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Thanks pill! I was wondering if the committee has come to a decision yet. If not, I would like to reiterate that I was able to drastically improve my performance in more difficult core courses while coping with many severe obstacles as a first generation international student. I am currently taking two graduate level courses in (Antenna Theory and Radar Technology) and performing well. I can assure you that my GPA will be above 3.0 by graduation and I am now very confident in my ability to excel at a rigorous graduate level program. In addition to all of this. I do hope the technical interview that I had with you was able convince you that I am a worthwhile candidate. School A's program is the only one that I am genuinely interested in and I would love to be given the life-changing opportunity to attend this Fall. Would this be too much though? He seems to be a pretty nice guy but I wouldn't want to piss him off. He did mention that he is only doing this because of the amount of respect he has for my advisor so I'm not trying to be overbearing and piss him off but this wait is killing me!

Thanks fuzzy! I'm not sure how to word it though. Should I just say something like ' Hope all is well. Any word yet? I'm very interested in School A and would love to be given the life changing opportunity to attend.' I basically want to reiterate to them that I am a worthwhile risk and that I am very passionate about this school/program.

I was able to get a Skype interview with my top choice school for a Master's in Electrical Engineering. However, that was almost two months ago and I'm freaking out. I have a fairly low GPA (2.9) but drastically improved from 2.28 while battling a lot of obstacles during my first few years. I now consistently get A's in my upper level courses (which I think counts for something) and balance 15 credits, research, and being president of a club on campus. Anyway, one of my professors, who knows that I am a good student, happens to be extremely influential in his field and is friends with the director of my top choice program. He contacted him on my behalf and I was told that the director was vouching for me but to no avail. I decided to take an impromptu trip to go see the director and plead my case. He was very receptive and decided to ask me some technical questions on the spot (I was able to answer them all). He said that I presented myself well and to send him an email the following Monday, which I did. Anyway, I sent him the email a week ago and got no response. I'm considering sending him another to plead my case and show how passionate I am about attending this program and offer to be admitted under provisional status but I'm afraid to annoy him into simply rejecting me. Maybe a phone call is better? Any thoughts?

Find out more from Tulane about any employment opportunities. That said, working while managing a heavy workload and a family might not be worth the stress associated but you'll ultimately be the judge of that. Glad I could help! Good luck!

Hey Musicianmommy, It sounds like your decision comes down to the financial aspect more than school rankings or fit. If this is the case then the better financial offer is the way to go, especially with a family. While UNH doesn't guarantee acceptance to the PhD program afterwards, you will still have a MA under your belt which may help when applying for PhD and you lose no money in the process so it seems like a win-win. If on the other hand, you're really passionate about Tulane, you can seek another source of funding to cover the expenses that a stipend would have. I would go with option #1 but I am by no means an expert on these matters. I hope my opinion did help some though!

Help please!

I'm an international student currently applying for Master's in Electrical Engineering. Here are my options right now: Current School: Accepted and Offered TA-ship for the first and second semester but no guarantee of funding for my second year and I have to accept/decline in 10 days. School ranking is average, decent research but professor is quite laid-back and my lab-mates are not very helpful or inclusive. I generally feel as if I don't belong and I'm not sure I should stay here. Higher Ranked programs: Still waiting but these are schools that I would love to attend with good POIs who have very interesting research.Funding is going to be an issue as well. Honestly though, I don't mind incurring debt if it means that I am accepted to one of these programs. GPA: 2.9 (I faced a lot of adversity with health, finances and late diagnosis of ADHD but I’m hoping moving from 2.3 in my freshman year to >3.0 by graduation counts for something). GRE: 163Q/153V Other Info: 1 year of research with no publications, Dean’s List (x3), strong LORs from distinguished professors. IEEE member, president of on-campus club, created my own business to help finance studies. Should I suck it up and take the offer? Worst case scenario, if my only acceptance for this cycle is my current school, what are my options in terms of boosting my application to reapply for Fall 2016? I have improved dramatically now, constantly earn A's in all my upper level courses and I would love to continue to graduate school but I feel as though schools focus more on overall GPA than transcript. I’m remaining positive that an acceptance is coming though!

