noojens Posted February 18, 2009 Posted February 18, 2009 Hi all, I thought that we engineering students, being of an analytical bent, would appreciate a thread like this one at PhysicsGRE.com. (There is also a thread from 2008; they've both proven extremely useful). The more people who post, the better our data will be about just what's required to get into various engineering programs. So share your stats! Here's the template (copy and paste it for easy, consistent formatting): ================================================================ Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Engineering?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores: Q: V: W: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding ================================================================
noojens Posted February 18, 2009 Author Posted February 18, 2009 EXAMPLE: I will apply for PhD programs in 2010, but here are my current stats. I'll add more schools as I decide on departments to apply to. ================================================================ Masters Institution: Private, good reputation Undergrad Institution: Mediocre public Major(s): Engineering Physics Undergrad Majors(s): Applied Math, Physics GPA in Major: 3.75 Overall GPA: 3.741 Length of Degree: 7 (Took time off in the middle - 4 years of actual undergraduate classes) Position in Class: Top quarter, ish Type of Student: Domestic white male GRE Scores: Q: 770 V: 700 W: 4.5 Research Experience: One year of modeling and optimizing energy flow in buildings. One year studying solar thermal energy applications in Central America. No publications yet. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Magna Cum Laude. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics TA, math tutor. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Volunteer work in Central America on renewable energy systems and sustainable water supply. Applying for PhD at: Cornell - Mechanical - decision pending... Boulder - Civil (Engineering for Developing Communities) - decision pending... UW-Madison - Mechanical - decision pending... Stanford - Civil (Atmosphere/Energy) - decision pending... Berkeley - Energy and Resources Group - decision pending... Delaware - Energy and Environmental Policy - decision pending... Carnegie Mellon - Engineering and Public Policy - decision pending... UC-Davis - Energy Graduate Group - decision pending... MIT - Technology and Policy Program - decision pending... ==========================================================
dove Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Private, top program Major(s): Biomedical Engineering Overall GPA: 3.55 Length of Degree: 4 Position in Class: unranked Type of Student: Purple people eater GRE Scores: Q: 790 V: 660 W: 4.5 TOEFL Total: N/A Research Experience: One year in a lab on campus, molecular/cellular engineering. One semester in a synthetic biology lab. Two summers: one doing biomaterials/drug delivery research, one doing cell cardiovascular studies Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list several semesters Pertinent Activities or Jobs: lots of extracurricular leadership experience, some volunteering Applying to Where: in my signature TO RBME: I challenge you to post your creds!!!!! Your use of the non-main thread is insulting and dishonorable. It is this type of character that does not deserve to succeed in grad school. Cheers.
rbme Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 dove- there's a party at the den tonight. i hear you love it there. i won't post my stats because they'll embarrass you
freshprince Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 hah.... Ditto. I'll give u this though, my resume's most influential statistic is the ability to maintain a saltwater fish ecosystem and ability to maintain a constant, healthy nitrogen cycle. That already puts anyone's stats to shame.
dove Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 i highly doubt it...i am impossible to embarrass
canty2 Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 Undergrad Institution: State School, good engineering reputation Major(s):Civil and Environmental Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.95 Overall GPA: 3.59 Length of Degree: 4 Position in Class: top 20% Type of Student: Male, Instate GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 520 W: 4.5 Research Experience: 1 semester (going on second) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's Lists, Scholarships etc. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internships, Club Officer Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: GPA over last 60 credits is 3.95 Applying to Where: UIUC (Accepted), Texas (Accepted), Virginia Tech (Accepted), MIT (Waiting, but pretty sure I will get in)
was1984 Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 I'd like to point out that threads like this are likely to be skewed heavily toward the most qualified applicants. Those of us with a weakness in our application aren't keen to advertise it .
noojens Posted February 21, 2009 Author Posted February 21, 2009 I'd like to point out that threads like this are likely to be skewed heavily toward the most qualified applicants. Those of us with a weakness in our application aren't keen to advertise it . That's a good point - and it'll be pretty boring if the only conclusion this thread leads to is "people with good stats get into good schools." But it's not like those of us who've posted don't have our weaknesses. I mean, it took me seven years to finish undergrad - seven years! And anyway, it's anonymous. So please, post your stats! And thanks to canty2 and dove for posting yours.
