jeffleung1992

Hi bsharpe269, I hate to disagree with you, bc I think you offered great advice, but I think even if he increased his verbal score by 5 points it wouldn't matter. Heck, I would posit even if he increased it by 10 points it wouldn't make a difference. From personal experience I know that Stanford cares about research (and almost all other schools for PhD EE) way more than any other factor. I think all the OPs time should be spent ensuring that you either get publications and/or strengthen your research statement. I'm pretty sure the GRE is used as just a sanity check/cut-off to make sure you can do basic math and reading. The OP meets this cut-off. The top EE schools are looking to match you up with faculty who share your interests. Those faculty are not interested in knowing if you can solve some math/reading problems, but rather if you can do the work that needs to be done in the lab. Of course, they want to make are you can do the basics, but beyond that your experience will matter. Case in point, MIT EECS actually got rid of the GRE requirement alltogether; I suspect the other EE schools are somewhat in the same boat, though they haven't fully eliminated it yet. Best wishes!

Hello, For schools like Stanford, your score is more than enough. Honestly, you should focus on your research statement. Getting in will involve demonstrating that you have strong research experiences (potentially publications). Your time is better spent focusing in either trying to get a paper published (if not journal, then a 1st author conference paper), and writing a polished SOP. Once you have a 3.6+ GPA, and a GRE like yours, the research is what actually matters for PhD. Unlike MS, a PhD is a research degree, and therefore you need to show that you have very strong research skills. Best wishes!

Dear Midi, I honestly think that your profile/chances are really good. Applying to the Top schools (JHU/Stanford/MIT/etc) is always a crapshoot; even the outstanding candidates have a small chance of acceptance simply due to the sheer number of outstanding students. My strategy would be as follows: I think you should figure out if there are professors at and non "super-top" (Stanford, etc.) schools (like GT, Northwestern, Michigan, etc.) who are doing research you are really passionate and interested in. If so, you should apply directly to PhD for those. I think you have sufficient credentials to make it in if you write a good SOP/have good letters of rec. If there aren't professors at these schools you would ideally want to do a PhD with, then you should apply to MS programs to all the schools that offer them in your list (or mix and match and apply some MS and some PhD). For example, JHU has a funded MS program in BME. So does Stanford, but I'm not sure about funding for that actually. During your MS focus HEAVILY on research in an area that aligns with a prof you want to work with, and try to get a first-author paper. That will strongly stack the odds in your favor. I think at those "super-top" schools it helps to have a faculty who aligns with you; someone who can see that you have demonstrated experience in an area they work in. You can also try emailing some faculty and test out the waters and see if you can get traction with someone. These are just my 2 cents. I wish you the best of luck, and please let me know if I can help answer any more questions!

You choices seem to have a nice mix. The only schools I would add to the list (or at least do some background research on) are: Duke Caltech UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco joint UC San Diego Georgia Tech Case Western Each of these are very strong in neural engineering. You of course have to find a POI that you feel you can match with. The top of the list are much harder to get in than the bottom, but I think your credentials are good enough to at least warrant an interview at most of the schools on your list. Have you considered applying to pure Neuroscience programs? For example, Stanford has a phenomenal Neuroscience PhD program, and you can likely do exactly what you want even if you're in the Neuroscience (and not the Engineering) program. Just some food for thought. Best wishes!

Have you considered taking some math classes at the local community college? I imagine you could easily take Calc II, III, Linear Algebra, Diff Eqns, or Prob/Stat at a community college without spending TOO much money. Does your current job have any educational assistance? While a lot of people that apply to BioE/BME PhD programs come from an engineering background, there are certainly plenty of people that come from bio/biochem/pure science backgrounds. Tissue engineering isn't (to the best of my knowledge) as math or CS heavy as medical imaging, or computational biology, and therefore I don't think lack of math/physics will hold you back. Provided of course that you have ample coursework in biology and ample research experience. In my experience, GPA + research trump most other factors. It seems you have good research experience working at the FDA. Any publications? I would look into taking community college math courses to meet the bare minimum requirements (vary by school) and then look at applying to either MS (usually unfunded) or directly to PhD programs if you have enough research experience/publications. If you want, you can even continue working at the FDA and do a MS on the side part-time. That way you keep getting research experience, the job can also help finance the MS, and the MS will help you gain some grounding in BioE. Then apply to PhD. In summary, don't give up on your goals and dreams; you don't really need a lot of formal classes in undergrad to prepare you to do tissue engineering, especially coming from an undergrad in Biology. Best wishes!

I think it should be fine if it indeed is a "soft" prerequisite. Is it not possible for you to take this class during the fall at your school? How about taking it over the summer at a local college? In my humble opinion, in this day and age, it is a very valuable skill to be able to program. If I were you, even if you don't think you will ever do it, it might be worthwhile to put in decent effort into the class and really learn it well. You may not use Java, but once you understand the constructs of the language you can easily pick up something like Python, Matlab, etc., which could be useful knowledge if you end up working in a company where you have to interact with other engineers that do mostly software. Just my $0.02. Best wishes!

Try clicking the submit or w/e button again (Fastlane is down right now so I can't check). It happens sometimes; once you type in your name and say 2014 and click submit (maybe two times or so) it should show up again. Happened to me and I had a similar freak out moment If that doesn't work, then call them!!

Thank you for that explanation; I think you are on to something. So there are four DoD agencies that are part of NDSEG. Which of them have gotten back thus far? Do the accepted people mind sharing which agencies are sponsoring them?

The consensus here is that this email implies that we're on the waitlist!

That was my impression as well. Can anyone confirm 100%?? Thanks!

I cannot directly answer your question, but what I will say is that for a PhD (I'm assuming this is PhD) the most important thing is the project/research you're doing followed by the relationship with the PI. At the end of the day you want to go to a program where you will get to do the science that really excites you and will help you achieve your career goals. A good relationship with your PI will help you get a good job when you graduate (provided your PI has connections and will vouch for you). If you don't have a good match to research at a school then you shouldn't pick it. I think money or courses you can take, etc. are all secondary. Finally, I also think the place you will live is worth considering since you'll be committing to be there for 5-some years. You mentioned that you liked the project at Columbia "the best." If they are giving you funding then I think you have your answer. Btw if any of those schools aren't funding you then just cross them off your list; you shouldn't pay for a PhD. Congrats and best wishes!

A lot of employers treat a masters degree as just that, a masters degree. They don't necessarily care (or honestly even know) about the difference between a MS and a M.Eng. I think they are just looking to see if you have the appropriate experience and coursework for the position that they are hiring you for. Also Cornell is a top ranked school; I don't think anyone will think you took the "easy" way out. Personally I would choose Cornell as it has a respected name and engineering program. Sometimes having a big name like that on a resume can make people look twice. Congrats and best wishes!

It's not, but I think the poster meant that it has extremely high international brand value (much more than the non-HYP ivies mind you) in pretty much every discipline. I think the OP should think about whether he/she wants to live in the US or UK. Personally I think Stanford/Palo Alto = win! Congrats and best wishes!

Now that all (?) decisions are out, where are you guys going and why? Facing a tough decision between JHU, Stanford, and MIT.

I don't know anything about History, but I know that Princeton is very well known and well respected in the US. Of course, the thing that ends up mattering the most is the relationship you have with your PI. You should pick the school which has the best match with your POI; basically a person who is doing research in an area that you like, someone who has influence in the field, and can hence open doors for you. Congrats though, and best wishes!