2012 Applicant and Profile

[Golgotha]

Congrats! Although it is quite obvious you will be admitted to all of them.

So which one will you choose? Caltech, MIT or Harvard?

Thanks! Sheesh, that's a good question. I've established a foothold in socal so CalTech would probably win out in the event I get accepted into all three (I wish I were as optimistic as you; got rejected from CalTech and waitlisted at MIT when I applied for my Master's). Plus it's sort of a personal dream of mine to work at JPL someday. However I really have no contacts at CalTech, whereas with MIT and Harvard I've had a pretty constant dialogue with professors who have expressed interest in me so it's a tough choice.

[phdinfsi]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School, solid/ top 30 ranked engineering, US

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Minor(s): Mathematics

Overall GPA: 3.45/4.0

Length of Degree: 4 years

Type of Student: Hispanic Male American Citizen

GRE Scores (old version):

Q:800 (94%)

V: 630 (91%)

W: 4 (45%)

Research Experience: Year long honors thesis in deployment dynamics of a small satellite. Worked with professor at university and afrl

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: several scholarships/recognitions within university, no national awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: honor society stuff

Applying to Where:

Columbia

Johns Hopkins

Princeton

U. Penn

RPI

U. Maryland

U. Michigan

Cornell

All Mechanical Engineering PhD except Michigan which is Aerospace Engineering PhD

Congrats !! for your RPI admit.. when did the result come out ?

[mechapplicant2012]

Thanks! Sheesh, that's a good question. I've established a foothold in socal so CalTech would probably win out in the event I get accepted into all three (I wish I were as optimistic as you; got rejected from CalTech and waitlisted at MIT when I applied for my Master's). Plus it's sort of a personal dream of mine to work at JPL someday. However I really have no contacts at CalTech, whereas with MIT and Harvard I've had a pretty constant dialogue with professors who have expressed interest in me so it's a tough choice.

That's the life man, choosing between these three! I sure hope and am quite sure you will achieve that dream... seriously if they're not gonna take you, who will they take! I sure could use some contact at Harvard.

[mechapplicant2012]

Thanks! I was really surprised Prof. Andrade actually called me up. Most my research has been open channel work / surface flow. So the Geomechanics group (which I applied to because I've always had a massive curiosity for subsurface mechanics, and the group at Caltech is doing some really incredible stuff) was a big surprise to hear back from. Should be a really exciting visit...but it's no guarantee of admission I'm sure. And don't lose hope, I'm sure as a mechanical applicant to the group you'd add some flavor!

I was curious when you were going to visit. If you have already visited, has prof. Andrade indicated when the decisions go out? and did he give you an offer?

[ICE 9JA]

I would like to start by saying these type of chats are really interesting especially the physics and math ones. Hopefully, the engineering one becomes booming like that soon. Also, I would like to write small details about mine if it is interesting

Undergrad Institution: Small Midwest Liberal Arts School, known regionally and pretty good in engineering to my surprise

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Minor(s): Engineering Management, Mathematics (Just added the math one my final semester because I had time)

GPA in Major: 3.944 (got my first B+ in an engineering subject in my senior design class because of a bad team)

Overall GPA: 3.817 (had C average in the two freshman year seminar classes...its a bunch of BS anyway)

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: either 1st or 2nd (the girl doesnt speak of her gpa...haha)

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (old version): BTW the GRE is just an annoying exam I had to prepare for while working full time at an engineering firm

Q: 800 (94%) expected it going in but didnt after taking the test but thank God it happened

V: 370 (26%) I memorized a lot of frequent words from Barrons, only 3 came out...hahaha my luck right

W: 3.5 (27%) expected a 4 cuz I did not prepare for this section and I thought I nailed one of the essays down

TOEFL Total: graduating from the US so it would be waived...hopefully...haha

Research Experience: not really. My senior project is on study of vortex shedding frequency of a wind turbine blade. I am in charge of the experimental part using a suction type wind tunnel to test it. Wrote all the LabVIEW programs, designed the experiment. Also perfoming modal analysis on the blade model to compare my results to the natural blade frequency

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list every semester...kinda cool I thought....in various honor societies...nothing overly special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: well I am working part time at Dana Holding Corporation after my full time job during the summer...not research related obviously

