Profile eval for environmental engineering PhD

[mccurrdl]

Hello all,

Undergrad institution: University of Cincinnati

Major: Civil Engineering (with Env Eng emphasis

Ugrad GPA: 3.77; major GPA is 3.69. Mostly from one C+ in a fairly meaningless class

Rank: 2nd in CEE class of ~45, I think

GRE (taken once; not sure if that matters or not)

800Q

640V

5.0 Analytical Writing

2.75 years of paid research experience at US Environmental Protection Agency, ongoing

1 summer internship in my department in structural engineering (3 years ago)

1 publication submitted, under review as 1st author in respected env eng journal (Water Research)

1 publication in prep as 2nd author, to be submitted to Environmental Science and Technology

Very strong letter from my EPA advisor/boss

2 decent letters from professors in my department (1 asst. prof, one fairly well known prof who now has an endowed chair at Missouri S&T (Dan Oerther))

Attended 2 international conferences and one local conference. Poster at one of the first two

SOP will emphasis research experience, strong commitment to research, and aspiration for academic career

Profile: Domestic white male

Is my GPA too low as compared to everything else? That's the main thing I'm worrying about. Also, worrying that Cincinnati is not top tier (ranked 28th in env eng)

Schools applying to (all for PhD direct admit, except Stanford, which doesn't allow it):

Stanford (for MS)

UC Berkeley

UW-Seattle (Visited and met 4 profs. Top prof in dept (Mark Benjamin) said "We'd love to have you here" so I'm not worried about UW)

UC-Boulder

ETH Zurich

Yale (Have spoken to professor who seemed interested and said that I was 'well qualified')

UT-Austin (My EPA advisor went there and stays in touch with his advisor. His letter will certainly reflect that)

Cincinnati (super safety)

Also considering

MIT

UIUC (except that I really don't fancy living in a cornfield)

Michigan

Thanks!