2015 Applicant Profiles and Results

[shp9n0108]

Undergrad Institution: top state Univ.
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering
Minor(s): Chemistry
GPA in Major:3.88
Overall GPA:3.807(didn't do well in first year and in english)
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: graduated with the highest distinction
Type of Student: was an international student in undergrad but now a permanent resident

 

non-degree seeking graduate courses after undergrad while working full time: 6 credits(2 courses)

GPA: 4.0

GRE Scores:
Q: 170
V: 162
W: 4.0

Research Experience: 

1 year research for credit: published an undergraduate thesis 

2 year full-time research assistant/lab manager in public university(dep of pharmacology&toxicology)-->3 abstract publications and poster presentations at major conferences (not bme) 

6 month full-time research assistant/lab manager in private medical/graduate school(dep of internal medicine)-current position

 

LOR from previous PI, previous post-doc(in government agency now), and current PI

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

graduated with the highest distinction

dean's lists most semesters

honor societies

travel fellowship for courses

travel fellowship for workshop 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

teaching assistant 2 years in undergrad(math & computer)

private math tutor(few months)

officer in two science&engineering societies in undergrad

clinical community services+ many volunteer activities (I was pre-med in undergrad) 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:
MS: JHU, BME

PHD:

JHU, BME

MIT, BE

UPENN, BE

UMICH: BE

STANFORD: BE

DUKE: BME

UW: BE

RICE: BE

UCSD: BE

UCB-UCSF: BE

 

[commodork]

Hello all! 

 

Long time fan, first time typer. 

 

Undergrad Institution: Private University. In top 20 overall and for my major. Not ivy.
Major(s): Biomedical Engineering 
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.675
Overall GPA: 3.538
Length of Degree: 4
Position in Class: Probably top 10-20%, but I really have no idea.
Type of Student: White male

GRE Scores:
Q: 164 (88%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (80%)


Research Experience: 

• 1 summer and winter break in U Pitt lab
• 2 semesters (one for credit) in university med center creating custom MATLAB image processing tool. 1 poster presentation at university research fair, 10 minute presentation for Guatemalan Engineering University. 
• 2 semesters and summer + this spring/summer in undergraduate research program. Fully independent research pertaining to organs on a chip. Poster presentations at university research fair and BMES. No publications yet, but hope to publish before graduate school. Received program's "Best Paper" and "Best Presenter" awards. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

• BME Honors Program
• Research awards mentioned above
• Dean's List, 4 semesters
• Small merit-based scholarship
• Honor society for top academic 1% of campus greek life

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

• Cofounder/Director of Outreach for a club that visits high schools and promotes STEM Education through lessons and demos
• Microfluidics Workshop for High Schoolers instructor through my lab
• Leading original Senior Design project involving image processing, 3D printing, and therapeutics. In process of applying for grants and patents
• Writer for university BME newspaper
• Over $10,000 in fundraising for medical research as fraternity philanthropy chair (though I don't think I'll include this cuz isn't all that relevant, plus I know the stigma Greek life can have)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

• 2 week engineering entrepreneurship workshop/simulation
• Spent a Spring Break in Guatemala repairing damaged medical equipment 
• Taking graduate courses for Honors requirements. Have taken a course in signals, statistics, and modeling, and will be taking courses in Systems Bio of Organs on a Chip and MR Image Reconstruction and Pulse Design next semester

LOR: Former and current PI + Professor/ Senior Design Project Advisor/  One of the trip leaders for that Spring Break trip

Applying for PhD at:

University of Washington

Vanderbilt

University of California San Diego

Carnegie Mellon University

Harvard University

University of California Davis

University of Illinois at Chicago

Rutgers

University of Delaware

University of Pittsburgh

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

UC Irvine

Washington University at St Louis

City College of New York 

 

All BME/BE, except HST through MIT

 

Long list, but I'm pretty split on research interests. Applying to some of those for microfluidics and others for imaging/image processing. 