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not sure

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommender graduated from MIT and Michigan and gave me a stellar LOR (He is quite famous and studied witha professor at Clemson) Also, another one is the Dean of the engineering department and knows me quite well (school is quite small so no biggie....besides I am the only black guy in the graduating mechanical engineering department....hahaha). All the rest were great LOR apart from my academic advisor who wrote one for Michigan (that may just kill my application there...ow well). Had a decent SOP that reflects my interest a little.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I m 20. I am from Nigeria ...just wanted to say that somewhere...hahaha. Taking a percussion class because I want to learn to play the drums...dont judge me...hahaha. Also not a lot of tough classes this final semester. I have already taking Combustion which is done only in graduate school..I think...haha.

Applying to Where:

All PhD positions in mechanical engineering except for MIT and Stanford because they do not accept direct entry into the PhD programs. Research interest are in Thermodynamics (Energy Conversion..more or less), Combustion, Fluid mechanics and heat transfer

MIT Rejected via email - Feb 27th

Stanford

Caltech

CMU

UTexas

Michigan

Rice

Cornell

Princeton Rejected via email Feb 16th

Georgia Tech

Clemson(my only safety)- Accepted (no funding yet) (Jan 2nd on the site)

Hope this is good for everyone and yeah...GOODLUCK to everyone and I hope you get to the grad school of your choice

_________________________________

[ICE 9JA]

I would like to start by saying these type of chats are really interesting especially the physics and math ones. Hopefully, the engineering one becomes booming like that soon. Also, I would like to write small details about mine if it is interesting

Undergrad Institution: Small Midwest Liberal Arts School, known regionally and pretty good in engineering to my surprise

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Minor(s): Engineering Management, Mathematics (Just added the math one my final semester because I had time)

GPA in Major: 3.944 (got my first B+ in an engineering subject in my senior design class because of a bad team)

Overall GPA: 3.817 (had C average in the two freshman year seminar classes...its a bunch of BS anyway)

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: either 1st or 2nd (the girl doesnt speak of her gpa...haha)

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (old version): BTW the GRE is just an annoying exam I had to prepare for while working full time at an engineering firm

Q: 800 (94%) expected it going in but didnt after taking the test but thank God it happened

V: 370 (26%) I memorized a lot of frequent words from Barrons, only 3 came out...hahaha my luck right

W: 3.5 (27%) expected a 4 cuz I did not prepare for this section and I thought I nailed one of the essays down

TOEFL Total: graduating from the US so it would be waived...hopefully...haha

Research Experience: not really. My senior project is on study of vortex shedding frequency of a wind turbine blade. I am in charge of the experimental part using a suction type wind tunnel to test it. Wrote all the LabVIEW programs, designed the experiment. Also perfoming modal analysis on the blade model to compare my results to the natural blade frequency

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list every semester...kinda cool I thought....in various honor societies...nothing overly special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: well I am working part time at Dana Holding Corporation after my full time job during the summer...not research related obviously

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not sure

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommender graduated from MIT and Michigan and gave me a stellar LOR (He is quite famous and studied witha professor at Clemson) Also, another one is the Dean of the engineering department and knows me quite well (school is quite small so no biggie....besides I am the only black guy in the graduating mechanical engineering department....hahaha). All the rest were great LOR apart from my academic advisor who wrote one for Michigan (that may just kill my application there...ow well). Had a decent SOP that reflects my interest a little.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I m 20. I am from Nigeria ...just wanted to say that somewhere...hahaha. Taking a percussion class because I want to learn to play the drums...dont judge me...hahaha. Also not a lot of tough classes this final semester. I have already taking Combustion which is done only in graduate school..I think...haha.

Applying to Where:

All PhD positions in mechanical engineering except for MIT and Stanford because they do not accept direct entry into the PhD programs. Research interest are in Thermodynamics (Energy Conversion..more or less), Combustion, Fluid mechanics and heat transfer

MIT Rejected via email-Feb 27th

Stanford

Caltech

CMU

UTexas Accepted via email to check status - Feb 28th

Michigan

Rice

Cornell

Princeton Rejected via email -Feb 16th

Georgia Tech

Clemson(my only safety)- Accepted on the site-Jan 2nd

Hope this is good for everyone and yeah...GOODLUCK to everyone and I hope you get to the grad school of your choice

_________________________________

[baer]

To the person from Western Australia,

I am a PHD student from eastern Europe and applied to the PHD program at UWA ECE Dept. Could you tell me What your opinion is about UWA (at PHD level)? Furthermore, If you know UNSW@ADFA, Which one is better? Finally, which one is better for an overseas student to study in Canberra or Perth?

