What are my chances for MS in EE?

[dman12]

Hi, I am a rising senior applying to grad school in the fall.

what are my chances at a top Master's program in EE( Stanford, Berkeley, MIT) ?

Institution: top public school in California

Overall GPA: 3.75

Major GPA: 3.73

working in two labs, one CS related and one photonics related. Hoping to get papers in both labs in a few months.

So I have a few questions.

1)How competitive is a 3.7 gpa for the very top grad schools? From what I read it seems like it would be ideal to get at least 3.8.

2)I think i am interested in a field that involves software and hardware such as embedded systems or computer architecture. Does working in a

photonics lab raise a concern since it would be in a field that is probably not that related to my desired field of study?

3)How much would getting published, but being like 4th or 5th author, help?

Thanks!