Hello all,
Undergrad institution: University of Cincinnati
Major: Civil Engineering (with Env Eng emphasis
Ugrad GPA: 3.77; major GPA is 3.69. Mostly from one C+ in a fairly meaningless class
Rank: 2nd in CEE class of ~45, I think
GRE (taken once; not sure if that matters or not)
800Q
640V
5.0 Analytical Writing
2.75 years of paid research experience at US Environmental Protection Agency, ongoing
1 summer internship in my department in structural engineering (3 years ago)
1 publication submitted, under review as 1st author in respected env eng journal (Water Research)
1 publication in prep as 2nd author, to be submitted to Environmental Science and Technology
Very strong letter from my EPA advisor/boss
2 decent letters from professors in my department (1 asst. prof, one fairly well known prof who now has an endowed chair at Missouri S&T (Dan Oerther))
Attended 2 international conferences and one local conference. Poster at one of the first two
SOP will emphasis research experience, strong commitment to research, and aspiration for academic career
Profile: Domestic white male
Is my GPA too low as compared to everything else? That's the main thing I'm worrying about. Also, worrying that Cincinnati is not top tier (ranked 28th in env eng)
Schools applying to (all for PhD direct admit, except Stanford, which doesn't allow it):
Stanford (for MS)
UC Berkeley
UW-Seattle (Visited and met 4 profs. Top prof in dept (Mark Benjamin) said "We'd love to have you here" so I'm not worried about UW)
UC-Boulder
ETH Zurich
Yale (Have spoken to professor who seemed interested and said that I was 'well qualified')
UT-Austin (My EPA advisor went there and stays in touch with his advisor. His letter will certainly reflect that)
Cincinnati (super safety)
Also considering
MIT
UIUC (except that I really don't fancy living in a cornfield)
Michigan
Thanks!