was1984 Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 Eh, what the hell... I'm a M.S. candidate, because I don't have research experience and my UG GPA was low. Undergrad Institution: Large Public, Top 10 in Engineering Major(s): Electrical Engineering Minor(s): N/A GPA in Major: 3.35 (I worked through much of my degree) Overall GPA: 3.32 Length of Degree: 5 years, several co-op tours Position in Class: Anecdotal, probably around top 40% Type of Student: White American Male GRE Scores: Q: 790 (92%) V: 640 (91%) W: 4.5 (58%) WTF? I've seen people who can barely put a sentence together on these boards with 5.5's, so I don't really understand this. Research Experience: More work experience, but 3 co-op tours, 1 year as a 30 hour intern, 2 years full time in device physics. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some on the job awards and university honors a few semesters Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a tutor for 2 years in school. Have given several large classes where I work both domestically and abroad. Co-op organization club president at work. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not that I put in any applications. Applying to Where: U.C. Davis - ECE (MS) - Analog IC Design - No response yet Univ. of Utah - ECE (MS)- Analog IC Design - No response yet Iowa State Univ. - ECE (MS) - Analog IC Design - No response yet Oregon State Univ. - EECS (MS) - Analog IC Design - No response yet
finest_engineering Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 ================================================================ Grad Institution: Top 10 engineering program (1st year MS in EE) Undergrad Institution: Small private college, reputation as one of the top/hardest engineering programs in the country. Major(s):ECE Minor(s): none (Math as an MS minor) GPA in Major:3.95 Overall GPA:3.94 Length of Degree: 4 Position in Class: 2nd out of 125 Type of Student: Domestic Male GRE Scores: Q: 800 (94%) V: 630 (90%) W: 5.5 (88%) Research Experience: One summer REU in nanotech at a different school led to a top conference pub. 4th author and an undergrad pub as 1st author, One year senior project in wireless comm. paper submitted to undergrad conf. and won an award, 1.5 years in research department at a capital mgmt firm. During my first semester doing my MS I did a first author paper (independent research with a professor advising) which is soon to be submitted (I listed it as such in my apps). Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Summa Cum Laude, top EE prize at graduation, award for paper at undergrad conference, deans list every semester, Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked at a .com startup for a summer, volunteered as a math tutor at a high school, was the TA for the main grad course in my area last semester Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Currently a finalist (one of 50 out of 550 applicants) for the Hertz fellowship (informed schools before I had heard any decisions from them) Applying for PhD at: MIT (rejected), Berkeley/Stanford (no decision yet, but probably rejected based on timing). All EE/EECS Lastly, I had a really good essay that discussed my research, emphasizing my most recent independent work and highlighted faculty at the school who I aligned well with. So those of you out there who think that stats are real important, take a look at me and think again. I have excellent grades, recs, test scores, research experience, and more and I seem to be getting rejected from 'the big three' for the second year in a row. I was upset for a while about what happened (or is about to) this year because I really feel like my application is nearly flawless. I am not sweating it anymore though. My new plan is to spend another year on my masters at my current school, where I am actually quite happy. I have several ideas for a PhD topic but I am not sure what I want to do yet. This is one of the reasons I applied around again this year despite being in a top program where I can continue to my PhD- I wanted options because I felt uncertain. For this reason I think it is best to spend another year on my masters now that all the courses are pretty much done. Now I can focus fully on research which has three benefits: 1) When I start my PhD I will be able to choose a path from a very informed perspective 2) having done two different, significant projects in grad school for PhD and Masters will be helpful when marketing myself for faculty positions down the road (they want to see multiple possible funding sources) 3) I can potentially apply to PhD programs again next year if I still don't feel certain about staying put. I will have my substantial MS work as the centerpiece of my app next year and hopefully that could move me up another notch... So my advice to you is RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH. It is all they care about. Many with lesser stats than me have gotten in to top schools. Grades are like a box that the school will check off if you did well. All the countless hours I spent studying hard so I would have a 3.94 instead of a 3.85 were worthless at this point. I don't feel they were truly worthless because I think I know my field better than the next guy, but the grad schools don't really care. So do a lot of research, it isn't a check box.