 

Actually pretty worried about my odds, given my lack of publications and not quite fantastic GPA (had a rough couple semesters in my first two years, but it's been straight A's since). Additionally, I really haven't had the time I'd like to reach out to professors. We will see how it goes. Speaking of which, I have apps I should be finishing up..

 

If anyone has advice on any of this, I'd certainly appreciate the feedback. 

[yoconman]

Undergrad Institution: Big State Engineering School

Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.89
Overall GPA: 3.83
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Not Disclosed
Type of Student: White American 

GRE Scores:
Q:  167 (94%)
V:  157 (74%)
W: 4.0 (56%)

Research Experience: 1.5 years of research experience in field.  1 co-first author journal publication, 2 co-author journal publications, 1 first-author conference, and two co-author conference publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Tau Beta Pi, some university honors for good grades, and a school issued engineering scholarship.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: EE tutor for a semester, assistant editor in undergraduate research journal 

Applying for PhDs at:

 

UT - ECE - 

UI - ECE -

MIT - EECS -

Harvard - SEAS (applied physics) -

Stanford - EE -

UCLA - EE -

UCB - EECS -

Cornell - ECE -

 

[jesse7771]

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Engineering?)

Big state school good in sub field of interest

Major(s): EE

Minor(s):

GPA in Major: 3.97

Overall GPA: 3.69

Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) 5

Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Top few (2>=n>5)

Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority, Traditional/Nontraditional?) Male US

GRE Scores:

Q: 163

V: 164

W: 3.8

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

1 REU undergraduate no publications

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...)

Three internships, worked full time at major defense corporation for 1 year, full time work during undergraduate 8 semesters

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

Uni Florida- EE phd- decision/date/funding

Uni Virginia-EE phd- decision/date/funding

UCSD- EE phd- decision/date/funding

Uni South Florida- EE phd- decision/date/funding

Already accepted position at UVa for spring, turns out I applied for both Spring and Fall accidentally. Turns out I was offered funding for spring and might not have gotten it for Fall so I took it, will be working with their mm/THz group which from what I have heard is top notch!

[tulips]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, good engineering rep
Major(s): Chemical Engineering
Minor(s): Biochemistry
GPA in Major: 3.91
Overall GPA: 3.93
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top 10%
Type of Student: Domestic, Female

GRE Scores:
Q: 170
V: 163
W: 6.0

Research Experience: 3.5 years at my undergrad institution with the same PI (albeit with different projects), two summer REU programs. No publications, some poster presentations

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some general academic awards/honors, nothing prestigious

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Officer/Executive Board at student organizations, nothing really pertinent

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for PhD (all in ChE/CBE) at:

MIT - decision/date/funding
Stanford - decision/date/funding

Berkeley - decision/date/funding

UCSB - decision/date/funding

UT Austin - decision/date/funding

Michigan - decision/date/funding

Northwestern - decision/date/funding

Penn - decision/date/funding

Penn State - decision/date/funding

Colorado - decision/date/funding

[Robo_Lizard]

Undergrad Institution: Average Engineering School in Russia (Bachelor of Engineering + Master of Engineering)
Major(s): Marine and Ocean Engineering ( kind of electronics and control systems in Navy)
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: BEng 3.49/4.0, MEng.4.0/4.0
Overall GPA: BEng 3.5/4.0, MEng.4.0/4.0
Length of Degree: BEng (4 years), MEng (2 years)
Position in Class: Don't have this thing in Russian Education
Type of Student: Domestic with international background (US resident), White female (I guess I'm considered as European)

GRE Scores:
Q:161(80%)
V:143 (18%) - completely failed =(
W:3.5 (38%)

TOEFL Total:92

Research Experience: 2 years while I was pursuing MEng, in Robotics field. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Have a couple awards for presentations (like the best presentation, finalist in one competition)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have 4 years experience in Russian Navy as Control Systems Engineer. Some internships during my education in marine navigation. Some weird jobs in US like administrator.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: more than 10 publications about a cute robot; 3 additional publications about software while I was working. A lot of presentations about my robot. All publications and presentations were made in Russia. I plan to start taking classes in UW from January in EE (already accepted) - I mentioned it in my SOP, might be helpful...