Thanks for your help.

Edited March 1, 2012 by baer

[sabdo]

Undergrad Institution: University of California, San Diego

Major(s): Chemical Engineering

Overall GPA: 3.42

Advanced GPA: 3.76

Type of Student: American

GRE Scores:

Q: 156 (74%)

V: 162 (90%)

W: 4.0 (48%)

Research Experience:

2 months Bionanotech lab

6 months nanomedicine lab

Industry Experience:

1 year as Research Associate at material science company:

• Work on Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors
  
• Completed several projects for fortune 100 companies
  
• Applying on a patent for new chemical discovery
  

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Provost honors

Applying for [ M.S. ] at:

Duke - BME Accepted w/50% tuition scholarship + paid RA position

UC Berekeley/UCSF - BioE Accepted

Boston University - BME

UCSD - Chem E

University of Washington - BioE

UPenn - BME

[eaglesfan90]

Undergrad Institution: Large state school

Major(s): Math/Physics

Overall GPA: 3.97

Major GPA: 3.97

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: top

Type of Student: American

GRE Scores:

Q: 170 (99%)

V: 166 (97%)

W: 4.5 (72%)

No subject test

Research Experience:

4 years at same lab, 1 1st author paper

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: school research awards, Goldwater scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for math, president of academic club

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: leadership experience helped get into Sloan

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Harvard- SEAS

Yale - ChemE - accepted, ~$31k first year

MIT - chemical engineering practice CEP - accepted, ~$31k per year

Stanford - ChemE- rejected

_________________________________________

In general not being an engineering major didn't hurt much I suppose.

[ICE 9JA]

I would like to start by saying these type of chats are really interesting especially the physics and math ones. Hopefully, the engineering one becomes booming like that soon. Also, I would like to write small details about mine if it is interesting

Undergrad Institution: Small Midwest Liberal Arts School, known regionally and pretty good in engineering to my surprise

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Minor(s): Engineering Management, Mathematics (Just added the math one my final semester because I had time)

GPA in Major: 3.944 (got my first B+ in an engineering subject in my senior design class because of a bad team)

Overall GPA: 3.817 (had C average in the two freshman year seminar classes...its a bunch of BS anyway)

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: either 1st or 2nd (the girl doesnt speak of her gpa...haha)

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (old version): BTW the GRE is just an annoying exam I had to prepare for while working full time at an engineering firm

Q: 800 (94%) expected it going in but didnt after taking the test but thank God it happened

V: 370 (26%) I memorized a lot of frequent words from Barrons, only 3 came out...hahaha my luck right

W: 3.5 (27%) expected a 4 cuz I did not prepare for this section and I thought I nailed one of the essays down

TOEFL Total: graduating from the US so it would be waived...hopefully...haha

Research Experience: not really. My senior project is on study of vortex shedding frequency of a wind turbine blade. I am in charge of the experimental part using a suction type wind tunnel to test it. Wrote all the LabVIEW programs, designed the experiment. Also perfoming modal analysis on the blade model to compare my results to the natural blade frequency

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list every semester...kinda cool I thought....in various honor societies...nothing overly special

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: well I am working part time at Dana Holding Corporation after my full time job during the summer...not research related obviously

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Not sure

Special Bonus Points: One of my recommender graduated from MIT and Michigan and gave me a stellar LOR (He is quite famous and studied witha professor at Clemson) Also, another one is the Dean of the engineering department and knows me quite well (school is quite small so no biggie....besides I am the only black guy in the graduating mechanical engineering department....hahaha). All the rest were great LOR apart from my academic advisor who wrote one for Michigan (that may just kill my application there...ow well). Had a decent SOP that reflects my interest a little.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I m 20. I am from Nigeria ...just wanted to say that somewhere...hahaha. Taking a percussion class because I want to learn to play the drums...dont judge me...hahaha. Also not a lot of tough classes this final semester. I have already taking Combustion which is done only in graduate school..I think...haha.

