samnicaise

Undergrad Institution: Typical large state institution with regionally reputable engineering Major(s): EE Minor(s): none GPA in Major: 4.0 Overall GPA: 3.93 Length of Degree: 5 Position in Class: Near top Type of Student: White, American, Male GRE Scores: Q: 800 V: 590 W: 4.5 Research Experience: 8 semesters of part-time, on-semester, research in EE. Lots of undergraduate-specific posters and presentations. No papers. Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholar, Astronaut Scholar, TBP Scholar Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tons of on-campus leadership. 3 semesters of engineering coop at 1 large and 1 small company. Fellowships: NSF: Y DOE: N DOD: N Hertz: Semifinalist Applied for PhD at: MIT EE - Accepted with internal fellowship and currently attending Stanford MSE - Nope Georgia Tech EE - Accepted with RA Michigan EE - Nope Purdue ChE - Accepted with RA CalTech MatSc - Interview, but eventually denied Maryland ChE - Accepted Delaware EE - Accepted I have a huge comment to people applying to engineering related grad school based on my experience. All along the process, I was wondering if I was applying to too many schools. I had no intention to actually visit them all, and each applications consumed an nontrivial amount of time (as well as money). All of my recommenders told me that I would have no problem getting into any school I wanted (as any supportive faculty should say). Obviously, this was not the case. Do not be afraid to apply to many schools. In many cases, there is no decent explanation to why a school admits one student over another. It is sometimes a roll of the dice (not literally, heaven forbid, but you know what I mean). Therefore, religiously research potential programs, but don't limit yourself. There are too many intelligent, hard working, talented applicants to go around. Two other comments: Don't be afraid to be technically rigorous on any applications essay that is supposed to be technical. Obviously, make sure you aren't saying something that isn't physically impossible (as a prof to help you out), but make it a point to be an expert on that small singular part of our physical world (obviously relate it to the real world and give it some context as an intro and conclusion). Also, look for recommenders who can attest to your strengths as compared to the students also applying in competition with your application. Many times, the review committee will have not have the experience to relate to your major/school/experiences/professors/etc in order to make a good comparison. Your recommenders can provide some relative comparison which might be absent from your application. Congrats and best of luck to the incoming grad class everywhere Our world will surely need us. ================================================================