falcon31

Hello everyone, I wanted to enquire about my chances for a PhD at a Top 20 biomedical engineering program. Here is my profile: Nationality: American Undergraduate Degree: Biomedical Engineering from University of Toronto Undergraduate GPA: 3.33 (steeply upward trend, last two years GPA is 3.90) MSc Degree: Operations Research/Industrial Engineering from University of Toronto MSc GPA: 4.00 (10 courses, mostly in optimization and algorithms) GRE: Verbal: 162, Quantitative: 162, Analytical: 5.0 Research Experience: - I have two papers published as an undergraduate, both are biomedical engineering papers (one as 1st author, the other as 2nd author) - Looks like I will have 2 published papers from my MSc degree as well - I have had research experience in 3 biomedical engineering and life science labs for 8 years (mostly focused on cancer) - 4 poster presentations at a number of conferences Work Experience: - After graduation from undergrad, I worked as a biomedical engineer for a research group focusing on lab-on-a-chip technology for medical diagnostics - Research Assistant during my time as a graduate student - Teaching Assistant for a graduate engineering course MSc Thesis: - I'm focusing applying operations research to cancer therapy (intensity-modulated radiation beam therapy) Research Interests: Considering my background as a BME, my research interest for the future are are tissue engineering, lab-on-a-chip diagnostic devices, drug-delivery systems, application of operations research to medical/clinical settings. I know my undergraduate GPA is not the greatest, however it shows a very steep upward trend. I believe my academic capability is proven by my graduate GPA (10 A+'s from 10 courses). If you could give me an idea of whether I would be competitive for Top 20 biomedical or bioengineering programs, or what I would have to improve upon, I think it would really provide me with some important guidance. Thank you.