TexasGuy

a degree will make things a lot easier to get a CS related job IMO.. i am starting at gatechs omscs program this fall coming from a non-cs background.for preparation, everything you need is online. but preparation for gatech omscs  it completely depends on what area you want  to specialize in. so do some research on the specialization areas and figure out what kinds of courses you want to take

Texas A&M hands down...i was accepted into texas A&M and UFlorida for chemical engineering. I was able to get RA funding my second year. If you do good work and have a good relationship with your research advisor you should be able to get one....and even if you dont, if you plan ahead you should be able to get a TA ship. In terms of funding  you wont have problems at A&M...

yeah i would say GPA. and its sad because that is not a bad GPA. but when most people have 3.8+ GPA's it makes it easy for grad schools to just filter out the applicants with GPA's closer to 3.0. Same with GRE. 161 Q is great but when a lot of people applying to top programs in science have 164+,... Its just a human thing. If i was looking at a whole bunch of applications i would probably employ the same lazy ass approach to weed out a lot of applicants. this especially goes for top 20- top 30 programs. Just make sure you look at admission statistics for previous years and see where you stand.
 
Honestly, write the letters of recommendations by yourself and send them to your recommenders. A lot of the time professors just dont feel like putting in all the effort to write a great recommendation letter so its best to do it yourself, make it as great as possible and tell them to edit and make changes if they want to. THey'll be really happy because it will save them so much time and they might even be willing add and tweak the letters to make it even better because it wont take them much time to do it.
 
And then the last thing is the SOP. Make sure others read your SOP.

yeah i would say GPA. and its sad because that is not a bad GPA. but when most people have 3.8+ GPA's it makes it easy for grad schools to just filter out the applicants with GPA's closer to 3.0. Same with GRE. 161 Q is great but when a lot of people applying to top programs in science have 164+,... Its just a human thing. If i was looking at a whole bunch of applications i would probably employ the same lazy ass approach to weed out a lot of applicants. this especially goes for top 20- top 30 programs. Just make sure you look at admission statistics for previous years and see where you stand.
 
Honestly, write the letters of recommendations by yourself and send them to your recommenders. A lot of the time professors just dont feel like putting in all the effort to write a great recommendation letter so its best to do it yourself, make it as great as possible and tell them to edit and make changes if they want to. THey'll be really happy because it will save them so much time and they might even be willing add and tweak the letters to make it even better because it wont take them much time to do it.
 
And then the last thing is the SOP. Make sure others read your SOP.

are you joking?
 
YES...retake it. your scores are horrible. 

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

she sounds like a dumb bitch..
 
find someone else..quickly.

LOL!!!  

lmfao im cracking up at the comments in this thread

thats the best situation you can be in IMO. 

hahahahaha....this is a joke right and you guys are playing along?
 
i cackled at 'run marathons'.

i think you should apply to every school that you want to go to. you just really never know. theres people with 3.3 GPA's who get into top 5 engineering progams while the 4.0's get rejected. As long as you meet the minimum requirements (as far as GPA) and your GRE score is around the average of accepted students into that program, you should apply. 

I don't really like giving out details about my life, but this may help someone so...
 
Undergrad Institution: U Pittsburgh
Major(s): Bioengineering
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: Not sure
Overall GPA: 3.33
Length of Degree: 4 yr program + 1 yr co-op rotation = 5 years total
Position in Class: No idea - probably average?
Type of Student: African American female
 

GRE Scores:
Q: 156
V: 153
W: 4


Research Experience: 
- In total, >1.5 years lab experience with tissue engineering research, which includes biomaterials research for a summer in Germany
- In total, 1 year industry experience, which includes 2 semesters co-oping with a highly regarded medical device company in R&D and 1 semester co-oping at research equipment company in R&D
- no publications, no big poster talks, etc
 
 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 
Tau Beta Pi, two corporate scholarships from NSBE, university scholarships (that I had upon entering), Dean's List
 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 
- Heavily involved with National Society of Black Engineers university chapter, including regional level position
- Mentored freshmen engineering students as part of diversity program
- Engineering school tour guide for 4 yrs (I talk a lot at student recruitment days)
- 1 yr volunteer work with mentoring high school students about bioengineering/tissue engineering, and other outreach activities
 
 
Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I think I had pretty good letters - I never saw them, but I trust my letter writers!  One was from a professor I have a good relationship with, one is from a current PI, and one is from an R&D manager at my previous co-op
 

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:
Applying for PhD in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering (regenerative medicine/tissue engineering focus) at:
 
Vanderbilt - Rejected, 1/??/13
U Washington - Rejected, 1/??/13
Carnegie Mellon - Accepted, 2/7/13, full tuition + stipend
Rice University - Accepted, 2/26/13, full tuition + stipend
U Pittsburgh - in cahoots with high level dean/professor who is "very sure" I'll get in...so I'll take that as an eventual yes?  o_O
U Michigan - Still waiting
Northwestern - Still waiting
 
 
Regardless of Michigan and Northwestern decisions, probably will end up going to Rice - I'm ready to escape the cold!  

It ain't happening. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I personally don't think it's realistic for someone with your portfolio would get into top programs like that, especially with all the budget-cut, government shut down and lack of funding situations.

In order to get into a top program (e.g. MIT, Harvard, Standford, Penn State etc.), you will need at least a first-authored research-based publication in a well-known journal, or a bunch of co-author research-based publications. In addition, you will need outstanding recommendations from someone who's in the same/related field already.

hahahahaha....this is a joke right and you guys are playing along?
 
i cackled at 'run marathons'.

my mouth dropped when I read "rape victim"
 
be very VERY vague about what happened but still let them realize that it was something really serious that affected your grades. 

my mouth dropped when I read "rape victim"
 
be very VERY vague about what happened but still let them realize that it was something really serious that affected your grades. 

surefire im taking your advice and using 12 size font. Currently chopping everything down so it fits on two pages

surefire im taking your advice and using 12 size font. Currently chopping everything down so it fits on two pages