romeluc

I am an electrical engineering senior, and I am preparing to apply to Master's programs in three different fields: communications engineering, embedded systems, and computational engineering. I need two LORs for each program. The problem for me is that my best recommenders are professors from my freshman and sophomore years. My grades, classroom-interaction, etc. actually deteriorated after that point. I have identified four potential recommenders, but I ruled out one of them (a comms prof) because he indicated to me that his letter will not be very good. My remaining options are: 1. A Microwaves professor with whom I have taken several courses and gotten A-,B+, and B. I got the A- in a 300 level course I took as a sophomore. 2. A networking professor with whom I got a B+ recently, and had at least minimal interaction. 3. A math professor with whom I got an A in a 200 level course (multivariable calculus) as a freshman, and had plenty of interaction. Math was my passion at that time. The prof also encouraged me to become a math major. My delema is: a LOR from number 3 is possibly so much more positive than 1 and 2, but it is for a 200 level course that is not engineering. I don't think it is very relevant to any of my target fields (communications, computational engineering, and Embedded systems). And, I took that course three years ago. I was a different person, socially, academically, motivationally, philosophically, etc. Should I rule out number 3?

Thank you Courgette. I will definitely do as you advised. As soon as I am prepared and ready to ask professors for recommendations, I will ask about Germany as well.

I am graduating (Jan 2015) with a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from a university outside Germany. I studied everything in English and know very little German (no better that A2). Germany is my favorite country to do my Masters in and so far I have been looking at English taught programs only, but I am not sure if this is the best approach. Is It more typical for internationals to be willing to learn the language first and then apply to courses in German? I would only be comfortable committing to learning a new language if I am sure it's going to be useful, i.e. securing a place in a German university. This is a concern for me especially because many of the universities I looked at seem to be very demanding in their requirements for international students. For example, RWTH Aachen asks for 2.5 on the German scale, but for the American GPA system they ask for 3.5/4 -- which is very high. My GPA is 2.82/4 and is considered above-average/good at my university. I plan to apply to about 5 programs that I feel I'm qualified for, but I wouldn't be very confidant about being offered a place and so wouldn't be willing to commit to learning German yet. Please, could someone offer any advice in my case? Should I be more optimistic? Is there something I'm missing?