EASC

I'm taking the GRE on Dec 10th. I contacted the schools since the deadlines are in Dec 13, 14 and 15. They told me that as long as I provide the unofficial scores before the deadline and the official ones arrive shortly after deadline, it won't be a problem. My questions are 1) How many days it means shortly and 2) Professors really check applications before holidays? I would thought that they would review the applications in January after the holidays.

Currently I held a Master's degree in electrical engineering. I obtained the Bachelor's degree from the same school. I am applying to PhD programs, having excellent references from advisers and supervisors in research, who are also faculty in different departments and/or at other schools. However, I have not taken a single class with any them. The professors of all my classes never get to know me well. However, there is my adviser from my senior design project as undergrad who is willing to write me a LOR but never took any course with him at the master level. There is a professor who took two courses with at the master level but he cannot tell anything else beyond I did great in the courses and how hard those courses were. On the other hand, my other references (faculty but never took a course with them), can talk about me because they know me very well for my research. So my question pretty much is if by "faculty members from the last school that you attended full time" means a professor who taught a course to you, or any professor who belongs to that school who know you very well? Should I go with 2 recommenders who know me very well and one from a course who can only say that I did well and get an A? If so, should I pick the undergrad adviser for senior design or the professors for the two master-level courses? Do you have any other recommendation on this?

I'm applying to PhD programs in electrical engineering. I have so far 3 ideal recommenders. The professors that I worked with for 3 years and obtained a publication from my work (I'm the first author). Now this professor is not from my home university, he is from the school that I am applying to but fro the mechanical engineering department. Anyway, I'm sure that he will write an excellent letter for me. The second professor is from my school but I never took a class with her. However, I did worked in her chemistry lab for 3 years and she is aware of my progress in my publication. Finally there is a professor from the electrical engineering department from my home school. I took 3 courses with him, one as undergrad (A) and two as graduate student (A and A-). However, his letters talk only about the courses (in an outstanding way) but they don't say anything beyond that. I was thinking in replacing the 3rd letter with a professor from a community college that knows me since 2005. In fact, the reason why I got involved in research was because of him. I used to attend this community college before transferring to the college I obtained my bachelor's from. I took general chemistry I and II with honors and their labs with him. I met my second recommender because of him and right now I am working as adjunct lecturer in the same community college that I used to attend, and since he is the chairman of the Natural Science department, he is kind of my boss. If there is somebody who know me well is him. But I don't know if a letter from a professor that belongs to a community college will not have the same importance as from my home school. I want to point out that I am not attending my home school anymore. I graduated with a master's degree last June (same school I obtained my bachelor's degree) and that is why I am working as adjunct lecturer until I get into a PhD program. In general professors from the E.E. department write letters related to the courses, and I don't have other possible recommenders that know me well. It is important to mention that I am applying to top schools such as Princeton, Stanford, Cornell... Any advise?

I'm applying to PhD programs in electrical engineering. I have so far 3 ideal recommenders. The professors that I worked with for 3 years and obtained a publication from my work (I'm the first author). Now this professor is not from my home university, he is from the school that I am applying to but fro the mechanical engineering department. Anyway, I'm sure that he will write an excellent letter for me. The second professor is from my school but I never took a class with her. However, I did worked in her chemistry lab for 3 years and she is aware of my progress in my publication. Finally there is a professor from the electrical engineering department from my home school. I took 3 courses with him, one as undergrad (A) and two as graduate student (A and A-). However, his letters talk only about the courses (in an outstanding way) but they don't say anything beyond that. I was thinking in replacing the 3rd letter with a professor from a community college that knows me since 2005. In fact, the reason why I got involved in research was because of him. I used to attend this community college before transferring to the college I obtained my bachelor's from. I took general chemistry I and II with honors and their labs with him. I met my second recommender because of him and right now I am working as adjunct lecturer in the same community college that I used to attend, and since he is the chairman of the Natural Science department, he is kind of my boss. If there is somebody who know me well is him. But I don't know if a letter from a professor that belongs to a community college will not have the same importance as from my home school. I want to point out that I am not attending my home school anymore. I graduated with a master's degree last June (same school I obtained my bachelor's degree) and that is why I am working as adjunct lecturer until I get into a PhD program. In general professors from the E.E. department write letters related to the courses, and I don't have other possible recommenders that know me well. It is important to mention that I am applying to top schools such as Princeton, Stanford, Cornell... Any advise?

Hello, I am re-applying to PhD programs to start Fall 2012. My CV, quoting two professors is "impressive." I have one publication as first author while working at Princeton University as research assistant. I have 14 conference presentations from which 4 were oral. I am taking the revised GRE the first week of December. Now the bad side is that my undergrad GPA is 3.017. I completed a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering with a GPA of 3.555. I have research experience in every summer and semester since 2005. Before attending the school that I got the Bachelor from I went to a community college. I know that an associate's degree community college is irrelevant compared to the bachelors but my GPA there is 3.795. However, I took a class on Nanomaterials at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and got an A. I did apply last year but I didn't have a publication yet since it was submitted in January 2011 and I did pretty bad in the old GRE format. Also, regarding my low GPA as undergrad, I can say is that my low GPA as undergrad was due to personal problems, and in fact, it is noticeable that improved rapidly. So my question is if I stand any chance to get into a top school for a PhD in electrical engineering? Any advise?