Applying to Where:

All PhD positions in mechanical engineering except for MIT and Stanford because they do not accept direct entry into the PhD programs. Research interest are in Thermodynamics (Energy Conversion..more or less), Combustion, Fluid mechanics and heat transfer

MIT Rejected Feb 27th via email

Stanford

Caltech

CMU

UTexas Accepted Feb 28th via email

Michigan

Rice

Cornell Rejected Mar 8th

Princeton Rejected Feb 16th

Georgia Tech

Clemson(my only safety)- Accepted (Jan 2nd on the site)

Hope this is good for everyone and yeah...GOODLUCK to everyone and I hope you get to the grad school of your choice

_________________________________

[intirb]

Undergrad Institution: top BME school

Major(s): BME

Overall GPA: 3.67

Length of Degree: 3 years

Position in Class: top 15% ish

Type of Student: domestic, female

Graduate Institution: well-respected international school

Major(s): MS Neuroscience

Overall GPA: 3.7 ish

Length of Degree: 2 years

Position in Class: first

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

Q: 800

V: 680

W: 5.5

Research Experience: 5ish years of research experience. No publications, but quite a few conference posters. My capstone engineering project generated some buzz in the lay press. I also wrote a master's thesis, for whatever that's worth.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Hertz finalist

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Statistics TA

Special Bonus Points: Three probably excellent LORs - I really need to go and thank them next week profusely, probably with home-baked goods. One 'famous' PI, two other PIs with whom I've worked very closely. All international

Applying to Where:

Stanford University Bioengineering - rejected (2/6)

MIT/Harvard HST - interview (2/2), accepted (3/9) - 1 year funding

MIT Biological Engineering - rejected (2/16)

Brown University Biomedical Engineering - interview (1/26), accepted (2/29) - 5 years funding

University of Pennsylvania Bioengineering - interview (1/30)

University of Washington Bioengineering - interview (1/28)

[sabdo]

^^ Wow congrats on the MIT/Harvard HST acceptance. Their MEMP program sounds fantastic. I would like to apply there once I finish my MS in BME.

Out of curiosity, how did you frame your SOP when you were applying. You don't need to give me details but how did you formulate your general pitch?

[intirb]

Thanks! The MEMP program does sound really good.. although honestly all the schools/labs I'm looking at are awesome and my decision is going to be very tough.

I sent you a PM about the SOP. Anyone else who's curious about that can feel free to PM me.

[taofeek88]

Hi Everyone,

Undergrad Institution: University of Lagos, Nigeria

Major(s): Electrical Engineering

Minor(s): we dont have miniors here

GPA: 4.41/5.00 (3.63/4.00 when i converted it using the World Educational Services' platform)

Position in Class: top 7%

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (old/new version):

Q: 800 (94%) /166 (94%)

V: 670 (95%) / 164 (94%)

W: 4.0 (45%) / 4.0 (48%)

TOEFL Total: 106

Research Experience: Neural Networks for Electric Load Forecating - Final Year Thesis!

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several

Applying to Where:

Cornell - MEng Systems Engineering- Accepted (February 21st)

University of Rochester

McGill University

MASDAR institute of Science and Technology

accepted - Cornell University

Rejected - none yet

GOODLUCK to everyone. I wish us all the best.

Does anyone know anybody that to McGill or University of Rochester and had heard from the schools?? Please help with this.

Thanks!

[ICE 9JA]

BTW FYI

I arranged the schools in order of preference to go to if given the same offer to all so if Stanford or CMU doesn't give me an great offer, I am going to Texas. A really good school and I am happy with that admit. Thank God for it

[ICE 9JA]

For posterity's sake:

Undergrad Institution: Decent EE Institution in America

Major: Electrical Engineering

Minor: Math

GPA in Major: 4.0/4.0

GPA in Minor: 4.0/4.0

GPA overall: 3.89/4.0

Note: Heavily overloaded course schedule with many grad-level classes

Position in Class: Summa Cum Laude (although no position information)

GRE Scores: V: 160 Q: 166 A: 4.5

Area: Information Theory / Communications

Recommendations: Excellent recs from known profs in my field

Research Experience:

1.5 year in radar and atmospheric physics

1 year in bio-imaging

1 journal publication

Work Experience: 1 summer internship and 1 year in a full time position, both at respectable places.