Thanks for the replies! I do feel like my POI is saying not to contact him until i'm admitted but just wanted to see if it was something out of the ordinary. I want to show my interest in the program but I'm afraid to mess anything up so I'll bite the bullet and hang tight! Good luck to you both

Before I applied for grad school this fall, I contacted a POI at my top choice and expressed my interest in his research. He replied within 24 hours and asked me to send more information about myself as specified on his website. I sent my resume along with a short cover letter. I didn't hear anything for a week so I followed up with him asking if he needed any other documents to which he replied - 'I'm not sure what you're looking for but you have to apply through regular channels and once you're admitted I will evaluate you for candidacy for my lab'. I've read a lot of posts on here with people who establish a good relationship with their POI which leads to them getting admitted but in my case it seems to be the other way around. Anyway, I applied and was interviewed a few weeks ago. I haven't heard anything yet and I was thinking about contacting my POI again but I'm not sure what to say or if this is even advisable. What should I do? Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot Texan_Air! You've been extremely helpful. I forgot to mention that I already have an offer at a state school but I don't particularly fancy it. I wont retake the GRE but I'll definitely push for a publication and try to land myself an internship. I may have to wait a year to apply since it will be passed all my deadlines by the time I finish this semester (with a 3.0 ). I'll definitely pay the $75 and take my chances though. Worst case scenario, enroll in a post bacc program or try to land a job for a year or two. I'm not sure that research is my passion yet because I haven't experienced industry jobs. The big kicker is the price tag associated with non-thesis degrees! Good luck to you too!

I have all of the above except for publications and industry experience. Should I retake the GRE to make myself more competitive? Also, are you implying that non-thesis master's programs are easier to get into? I'm hoping for funding or a miracle as far as affording them LOL. Thanks for the replies guys!

can someone please help, I really need some opinions on this

Just finished my GRE exam and I got Q:163/V:153. I'm applying to an electrical and i'm only really concerned about the quant score. I've read on several sites that my quant score is above the average for the top 10 engineering programs in the US. Anyway, I'm currently my applications and I'm wondering if my could be competitive for a top 20 EE school. I started my undergrad program with a 2.28 GPA due to sickness and a bunch of other stumbling blocks(let's say i wasn't as mature as I should have been). I've since raised my GPA to 2.91 (should be 3.0 by graduation), I am president of a recreational club on campus which I revived from 3-5 years of dormancy, I do part time research in an electromagnetic characterization lab on campus and I've gotten A's in all my relevant upper level core courses! I want to Columbia and Georgia Tech as my top choices and I would like some feedback on how competitive my application might be seeing that I improved a lot and juggle school as well as extracurriculars now. I can get recommendations from some very recognized faculty, also, when I could not get an internship due to my GPA, I started up my own summer business that did quite well (i think this would show perseverance as well). Should I apply to these schools? What are some other programs I should look at? Thanks everyone!

Just finished my GRE exam and I got Q:163/V:153. I'm applying to an electrical engineering program and i'm only really concerned about the quant score. I've read on several sites that my quant score is the average for the top 10 engineering programs in the US. Anyway, I'm currently completing my applications and I'm wondering if my profile could be competitive for a top 20 EE school. I started my undergrad program with a 2.28 GPA due to sickness and a bunch of other stumbling blocks(let's say i wasn't as mature as I should have been). I've since raised my GPA to 2.91 (should be 3.0 by graduation), I am president of a recreational club on campus, I do part time research in an electromagnetic characterization lab on campus and I've gotten A's in all my relevant upper level core courses! I want to apply to Columbia and Georgia Tech as my top choices and I would like some feedback on how competitive my application might be seeing that I improved a lot and juggle school as well as extracurriculars now. Also, when I could not get an internship due to my GPA, I started up my own summer business that did quite well (i think this would show perseverance as well). Any comments are welcome! Thanks everyone!

Hi guys, first post on GradCafe! I am planning to apply to an MSEE program for admission in Fall 2015. I am currently a Senior in EE at a top 50 University (on the lower end of top 50). My situation is a bit unique though and I was hoping I could get some clarification or advice on here. I am an international student. When I first came to the US, I experienced a huge culture shock followed by a pneumonia etc. I pretty much had a rough first year. However, I have since improved drastically - got all A's in my upper level EE courses. I currently have a 2.80 gpa but I should graduate in the 3.0~3.2 gpa range if all goes well. I have not done GREs as yet but got 160Q 152V on my diagnostic test. I will have almost a year of research experience when I apply and hopefully better GRE scores (166+Q, 160+V), I am currently Vice President of a student organization on campus and I started my own small business at home a year ago. Also, I will be able to obtain great recommendations from my professors who are distinguished IEEE fellows. I really am leaning towards pursuing my MSEE at UPenn or Columbia. However, my current research advisor is (tentatively) offering me full funding + stipend at my current school. Full funding is very enticing but it has been my dream to be admitted to a top 20 program; preferably at one of the schools I mentioned. Should I just suck it up and stay here to complete my MS for free or incur 40k+ in student loans? Also, is it possible to get into these programs (UPenn or Columbia) given my stats? (The professors who I will be getting recommendations from both went to UPenn). Thanks in advance your responses!