Nrets Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Arizona State University (30-40 Engineering) Major(s): Chemical Engineering Minor(s): Mathematics GPA in Major: 3.83 Overall GPA:3.91 Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: 2 Type of Student: Domestic, male, white GRE Scores: Q: 750 V:460 W:5.0 Yeah I didn't study for my GRE at all... Research Experience: Overall 3+ years Isotope Geochemistry @ Arizona State University - 3 years - Paper Published (2nd author) - 3 conferences, 2 national, 1 regional (Posters) Liquid-Liquid Extraction w/ Ionic liquids @ University of Dortmund, Germany - 3 months -1 conference Water reclamation @ Arizona State University - 6 months (design of process using liquid descants to conserve water in power plants) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: - Goldwater Scholar (National) - NASA Space Grant (School) - ACS-RISE Scholar (National) - Udall Nominee (School) - Dean's list every semester of course Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Member of AIChE Project Leader for Chem-E Car Competition Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Applying for [ PhD ] at: Cornell - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- accepted on 01/29 - 30K Stipend + tuition Caltech - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- rejected Stanford - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- rejected Santa Barbara - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- rejected Berkeley - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- rejected MIT - Chemical Engineering - Electronic Materials/Nanotechnology/etc- Pending... (expected rejection)
sheaisawesome Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Private liberal arts school Major(s): Environmental Engineering Minor(s): chem Overall GPA:3.45 Length of Degree: 4 years Position in Class: not sure Type of Student: Domestic female GRE Scores: Q: 7560 V:640 W:5.0 Research Experience: Overall 3 or so years Applying for [ PhD ] at: All Env Eng: Brown, FSU, UVa, Hopkins, Tufts, CMU, GWU
chi0 Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Private, Large University, Top 15 in Undergrad Engineering Major(s): Mechanical Engineering Minor(s): Economics GPA in Major: 3.68 Overall GPA: 3.61 Length of Degree: 5 (Co-op) Position in Class: Between top 20% and top 12.5% Type of Student: White American male GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 620 W: 6.0 Research Experience: 2.5 years co-op work experience - mechanical tooling design for implantable medical batteries. No other undergrad research. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: PTS, TBP, occasional Dean's Lists, a few team awards for design projects. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Kappa Theta Epsilon (co-op honor society) Advisory Board, 2 years. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 2.5 years full-time work experience in nuclear power industry - mechanical systems design for nuclear safety systems. Applying for MS, with intent to continue for PhD made clear in application/essays. UC-Berkeley - Mech. Engineering MS/PhD - waiting Stanford - Mech. Engineering MS - waiting Princeton - Mech. Engineering PhD - rejected 2/13 MIT - Mech. Engineering - waiting U Washington-Seattle - Mech. Engineering MS - accepted 1/22, tentative RA offer U CA Davis - Mech. Engineering MS - accepted 2/9, no funding info Michigan-Ann Arbor - Mech. Engineering MS - waiting on decision; invited to open house w/ expenses paid Carnegie Mellon - Mech. Engineering PhD - waiting
sheaisawesome Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Why are there not more girls posting here? hmph!!