Awards: Full scholarship senior year, top senior design project, summer research award, Tau Beta Pi, Dean's list every semester

Extra-Curriculars: President of the Chess Club

Applied: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, Caltech (all for EE PhD, MIT area 1)

Accepted: MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton

Waiting On: Caltech

where do u think u are going to end up?

[TeaGirl]

Undergrad Institution: No.1 institution in my country.

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Minor(s): none.

GPA: 3.64/4.00

Position in Class: Probably top 5-10% of class.

Length of Degree: 4 years

Type of Student: International female

Grad Institution: Top 50 U.S. school in my major.

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

GPA: 3.63/4.00

Length of Degree: 2 years

GRE Scores (old):

Q: 760 (84%)

V: 590 (84%)

W: 5.0 (84%)

Research Experience: Lots of it. Thesis research. Undergraduate research in my senior year. Two month undergraduate research internship in a German technical university. Currently doing research at my undergraduate institution.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: One major publication award. Deans Honor list etc.

Publications:1 journal with my name second, and 3 conference where I'm first author. 10 in total.

Applying to Where:

Stanford:

Purdue:

CMU: Got emailed by a prof. to set up an interview.

Penn State:

UCSB:

Edited March 13, 2012 by wok83

[engineer22]

hey guys, I've used this board a lot and feel I should contribute to the data here. Although a bit late.

Undergrad Institution: Big State, Not well known.

Major(s): EE

Minor(s): None

GPA in Major: 3.9ish

Overall GPA: 3.8ish

Length of Degree: 4

Position in Class: My guess is around top

Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version): Old version,

Q: 780

V: 650

W: 4.0

Research Experience: At same school, summer research with a professor took class with. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None besdies various university wide honor rolls.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Did Tutoring and TA, as well as couple internships at local companies

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: None

Special Bonus Points: I felt that reccommendations were strong. I have known each professor for my entire time at college.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: SOP was very detailed towards my reserach interests. I only applied to schools that had reserach that I fit with.

Applying to Where: All were "MS first, then check box to continue on to the PHD later" type. Michigan was direct phd.

UIUC - ECE - Admitted No Funding/Aid

U Michigan Ann Arbor - ECE - Waiting

Georgia Tech - ECE - Admitted 1/2 Time TA

UT Austin - ECE - Waiting

Edited March 13, 2012 by engineer22

[taofeek88]

Hi everyone, Taofeek from Nigeria here. I applied for the MSc Technical Entrepreneurship and Management program at the University of Rochester. Anyone heard from Rochester for MSc in any engineering course??

[p00f]

Undergrad Institution: Southern California School

Major(s): Civil Engineering, Pure Mathematics

GPA in Major: 3.6/4.0

Length of Degree: 4

Type of Student: American

GRE Scores (old version):

Q: 800

V: 560

W: 4.5

Research Experience: One summer doing physics research at undergraduate institution. 1 summer at East Coast institution doing environmental research on Shale Gas.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, Multiple institutional scholarships and fellowships, grant to conduct research on MOSE, Tau Beta Pi.

Related Experience (ie jobs): Math and engineering TA and tutor.

Recommendations : Four letters from professors I have nad five or more times. All very strong and presumably realistic about me (namely good and bad included).

Applied to:

Structural doctoral programs

Cambridge University - Accepter, but with no funding (presumably none given for first years).

Georgia Tech

University of Texas: Austin

University of Washington - Accepted into PMP (Professional Master's), rejected from Masters

[blubb]

Institution: No 1 in my country

Major(s): EE

GPA in Major: 3.7/4.0 (best 10%)

Length of Degree: 3

Type of Student: International

GRE Scores (old version):

Q: 760

V: 590

W: 3.5

TOEFL: 94 iBt

Research Experience: 1 semester undergrad research assistant at exchange semester in US, 6 months honors thesis research, 5 months at institute lab, no pubs(possibly one soon but didnt mention that :-((( )

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: exchange semester with stipend??

