely sure most of them are realistic given my blemishes. Any thoughts on my chances at the schools, as well as suggestions for additional schools would be much appreciated. University of Texas at DallasTexas A&MRice UniversityUniversity of California San DiegoUniversity of California Los AngelesUniversity of California BerkeleyColumbia UniversityGeorgia Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Michigan Ann ArborUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Washington Thanks in advance for any replies.