optimistic09 Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Did Undergrad and Masters at the University of Southern California GPA: 3.4 MS Length of Degree: 4 yrs BS, 2yrs MS Type of Student Woman: Made in America GRE Scores: Q:780 V:510 W:4.5 Research Experience: 1 summer Awards/Honors/Recognitions: university scholarships Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 years industry experience Applying for PhD at: Accepted: Carnegie Mellon, University of Maryland Invited to: Georgia Tech and North Carolina State Waiting: Cornell, Rensselaer, Northwestern, UC Irvine
jamsmad Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Undergrad Institution: MIT Major(s):Chemical Engineering Minor(s):Economics GPA in Major:5.0/5.0 Overall GPA:4.9/5.0 Length of Degree: 4 year B.S. Position in Class: Don't have rankings I don't think, at least I don't know where I am Type of Student: Just a domestic, white guy. Nothing exciting GRE Scores: Q:800 V:690 W:5.5 Research Experience: A summer of Undergrad research. No publication or anything like that. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internship at a small engineering company after sophmore year. I'm TAing the intro chemical engineering class this Spring Applying for PhD at: UWisconsin - ChemE - Accepted Minnesota - ChemE - Accepted Berkeley - ChemE - Accepted Princeton - ChemE - Accepted UCSB - ChemE - Accepted CalTech - ChemE - Accepted
nickelsaur Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Undergrad Institution:ivy, good engineering rep Major(s): Mech eng Minor(s): - GPA in Major: 3.63 Overall GPA: 3.64 Length of Degree: 3 years Position in Class: top 20%? Type of Student: int'l female GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 630 W: 5 Research Experience: Biomechanics research at school, 2 summers Awards/Honors/Recognitions: full scholarship from external organization, research grant from school Applying for MS at: Stanford Mech Eng - accepted Penn Bioeng - accepted Columbia Bioeng - accepted Duke Bioeng - accepted Cornell Bioeng - accepted
edailing Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Small private, good engineering reputation, top 5/top 10 in BME depending on the toss at USN&WR's annual dartboard Major(s): Biomedical Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.65 Overall GPA: 3.62 Length of Degree: 4.5 years (8 semesters, but I did a co-op) Position in Class: Cum laude (at least top 35%) Type of Student: White American male GRE Scores: Q: 780 V: 570 W: 4.5 Research Experience: 7 month co-op at a medical device company, 9 months in a mechanical engineering lab job, no publications though Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarships within my school, dean's honors, Gamma Sigma Alpha (Greek life honor society), graduated cum laude Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Fraternity president Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I had one awful semester, but I had a 3.75 for my last two years. GRE isn't eye-popping but it doesn't really detract. I think I'm mostly limited by my lack of publications. I kicked ass on my co-op and got a good rec from the principal engineer, plus two other solid letters from professors. Applying for PhD at: Cornell - Biomedical Engineering - Pending Purdue - Biomedical Engineering - Pending Virginia - Biomedical Engineering - Interview, notified on 2/16, travel expenses paid Colorado - Chemical and Biological Engineering - Accepted on 1/14, tuition + $24,500, although I don't know the funding source Maryland - Biomedical Engineering - Pending Berkeley - Biomedical Engineering - Rejected via email on 2/2 GA Tech - Biomedical Engineering - Pending Michigan - Biomedical Engineering - Pending (Grew up in Michigan and was accepted for undergrad, but I doubt that matters.) BU - Biomedical Engineering - Pending I'm worried that I have 6 schools that have yet to contact me at this point. It seems like I would have heard already if people want to set up visits. I'm happy with my current acceptances, but I was hoping to have at least 1 or 2 more acceptances.
