BJT92

Hello! Can you guys please take a look at my profile and tell me if I have a shot at any of the top 50 or top 100 even schools in the USA for MSc in Electrical & Computer Engineering (focus on embedded systems). Which schools do I have a good chance at being accepted into? I realize that my GPA isn't stellar. And my profile in general probably pales in comparison to that of most applicants. I have a very strong interest in embedded systems and computer engineering. I have got great grades in relevant subjects. Relevant project work, research and internship experience too. Top school for engineering in Pakistan - Very competitive to get into - Very rigorous course load - Can't pick/drop courses on your own...Fixed course outline - Out of 140 credit hours only 12 were non-engineering/humanities related. - Don't have grades like A-, B-, C- etc. If you don't get an A (4.0)...You fall down to B+ (3.5). Bachelors of Electronics Engineering cGPA: 3.13 (7th out of 20 students - Rest of them have a < 3.00 cGPA) - 4th year GPA is really good [3.50 (8th semester) & 3.61 (7th semester)] - But 3rd year GPA is bad in one semester [2.44 (6th semester), 3.14(5th semester)] - The bad GPA was in a semester in which I studied courses I have no interest in pursuing (Control System, Communications) - Other than that it is above 3 in rest of the semesters. Worked on a number of projects: - 6 Legged Mobile Robot (Final Year Project) - Received A grade Designed and fabricated a 6 legged mobile robot having 3 DOF per leg and 18 DOF in total. Implemented movement based on Inverse Kinematics using a self-fabricated Serial Servo Controller to control 20 servos. With ability to be remotely operated (using a PS 2 controller) over WiFi networks using SSH protocol, and video streaming from on-board web-cam for surveillance. All controlled using a Single Board Computer (SBC) BeagleBone Black running Linux. - PID Line Follower - Water Level Detection System using self fabricated sensor design - VGA Display and PS/2 Mouse Interfacing with Spartan 3E FPGA - Micro-controller Based Smoke and Fire Alarm - XBee Pro Based GPS Transceiver (to track boats at sea) - 5 Degree of Freedom (DOF) Robotic Arm - Received semester scholarship for outstanding GPA. - Won 1st prize and 3rd prize in two different competitions for my final year project. - Very active in the IEEE Student Branch in my university as an executive member and received awards for my service. - Interned for 6 weeks in the R&D department of a multinational company that provides embedded systems solutions. - 2 years of undergraduate research experience (no publications). - Writing a paper on a multiple channel serial servo controller with speed control...Hopefully it will be published. I haven't take the GRE yet but hope to get a top score. Also, I can likely get really good LORs from my professors who are PhDs from US. Thank you for any help in advance! Also since it seems like that my last 2 year GPA is less than 3...Does that mean I can't apply to programs with 3.0 GPA cut off? This is very depressing... I had above 3 GPA in 3 out of the final 4 semesters and one bad semester threw everything off.