alboities

Hey all, My name is Albert and I was hoping someone could answer a few questions I had. I currently have a 3.7 GPA at WUSTL. Removing my worst quarter puts me at about a 3.85 (rough estimate, I didn't do so well freshmen year...); Also my last 4 quarters are straight A's including 5 A+'s (these last 4 quarters are also the more difficult coursework areas) -Will grad schools look at my GPA more "leniently" because I screwed up freshmen year? or am I labeled as a mere 3.7? Do grad schools look at PHD vs. Masters applicants differently? I am leaning towards doing the 1 to 2 year masters program rather than a full PHD program. For publications, I was also under the impression you have to be the primary author in order for it to really be signifiant? I have participated in 2 research positions and will hopefully write part of a publication on my specific area, but will not be labelled as the primary author. I was hoping I could get an honest opinion about my prospects for getting into a top 5 engineering graduate program (stanford, caltech, MIT, cal, etc.)? I have not taken the GRE yet (i'm taking a year off first), but I'd like to forecast (800 Math, 650+ english, 4+ writing)