Related Experience (ie jobs): 2x3 months internship in the industry, 1 year programming student, 2 years tutoring basic EE class.

Recommendations : expected strong, all known in person >1yr (not just asked after taking a class with them), all well known profs (2 from the field of interest)

Applied to:

PhD

Berkeleyrejected

Harvard

Princetonrejected

Cornell

Stanfordrejected

Purdue Accepted

UMich

UIUCrejected

Caltech

CMU

What I dislike is that there are never ANY reasons given, why I am rejected or what is missing in my app. Seems like I can only convince with a gold medal in a physics olympiad;-);-)

[Freddie2]

Institution: No 1 in my country

Major(s): EE

GPA in Major: 3.7/4.0 (best 10%)

Length of Degree: 3

Type of Student: International

GRE Scores (old version):

Q: 760

V: 590

W: 3.5

TOEFL: 94 iBt

Research Experience: 1 semester undergrad research assistant at exchange semester in US, 6 months honors thesis research, 5 months at institute lab, no pubs(possibly one soon but didnt mention that :-((( )

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: exchange semester with stipend??

Related Experience (ie jobs): 2x3 months internship in the industry, 1 year programming student, 2 years tutoring basic EE class.

Recommendations : expected strong, all known in person >1yr (not just asked after taking a class with them), all well known profs (2 from the field of interest)

Applied to:

PhD

Berkeleyrejected

Harvard

Princetonrejected

Cornell

Stanfordrejected

Purdue Accepted

UMich

UIUCrejected

Caltech

CMU

What I dislike is that there are never ANY reasons given, why I am rejected or what is missing in my app. Seems like I can only convince with a gold medal in a physics olympiad;-);-)

When did you get decision from UIUC? tnx!

[blubb]

When did you get decision from UIUC? tnx!

last week

[DamnMyKarma]

Undergrad Institution: Louisiana State University

Major(s): Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering

Minor(s): Math, German

GPA in Major: 3.6

Overall GPA: 3.8

Length of Degree: 6 years (with study abroad)

Position in Class: Near top

Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

Q: 159

V:156

W:4.0

P:

Research Experience: Research assistant at the University of Tuebingen's Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology. Involved in signal processing of MEG and fMRI data. Volunteer researcher at LSU studying nanophotonic waveguides

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: German state scholarship,Departmental scholarships, deans list, etc.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:Math & physics tutor with on-campus organization, electrical engineering intern with large company

Applying to Where:

• Johns Hopkins - Rejected per e-mail
  
• Georgia Tech -accepted with T/A-ship for 3 semesters & small "fellowship" Feb 10 via mail packet
  
• University of Maryland - Accepted, with funding TBD
  
• Duke -Rejected per e-mail
  
• Vanderbilt - waiting...
  
• University of Colorado, Boulder - Accepted with funding TBD
  
• UT @ Austin - waiting...
  

99.9% Sure that I will be taking GT's offer. All of the programs are for ECE PhD's, with emphasis on program with good BE / BME / ECE overlap.

Also, I tried to edit my previous post to reflect the replies that I had gotten from other Unis, but could not, so I deleted my original post and posted this one.

[avicus]

I know this is really late, but FWIW

Undergrad Institution: Top EE school in Southeast Asia

Major(s): EE/Communications Engineering

Minor(s): None (did enough coursework in Japanese to satisfy requirements, but no minor granted by the uni)

GPA in Major: 4.33/5.00

Overall GPA: 4.01/5.00

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: Top 20%

Type of Student: International male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):

Q: 160 (86%)

V: 161 (90%)

W: 5.5 (96%)

P: -

TOEFL/iBT: 117/120

Research Experience: One year research-based Final Year Project (compulsory for all undergrads).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University scholarship throughout undergrad

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Intern with national utility company

Extracurriculars: First violin of string orchestra, reporter with student newspaper, Japanese language certification

Special Bonus Points:

Good rec letters, good GRE scores, and specific SOP saying that I wanted to study at that uni because of its proximity to national research agencies in my field.

Applied: University of Colorado, Boulder (PhD) - Accepted with 2-semester TA-ship and fellowship, via email

Edited May 7, 2012 by avicus