I'm interested in Biorobotics, Robotics, Controls, Automation, VLSI, digital electronics.
Applying for  [ PhD ] at:
 

University of Washington (EE-biorobotics) - decision/date/funding

Carnegie Mellon (ME - biorobotics)- decision/date/funding

UC Davis (EE)- decision/date/funding

UC Irvine (EE)- decision/date/funding

Tufts (EE)- decision/date/funding
Northeastern university (EE+ME in both departments)- decision/date/funding
Oregon State (EE+ME in both departments)- decision/date/funding
RPI (EE- robotics, automation and control, VLSI)- decision/date/funding

Washington State (EE)- decision/date/funding

Portland State University (EE)- decision/date/funding
University of Nebraska (ME - still thinking about this school)- decision/date/funding
University of Nevada (EE - still thinking about this school)- decision/date/funding

Edited December 19, 2014 by Robo_Lizard

[Alfarris]

What do you guys think? Do I stand a chance?

Undergrad Institution: University of Kansas 
Major(s): Biochemistry B.S.
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.97
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Unknown (top 1 or 2 in major?) 
Type of Student: Domestic, female, traditional

GRE Scores:
Q: 159 (74th) Terrible, I know. I had a migraine and waited until the last minute to take it so I couldn't redo...
V: 167 (97th)
W: 5.0 (93rd)

Research Experience

Research in tissue engineering (3 years), stem cell mechanobiology (summer), and nanomaterials+drug delivery (summer)

3.5 years of research experience with one summer REU at UCSD in BME and summer internship at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India

1 publication accepted (2nd of 6 authors) and 2 more in preparation (3rd author of 7)

Probably a first author pub before I graduate

5+ conference presentations

Mentored a high school student and another undergrad

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Goldwater Honorable Mention (national scholarship)

Numerous KU scholarships for research and academics in biology, chemical engineering, and math

KU undergraduate research poster competition winner

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: organic chemistry tutor, Biomedical engineering society treasurer, Society of Scientists Publicity Director

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

I've studied abroad twice (once in India for a paid research internship and once in London to network with Cambridge faculty)

Applying for PhD at:

UCSD- Biomedical Engineering

MIT- Biological Engineering

Harvard- SEAS Biomedical Engineering

Harvard MIT MEMP Program

Johns Hopkins- Biomedical Engineering

University of Washington in St. Louis- Biomedical Engineering

UT Austin- Biomedical Engineering

Northwestern University- Biomedical Engineering

[ShadowFairy]

Undergrad Institution: Public university, University of California, Irvine
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.88
Overall GPA: 3.86
Length of Degree: Four years
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores:
Q: 163
V: 157
W: 5.5

Research Experience: Two years of research in a combustion and fluid laboratory (2nd-3rd years), one summer research at Caltech in a physical chemistry group (3rd year), currently doing active research in an atmospheric chemistry group (4th year)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's Honor List, HHMI fellow, Undergraduate Research Grant Recipient at my university, member of TBP and PTS engineering honor societies, four scholarships (each worth $2500).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Two years of employment within the Physics department for tutoring (2nd-3rd years).

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Uhh... the fact that I'm Eastern Asian looking to head towards a STEM specialization makes it look all the more unremarkable. I am sort of diverse though considering I grew up in Costa Rica for the majority of childhood, so I can speak Spanish (although admittedly it has been getting rusty).

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

 

[MS]

UCLA

UC San Diego

UC Santa Barbara

USC

 

[PhD]

UC Berkeley

Caltech

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

Princeton

Cornell

Columbia

 

Now you're gonna say 'holy hydraulics that's a lot of grad schools = bad money decisions,' but I got fee waivers for 9 out of 12 applications.   so it wasn't as bad in that sense.

 

Good luck to everyone else applying!!! Anyone in the same boat as I am?

