Gauging my chances vis-a-vis my undergraduate institution

[beejaei]

I will be applying to EE PhD programs next fall. When I read others' stats here and gauge them against mine (without context), I get the impression that I am doing pretty well, but some issues still stick out. I have a 3.8 GPA, three research experiences at University of Maryland Baltimore County, Purdue University and MIT,although only the one at MIT may be directly related to my area of interest i.e. mechatronic/robotic control systems. I am a computer science major. I also have a paper published from my research at Purdue, although that was on electric vehicles energy efficiency.

What I am primarily disturbed about is the rigor of my undergraduate program and the relevance of my undergraduate background and research experiences to what I hope to do for my PhD. How do adcomms assess the relative rigor of undergraduate programs to judge a candidate's academic capability? There are about 3000 students in my school and from what I have read here, I am tempted to believe that our academic standard borders on being mediocre. What can I do to convince the adcomm that I am a quality student coming form this background? Or will they see me as too much of a risk to take on?

Please I need answers.

[newms]

The most important thing that adcomms evaluate about you is your potential to do research at their grad school. So the fact that you have 3 REUs and 1 published paper will stand out for adcomms. I think this is much more important than the relative rigor of your undergraduate program. And you're right, I think you're doing pretty well so far, but keep in mind that admissions at the very top schools can be a crap shoot, since there are so many applicants - so don't just apply to the very top schools. Good luck in your journey!

[beejaei]

The most important thing that adcomms evaluate about you is your potential to do research at their grad school. So the fact that you have 3 REUs and 1 published paper will stand out for adcomms. I think this is much more important than the relative rigor of your undergraduate program. And you're right, I think you're doing pretty well so far, but keep in mind that admissions at the very top schools can be a crap shoot, since there are so many applicants - so don't just apply to the very top schools. Good luck in your journey!

[beejaei]

Wat schools will I have the most chance of getting into? I am thinking GATECH and CMU and Ohio State. I may as well not shy from my dreams: and MIT and Stanford too.

[newms]

Wat schools will I have the most chance of getting into? I am thinking GATECH and CMU and Ohio State. I may as well not shy from my dreams: and MIT and Stanford too.

I think you'd have a decent shot at those schools. Remember though, that MIT, Stanford and CMU are very competitive so even though your profile might be good, it would still be hard to get in. I'm in CS and not in EE, so maybe someone else in EE could give you better advice. Good luck!