neocortex

I recently finished my MSc there and did an internal transition to the PhD program. I believe the admit day is early April and it's for MSc only.

For PhD, Stanford typically do not grant admission unless you have prior funding and supervision arrangements with your POI.

My friend heard from UCB's ME Dept. in February

Not much. Just stated that I should look for RAship from professors with matching interest. They will only notify about fellowships after the open house.

I got my acceptance today.

Undergrad Institution: Singapore Major(s): Mechanical Engineering GPA in Major: 4.9/5.0 Position in Class: Top 1% Type of Student: International Graduate Institution: Well known US engineering school Major(s): Mechanical Engineering GPA in Major: 4.1/4.0 Position in Class: Don't know Type of Student: International GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 690 W: 4.5 Research Experience: 4 years in university and in industry. Few pubs. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awards from professional institution, fellowships etc Applying for [ PhD ] at: MIT - Mechanical Engineering CMU - Mechanical Engineering Berkeley - Mechanical Engineering

Stanford accepts lots of master students (>100) for Mechanical Eng. so the competition is stiff for funding and getting a position in a lab for your PhD.

Your academic/research profile looks great. 550 should be good enough for an Engineering program. To find out what the university is famous for, just talk to your professors.

They would use your unofficial documents for review if your official ones were still in mail.

It's an admission without funding. Talk to ur POI for possible research assistantship asap.

For masters, you will only be interviewed if you request for funding.

Still waiting ...

9 in Mech. Engineering/Computer Science (Robotics)