[electengr]

Looking to apply for MS in Electrical Engineering with concentration in computer networks

Here are my stats

Institution: McGill University

cGPA: 3.41

Last two years: 3.52

Work experience: One year internship at BlackBerry

Research experience: None

LORs: Should get recommendations from 3 profs I took courses with

 

I want to apply to cornell, columbia, CMU. Looking for other schools with strong computer networks research facility. Any suggestions/ comments on my chances would be highly appreciated.

[pvfm]

Undergrad Institution: Big university in Brazil
Major(s): Aerospace Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.87 / 4
Overall GPA: 3.87 / 4
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores:
Q: 161
V: 153
W: 3

TOEFL Total: 116

Research Experience: 
Undergraduate research in Georgia Tech (1 year) - project on modern control theory

Undergraduate research in Brazil (1 year) - Project related to control engineering

   
1 conference paper published in Brazil

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

 Best aerospace engineering project - Capstone Design Expo, Georgia Tech (team project)
 
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

 Worked as a lab assistant in my university in Brazil (6 months)
Worked as an undergrad TA in my university in Brazil (2 years)
Summer internship at Boeing (Seattle, WA)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:
I am interested in control theory with aerospace applications. I'm applying for MS but I want to get into a PhD program in the future.
I studied 1 year as an undergraduate exchange student at Georgia Tech, where I took a few grad level classes in the area I am interested in.
One of my LOR was writen by my research advisor from Georgia Tech

Applying for MS at
Georgia Tech - Aerospace Engineering 

[nanoE]

#deleted

Edited January 19, 2015 by nanoE

[shp9n0108]

 

Undergrad Institution: top state Univ.

Major(s): Biomedical Engineering

Minor(s): Chemistry

GPA in Major:3.88

Overall GPA:3.807(didn't do well in first year and in english)

Length of Degree: 4 years

Position in Class: graduated with the highest distinction

Type of Student: was an international student in undergrad but now a permanent resident

 

non-degree seeking graduate courses after undergrad while working full time: 6 credits(2 courses)

GPA: 4.0

GRE Scores:

Q: 170

V: 162

W: 4.0

Research Experience: 

1 year research for credit: published an undergraduate thesis 

2 year full-time research assistant/lab manager in public university(dep of pharmacology&toxicology)-->3 abstract publications and poster presentations at major conferences (not bme) 

6 month full-time research assistant/lab manager in private medical/graduate school(dep of internal medicine)-current position

 

LOR from previous PI, previous post-doc(in government agency now), and current PI

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

graduated with the highest distinction

dean's lists most semesters

honor societies

travel fellowship for courses

travel fellowship for workshop 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

teaching assistant 2 years in undergrad(math & computer)

private math tutor(few months)

officer in two science&engineering societies in undergrad

clinical community services+ many volunteer activities (I was pre-med in undergrad) 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

MS: JHU, BME

PHD:

JHU, BME

MIT, BE

UPENN, BE

UMICH: BE

STANFORD: BE

DUKE: BME

UW: BE

RICE: BE

UCSD: BE

UCB-UCSF: BE

 

I got into Rice Bioengineering PHD and attending graduate recruiting weekend!

[commodork]

I got into Rice Bioengineering PHD and attending graduate recruiting weekend!

 

Fantastic! Rice has an excellent program, congrats. 

[Dubblebubble898]

I got into Rice Bioengineering PHD and attending graduate recruiting weekend!

Me too!  I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to go to the recruiting weekend, but I'll try to if there's nothing else conflicting!

 

Aughhhh, so nervous about other schools

[journosci]

Figured I'd post since my background is fairly unusual.. applying to about half Biomed, half Mech E PhDs. Studied physics and took a year off after school to be a science journalist. My schools are ambitious given my stats, but all my recommenders told me to aim high. Hoping my unusual background helps rather than hurts.

