lanlan Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 Hello everyone, I'm currently applying for several PhD programs in Mechanical Engineering based in the US. I made a list containing all the universities that I planned to apply for but not quite sure if they match my background, so I really hope to get some advice on what universities should I aim for. Here is some information about me. Research interest: Control, (especially on Autonomous vehicle), robotics GPA: Undergraduate (Electrical Engineering) (3.73/4) in China Master (Electrical Engineering) (3.96/4) Columbia University, N.Y. TOEFL: R-30, L-28, S-22, W-25 (Overall-105) GRE: V-156, Q-170, AWA-3 (15th percentile..one of my major concerns) Award: None Research: Summer Research in UW-Madison, about the control of autonomous vehicle, no publication, two tech reports, willing to offer a great letter Research at Columbia, about rehabilitation robotics, no publication, an ordinary reference letter course project at Columbia Work Experience: None Goal University: UT-Austin, Umich, Ann Arbor, OSU, PSU, UC Davis, Virginia Tech, UW-Madison, Notre Dame, RPI I do have an skype chat with prof. from UT Austin and RPI, they all have open positions and encourage me to apply. Some professors in other university replied my email and gave some positive response (at least in my opinion). But I am afraid the ranking of ME for universities I choose is a little bit high... (20-40) If you have any insights, please feel free to share. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanlan Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 no one can give me some hint?? >_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asabecker Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I think the lack of depth in research and lack of strong letters are the only issues. Perhaps targeting some more schools the next tier down from what you have listed? If the lab you worked in at Columbia isn't leading to success perhaps changing to a different lab? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaudreau Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) @lanlan My son is a PhD student at Michigan in Aerospace Engineering. One of his housemates is a PhD student in Michigan's great Robotics program. Here's a list of current graduate students. https://robotics.umich.edu/people/students/ Many of the students are from China and list their email addresses. It couldn't hurt to send out some emails to ask for advice. Edited November 20, 2019 by Beaudreau Clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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