ponja Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 top 5/top 10 in BME depending on the toss at USN&WR's annual dartboard You should get in just for that quote
twocosmicfish Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Penn State Major(s):Electrical Engineering Minor(s):None GPA in Major: 3.9 Overall GPA: 3.85 Length of Degree:>5 years (I took a long break in the middle) Position in Class: Top 5% Type of Student:Male, Domestic Shorthair GRE Scores: Q:800 V: 720 W: 6.0 Research Experience:REU program as undergrad, several years of unpublishable (DoD) R&D as professional Awards/Honors/Recognitions: TBP, HKN (President), PKP, Boeing Scholar Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA (1 yr), Currently working as an engineer Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I look snappy in a fedora Applying for PhD at: MIT - EECS- Rejected / 2-17-09 / N/A UIUC- ECE- Presumed Accepted / 2-19-09 / IGERT Fellowship Northwestern - EECS- Presumed Accepted / 2-22-09 / Unknown The last two are "Presumed Accepted" because I was contacted by profs who seemed to be indicating t hat I was, but I have not heard officially. ================================================================
priesj Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Milwaukee School of Engineering (Small, Private, Ranked Top 10 for Engineering Schools without a PhD program) Major(s): EE GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 3.9 Length of Degree: 4 Position in Class: No Ranking System Type of Student: Standard White Male Variety GRE Scores: Q: 790 V: 630 W: 5.0 Research Experience: None Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List High Honoros, A few scholarships Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for 2 years, Intern at Rockwell Automation for 3 years (grad school focus is controls) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Member of Tau Beta Pi Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] (varies) at: Berkeley - EE - Rejected - Email on 2/24 Georgia Tech - EE - Accepted [PhD]- Email on 1/30 - 1/2 TA (can be changed over to RA), Small Fellowship on 1/30 UWisc - EE - Accepted [MS] - Email on 2/2 UMaryland - EE- Accepted [MS] - Email on 3/19 - No Funding - Declined MIT - EE - Rejected - Website on 2/23 UMich - EE - Accepted [PhD] - Email on 1/21 - Full Funding For 5 Years, First Year Fellowship on 3/19 - Attending Purdue - EE - Accepted [MS] - Email on 1/27 - No Funding - Declined UCSB - EE - Accept [PhD] - Email on 3/19 USC - EE - Accepted [MS] - Email on 2/3 - No Funding - Declined UCLA - EE - Accepted [PhD] - Email on 2/23 UIUC - EE - Accepted [MS] - Email on 3/26 - No Funding - Declined UMass - EE - Accepted [MS] - Email on 4/2 - 1/4 TA, Tuition Remission - Declined (Only one LOR got sent to this place before I quit filling out applications. Must have been a good one )
heymanyo Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 Undergrad Institution: Penn State University Major(s): Mechanical Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.71 Overall GPA: 3.66 Length of Degree: 4 Years Position in Class: Top 20%? Maybe higher. Type of Student: Domestic Male Agnostic Jew GRE Scores: Q: 780 V: 580 W: 5.0 Research Experience: None really Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List most of the time, ME Honor's Society Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lead Engineer at a small (but well known in the industry) company Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Just beat Fallout 3 Applying for MS at: Texas - Austin - Mechanical Engineering, Accepted w/ tuition + assistantship + possible fellowship Penn State - ME, Pending Berkeley - ME, Pending
faccha Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 Undergrad Institution : Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India (best in India) Major(s): Chemical Engineering Overall GPA: 9.36/10 (dont have 4 scale system) Length of Degree: 4 Years Position in Class: Ranked 1 in 49 students in department.. and Ranked 6th among 735 students in whole batch GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 750 W: 4.0 Research Experience: a) B.Tech Thesis in the field of microfluidics Summer Internship in U Michigan, AA in my third year c) Summer Internship in National Chemical Lab in my second year Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 3 awards/scholarships in last semester from institute for academic excellence, special letter from for scoring 10/10 GPA in 2 consecutive semesters Applied for PhD at: MIT, Stanford, UCB, Princeton, CalTech, UMich, U Wisconsin (Chem E) Admit: UMich, U Wisconsin (both fully funded) Rejects: Stan, UCB, Princeton Havent heard: MIT, CalTech Applied for MS at: UT Austin (Petroleum Engg. ) Got admit but no news of funding yet
aus1983 Posted February 27, 2009 Posted February 27, 2009 Undergrad Institution: small technical institution. Top 5 in my state in my home country Major(s): Electronics and Communications Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: 74% Overall GPA: 74% Length of Degree: 4 Years Position in Class: Top 20%? Maybe higher. Type of Student: iNTERNATIONAL mALE gRADUATE iNSTITUTE: tOP 50 Grad Department in ECE, USA Degree : M.S. in ECE GPA: 3.8/4.00 GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 680 W: 4.0 Research Experience: 2+ years of research exp in medical image analysis, image processing Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University fellowship, NTSE scholar, Several awards for undergrad project and papers at national conferences Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2+ years experience as a embedded software engineer in a fortune 100 company. Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Applying for PhD at: U Wisconsin - EE - pending U Wisconsin - BME - pending USC - EE - pending CMU - EE - pending Gatech - EE - pending UCSB - EE - pending JHU - EE - pending UPenn - EE - pending Rutgers - BME - pending UMCP - EE - pending
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