 
Undergrad Institution: Big state, top 10 in major
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.45
Overall GPA: 3.63
Length of Degree: 4 + 2 extra quarters
Position in Class: No ranking
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Scores:
Q: 163 (86%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 4.5 (80%)

Research Experience: 3 months in plasma physics (part-time), REU in atmospheric physics, 6 months in chemistry lab (part-time)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: AAAS Mass Media in Science and Engineering Fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math/physics tutor for elementary, high school; attended/reported on conference for women in physics; leader in Code for America brigade

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Heading on a cross-country bicycling trip this spring, teaching physics at middle schools en route

Applying for PhD at:

Minnesota - Biomed 
Minnesota - Mech E - accepted /Jan. 21 / departmental fellowship
Vanderbilt - Mech E 
Vanderbilt - Materials Science - Interview on 1/19

Cornell - Mech E

Columbia - Biomed 

MIT - Mech E 

Berkeley/UCSF - BioE 

Northwestern - Mech E 

University of Washington - Biomed 

[SDxx]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School (top 10 engineering)

Major(s): EE
Minor(s): Biology
GPA in Major: 3.72 (just EE but would be higher with math/physics/etc...)
Overall GPA: 3.82
Length of Degree: 4 years (graduated) 
Position in Class: Graduated with honors (top 10-15%)
Type of Student: Nontraditional white domestic male

GRE Scores:
Q: 167 (94%)
V: 162 (89%)
W: 4.5 (80%)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

 

1 semester research at school resulting in 2nd author publication

2 summer internship resulting in a 2nd author patent

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

 

3 departmental scholarships

2 departmental recognitions

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...)

 

3 years experience in engineering center (new product development) as embedded software engineer

1 year experience in engineering center (new product development) as software QA

1 year experience as university tutor

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

 

UC Berkeley - CS MS/PhD - ?

Stanford - CS PhD - Rejected

MIT - CS MS/PhD - ?

WashU - CS MS/PhD - ?

CMU - CS PhD - ?

 

Any feedback for next time? Probably rejected from all schools at this point ...

[Thiggles]

Undergrad Institution: Average state school in northeast USA
Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Overall GPA: 3.75
Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Probably top 5% 
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:
Q: 159
V: 153
W: 4.5

Research Experience: 

10 months of research at home institution in the thermal sciences (modeling & simulation / CFD)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Department research award and university merit scholarship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

2 summer internships in a coatings & adhesives laboratory

1 summer internship in a chemical plant

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

Had work published in a paper, but did not have authorship. 

 

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: 
 

Caltech - ME [PhD] - ???

Cornell - ME [PhD] -  ??? (probably rejected at this point)

Purdue - ME [PhD] - ??? - RA offer from POI after interview, but nothing in writing yet

Virginia Tech - ME [PhD] - Accepted (02/10) - funding not guaranteed 

Penn State - ME [PhD] - Accepted (01/28) - TA for first year 

University at Buffalo - ME [MS-PhD] - ??? - Full funding + RA offer from POI, but nothing in writing yet

NCSU - ME [PhD] - Accepted (02/02)

Edited February 11, 2015 by Thiggles

[iamsudipta]

Undergrad Institution: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Major(s): EEE
CGPA in Major: 3.92
Length of Degree: 4 years (graduated) 
Position in Class: Graduated with honors (top 6.5%)
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores:
Q: 170 (98%)
V: 160 (84%)
W: 4.5 (80%)

 

TOEFL: 111

L: 25

R: 30

W: 30

S: 26

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

 

During my Undergraduate thesis works I got the chance to work with a novel Quantum Well MOSFET device. In our thesis we have performed an electrostatic and quantum ballistic characterization of a 30nm In_xGa_1-xAs/InAs/ In_xGa_{1- x}As quantum well MOSFET.  In order to study device electrostatics, we have developed a physically based quantum mechanical self-consistent simulation model to extract the Capacitance-Voltage characteristics with proper incorporation of strain in the channel. To characterize device performance in quantum ballistic regime, we took 2D electrostatics into account and followed NEGF formalism. We have also investigated the effects of various parameter variations on the quantum ballistic performance of the device.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

• University Merit Scholarship, at six semesters.
• Dean's List Award, at all four levels.
• Admission Test Excellency Scholarship, rank 9, 2008.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...)

