What are my chances for PhD EE Admissions???

[eesj]

Hello All,

I am looking into applying to PhD programs in California, but want to get some opinions prior to spending all that money.

My stats are:

UGPA-cum : 3.16/4.0 --from a top 10 EE program

UGPA-major: 3.33/4.0

MSEE - GPA: 3.43/4.0 (Working full time in industry in an R&D group for a top company)

GRE Q710 V410 AW:TBD

Two Patent Applications submitted to USPTO

No publications

Work experience

-1 yr co-op my senior year of undergrad for a well known IC design house

-4 yrs in top companies R&D group as an RFIC/mixed signal

-lead own research projects for my company focused in RFIC

I am applying to:

Stanford (first choice)- they seem very lenient on admissions

Santa Clara(last choice)

UCSD

UCB( might apply)

UCSB

Can you rate my chances? I am assuming UCB is a very very very long shot

Edited April 18, 2011 by eesj

[Seeking]

It's difficult to say from these details. Your SOP and recos will play an important role. Your GRE scores may not be high enough for UCB. But no harm in trying with a good SOP and strong recos.

[mechengr2000]

I noticed with my own admissions process, what matters are not these numbers so much. I applied to 18 schools, got accepted at all my top choices, got rejected from the bottom 3 choices, and mixed decisions in between. Find out what kind of culture exists at each of these schools (more qualititative stuff) and see where you will be the best fit. They care about "fit" more than anything else, based on my own experience applying to so many schools and seeing how each one had a different reaction to my application. Some value GPA and don't value research experience. Some are the other way around. etc etc

[eesj]

Thanks for the replies. My letters of rec will be comming from a PhD I research with at work, a sr research manager, and my msee advisor. I plan on writing custom sop for each of the universities.

Anything else I can do to increase my chances?

[eesj]

Do admissions care whether or not you will be funded by an employer when determining acceptance?

[m.giugno]

Hello All,

I am looking into applying to PhD programs in California, but want to get some opinions prior to spending all that money.

My stats are:

UGPA-cum : 3.16/4.0 --from a top 10 EE program

UGPA-major: 3.33/4.0

MSEE - GPA: 3.43/4.0 (Working full time in industry in an R&D group for a top company)

GRE Q710 V410 AW:TBD

Two Patent Applications submitted to USPTO

No publications

Work experience

-1 yr co-op my senior year of undergrad for a well known IC design house

-4 yrs in top companies R&D group as an RFIC/mixed signal

-lead own research projects for my company focused in RFIC

I am applying to:

Stanford (first choice)- they seem very lenient on admissions

Santa Clara(last choice)

UCSD

UCB( might apply)

UCSB

Can you rate my chances? I am assuming UCB is a very very very long shot

UCB and Stanford are very long shots.

Since your GPA is not stellar and you have no pubs I would suggest to retake the GRE. A total of 1220 is really low for a PhD at a top school. You need at least Q>770 to boost your app and have a shot at those universities.

Why California only? There are top schools around the country and the UC system is not in good shape..

[eesj]

Unfortunately moving isn't an option for me, since I need to work. I actually passed up Columbia this year for that reason.

I'm pretty sure I can get into Santa Clara, but it's not really a great school. :|