Need for advice for Electrical Engineering PhD App

[Sarahre]

Hello Everyone,

 

I need your advice as to what the chances are for someone with the following profile to get into a top 10 ECE school:

 

Undergrad: 3.12/4.0 GPA - GA Tech

Grad: 3.63/4.0 - Virginia Tech

1 Published 3rd Author Paper, and 1 Third and 1 Fifth Author papers submitted

 

GRE Scores (Must be retaken for Verbal Score Especially) 720 Quantitive, 390 Verbal, 5 Writing

 

I'm almost finishing up, wondering if maybe taking more courses to higher my GPA will help? And Improving GRE? 

 

Or is getting into a top-10 school a lost-cause in my case? Please help!

 

Thanks!

[33andathirdRPM]

Anything less than a 800QR score would be a huge red flag for an engineering program, I'd think.

[Sarahre]

Thank you for your response! If i pull my Quantitive up to the equivalent of an 800 on the new GRE-- Do I have a chance with a good school?

[MikKar]

It would be much better if your Grad GPA was closer to 3.95, 3.63 for a Master's program seems a bit low as everybody tends to get As. Unless you know a prof personally and he's hell-bent on taking you, specifically, I think your profile is not the strongest in the pool of applicants. I mean, people applying for Top-10 schools can have ridiculously strong profiles...

[NanoTech]

You still have a chance with a good school. You should email some POIs with similar research interests. BTW what are those top-10 EE schools?

[Tin Sn]

Hello,

 

Please give me  advice.

Is it possible for me to get into a top 10 Electrical Engineering School with profile shown in the following 

 

Undergrad: 3.92/4.0 GPA  

Grad: 4.0/4.0  

3 Published 1rd Author Paper 

Toefl- 90 ( English is my second language)

 

1st round GRE Scores : 770 Quantitive, 380 Verbal, 3 Writing

2st round GRE Scores : 770 Quantitive, 350 Verbal, (unknown) Writing

 

By the way, my time is running since most of the universities have deadline on Dec, 15th, 2013.

Should I have the third round of GRE, or should I make the perfect toefl scores ? 
 

Please help!

 

Thanks!

Edited October 11, 2013 by Gap Sntin

[Phdseeking14]

Dear Gap Sntin,

 

You seem to have excellent grades as both an undergrad and a graduate student. You also seem to have publications, which is very good. 

 

Honestly, the competition is significantly more fierce for international students then it is for domestic, and while much of your application looks solid, you really need to improve that TOEFL. For example, I think Stanford EE needs a minimum score of at least 100. I wouldn't worry too much about the GRE, but if you get that 350 Verbal to at least in the 500 ball-park, you should be better off. So to answer your question, if you ONLY have time for ONE, then definitely focus on the TOEFL because many top schools have a requirement, and if you don't meet the requirement, you automatically get rejected. However, I don't know any school that has a GRE minimum score requirement. My advice would be to focus on TOEFL. 

 

What schools are you applying to, and what specialization? You might want to start contacting potential PIs at those institutions; that can help! 

 

Best wishes, 

-DV

[Tin Sn]

Thank you,  Syracuse. I am planning for the next toefl test. 

[GroundTurth]

Dear Gap Sntin,

 

You seem to have excellent grades as both an undergrad and a graduate student. You also seem to have publications, which is very good. 

 

Honestly, the competition is significantly more fierce for international students then it is for domestic, and while much of your application looks solid, you really need to improve that TOEFL. For example, I think Stanford EE needs a minimum score of at least 100. I wouldn't worry too much about the GRE, but if you get that 350 Verbal to at least in the 500 ball-park, you should be better off. So to answer your question, if you ONLY have time for ONE, then definitely focus on the TOEFL because many top schools have a requirement, and if you don't meet the requirement, you automatically get rejected. However, I don't know any school that has a GRE minimum score requirement. My advice would be to focus on TOEFL. 

 

What schools are you applying to, and what specialization? You might want to start contacting potential PIs at those institutions; that can help! 

 

Best wishes, 

-DV

yes I second that,  I've seen applicants with Excellent GPA and GRE  that were refused cause of low TOEFL scores. 

[Tin Sn]

Thank you  PhDSeeking14 and Ground truth  
Your comment helps me shape my direction