mguj1130

I am currently in the processing of editing and re-editing my SOP of engineering grad school applications, specifically Ph.D. programs. I know that it's generally better to have a short and concise statement of purpose but my problem is that I've had 5 difference research internships and they have all lead to the next so I feel like they are all worth mentioning. I'm currently at 1050 words including my introduction, talking about my 5 experiences, a 'why a PhD' paragraph and a 'why X school'. None of my applications have stated any word limit for the SOP so I just wanted to check. Thanks for the help

great post socialpsych, thanks!

i mean, i wouldnt say "I HATE ACADEMIA", i would just say something along the lines of "My ultimate career goal would be to conduct research in a national laboratory or a medical research hospital etc..." Hmmm....

Hello everyone, I'm going to be applying for PhD programs this fall for engineering. I have started working on my statement of purpose and had a question about how to word my post PhD plans. I know for a fact that I do NOT want to enter academia and would much much prefer to go work in the industry. Should I clearly state this in my personal statement or is it looked down upon to not be interested in being a professor? I don't want to lie and act like I plan on becoming a professor but I don't want my true intentions to be a turn off for admission committees....thanks for any input!

Thanks for the insight! That definitely makes me feel a lot better. I know for a fact that two of my LOR will be excellent because they wrote letters for me when I applied for summer REUs and I will take extra extra extra care to perfect my SOP!

thanks for the input...i guess i wont retake it. plus the averages for the verbal section are around 550 so i did much better in that, although i know the quant is more important

So I just got back from taking my GRE and didn't do as great as I hoped. I got a 620 V and a 760 Q. I'm happy with my verbal score but I was hoping my quant score to be 780+. I am applying this fall for bioengineering PhD programs. Will a 3.92 GPA and significant research experience with great LORs make up for the quat scores? I want to apply to top schools an their averages are usually 770-780. Ugh I'm really frustrated because I scored 790's on both PP exams and was really banking on getting at least a 780.... Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated..

I am going to be a senior this fall at the University of Miami and am a biomedical engineering major. I was wondering what my chances would be at some of the more prestegious schools for this major. Some of the schools that I am considering applying to are: Stanford, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Case Western, WashU, Northwestern, Columbia and most likely a few more once I do more research on the departments and what research they have going on. Here are my stats: School: University of Miami Major: Biomedical Engineering (minor in Chemistry) GPA: 3.924 GRE: 790Q/ 620V/ 5 A Research: 1 summer at the University of Akron doing Matlab modelling on biofilms and their response to drugs and nutrient supplies (not that relevant but a good intro experience to research) 1 summer REU at the University of Akron Polymer Science and Engineering- Worked in a macromolecular engineering research group, worked on synthetic biomaterials and testing their biocompatibility 1 academic year at UMiami Chem Department- Worked on creating fluorescent probes for imaging biological systems and in particular chemotherapy drugs This summer I have an internship at University of Southern California, I will be working with micro scaled drug delivery systems LOR's 1.) I will have one written by the Professor with whom I worked with my second summer at UAkron, she absolutely loved me and their Polymer Science department is one of the top in the nation believe it or not 2.) I will (hopefully) have one from the professor I work with at USC 3.) For my last one it will either be with the professor with whom I worked with in the chemistry deparmtment, Stanford graduate, or from my advisor whom I will most likely be working with this coming year on my senior design project on something to do with biomaterials for the heart. I haven't recieved any awards really but I have had two papers published and one or two more sent for review. I am also the vice president of Alpha Eta Mu Beta (the BMES honors society) and have been an athletic tutor the past few years, not sure if this information is important though. My main concern is that I will not be graduating from a prestigious university or one that is highly ranked for engineering but I feel as if I have done pretty much everything I can to prove that I would be a good candidate for the schools I find myself to be a good fit at. In addition, I am mainly interested in the biomaterials/tissue engineering/drug delivery aspect of biomedical engineering and not the electronics/imaging part. A few of the schools seem to include this type of research under their chemical engineering department so I am considering applying to some of these schools for chemical engineering, would that be possible since that wasnt my undergrad major? I know ive read a few places that I would have to take a few extra courses to supplement the courses I did not take as an undergrad. Anyways, I would appreciate any honest input and advice...Thanks!