 

Currently working as an lecturer of EEE in a private university.

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for PhD for Fall 2015 at:

 

Georgia Tech: ?

Purdue: ?

UC Los Angeles: ?

U Maryland College Park: Accepted with TA for 1 year

Ohio State: Accepted with University Fellowship

U of Minnesota, Twin Cities: Accepted with "3M Science and Technology" Fellowship plus RA for 4 year

Rice: ?

RPI: Accepted, funding decision pending

Notre Dame: ?

[toomboola]

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts College; virtually unknown for sciences
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 3.89
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: top
Type of Student: Domestic asian female

GRE Scores:
Q: 168
V: 161
W: 4

Research Experience: 2 REUs, one in renewable energy materials science at Colorado School of Mines and one in piezoelectric thin films at Penn State.  1 semester of experimental research on high-Tc superconductors with the only experimental condensed matter physics professor in my department.  Penn State REU counted the most because I worked with a good group and PI.  No pubs or presentations.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Service prize in physics (2 years in a row); Presidential Scholarship (based on a sophomore level research proposal); 4-year merit scholarship given by university.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: President of my college's SPS chapter.  I wrote a grant requesting the society of physics students to fund the construction of a cloud chamber at my college, and led a working group to complete the project.  Supplemental instructor and homework grader in physics/math for 3 years.  Worked a bit for the college webmaster.

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: I took a MSE course at Johns Hopkins (down the road from my college).  I also spent a lot of time on my personal statements, but overall my Penn State REU was the most important when it came to getting into the schools I got into because the professor is well-known and was happy with the work I did for her.  I wanted to post my results to encourage people like me who come from "unknown" schools with virtually zero research opportunities at their home institution.  You can still make it into top PhD programs!  Work hard, network, and never give up!

Applying for PhD at:

Penn State - MSE - Accepted - 12/9/2015 - 32K for the first year and 28K for second 
Maryland College Park - MSE - Accepted - 12/24/2015 - 30K for the first year 

Carnegie Mellon - MSE - Accepted - 2/9/2015 - 25K for the first year

MIT - MSE - Rejected

Princeton - EE - Rejected

Harvard - Applied Physics - 

Northwestern - MSE - 

Northeastern - EE - 

Edited March 3, 2015 by toomboola

[VentiHalfCaff]

I received full funding for tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, travel, plus an additional $10,000/yr stipend in the form of a fellowship for my MS.

Happy. Relieved.

 

Here's my original post on this thread (post #5):

 

Posted 04 October 2014 - 03:03 AM

Undergrad Institution: Big State Public, Top 10 Public for Engineering

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): Yes, but I don't want to specify for privacy reasons.

GPA in Major: 4.0

Overall GPA: 4.0

Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Top

Type of Student: Domestic, Male, Non-URM

 

GRE Scores: 
Q: 167
V: 170
W: 5.5

 

Research Experience: Will have 2 years of research with prof, plus one summer with prof.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several named scholarships from within school and/or department; 2 named scholarships/awards from outside of school; 4 departmental awards/recognitions.

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:  No pertinent activities or jobs within engineering. Some volunteer work with engineering student recruitment. Appointed to major leadership position for 4 years in on-campus, non-engineering activity. 

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Foreign language semi-proficiency.

Applying for MS at:

 

Just one Big State school.

 

Edited March 3, 2015 by VentiHalfCaff

[VentiHalfCaff]

I found out this morning that I received an NSF award. It's a very good day.

 

I received full funding for tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, travel, plus an additional $10,000/yr stipend in the form of a fellowship for my MS.

Happy. Relieved.

 

Here's my original post on this thread (post #5):

 

Posted 04 October 2014 - 03:03 AM

Undergrad Institution: Big State Public, Top 10 Public for Engineering

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): Yes, but I don't want to specify for privacy reasons.

GPA in Major: 4.0

Overall GPA: 4.0

Length of Degree: 4 Years
Position in Class: Top

Type of Student: Domestic, Male, Non-URM

 

GRE Scores: 
Q: 167
V: 170
W: 5.5

 

Research Experience: Will have 2 years of research with prof, plus one summer with prof.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several named scholarships from within school and/or department; 2 named scholarships/awards from outside of school; 4 departmental awards/recognitions.

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:  No pertinent activities or jobs within engineering. Some volunteer work with engineering student recruitment. Appointed to major leadership position for 4 years in on-campus, non-engineering activity. 

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Foreign language semi-proficiency.

Applying for MS at:

 

Just one Big State school.

[PHASMATIS]

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 National University in US (Small-Medium size, private, not THAT great in eng, except BME) 

Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 
Overall GPA: 3.4+/4.0, BUT junior/senior GPA: 3.75+/4.0
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Don't know, don't care, most likely not very high
Type of Student: US Citizen, South Asian, Female

GRE Scores:
Q: 170
V: 159
W: Don't care enough to remember... >=4 I think

Research Experience: Started since high school - Intel International Science Fair Winner in Physics. At current university, had experiences with nanomaterials/plasmonics/nano- and micro-photonics research. Tried out several labs and several areas initially, then did summer research and regular semesters of research in a MEMS lab for plasmonics (1 year), did photonics research at an EE lab (2 years + summer) - loved it! This is what I am pursuing in grad studies. Presented at undergraduate symposiums

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Highest Engineering Merit scholarship - full tuition waived for all 4 years. Several thousand dollar research award and grant money. Summer Undergraduate Research Award, Dean's list (for a few semesters), Leadership Awards, etc.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Undergraduate TA (grader, holding office hours, a few lectures there when professor is out) for Physics (2 years), Tutor for Solid state Circuits, Control systems, Systems Engineering Lab

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

 

Applied for PhD for all BUT ended up taking a funded masters at a top EE program

 

ACCEPTANCES:

1. UW Madison - ECE - top 20 program - for PhD, 6 month project assistantship

2. UCLA - EE - top 20 program - for MS, withdrew before any funding decision

3. UCSD - ECE - top 20 program - for PhD, no funding, nominated for a 2 year fellowship but no guarantee

4. UIUC - ECE - top 5 program - for MS, full tuition waiver w/ TA + stipend (Accepted this offer)!!!!!!!!!

5. Also, accepted into BS/MS program at current undergrad university (20% tuition waiver)

 

REJECTIONS:

1. Stanford

2. Berkeley

3. Caltech (Wait listed then rejected)

4. Columbia (Wait Listed, withdrew after accepting UIUC)

5. UPenn

6. Harvard

 

NOTES and ADVICE:

 

I am aware my GPA is rather uncompetitive when it comes to applying to the top 20 schools + Ivy Leagues. So, to be honest, I wasn't really expecting any acceptances - certainly not a top 5 ECE program - and had the 5 year BS/MS program at my university as a backup plan. I would spend a year doing MS + research, pull my grades up, and then reapply for PhD. But this wasn't the most attractive option as, even with 20% tuition paid for, the overall year would have been very expensive nonetheless.

 

4 things that saved me:

1. Had done a lot of research and had some of the most amazing recs one could possible ask for.

2. My overall GPA is not competitive, but while first 2 years were shitty, junior/senior GPA was great! So adcomms saw the improvement and that is a plus.

3. Had 7 people review my SOPs - until I was sure it was as good as it was going to get, and this was a plus in my application as told by many of the adcomms and profs I talked to.

4. Getting in touch with POIs is key

 

BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE AND THEIR FUTURES!

Edited April 16, 2015 by PHASMATIS

[madbiochemist]

Undergrad Institution: Large midwest state school
Major(s): Biochemistry B.S.
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.97
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Unknown (2nd in major out of 100) 
Type of Student: Domestic, female, traditional

GRE Scores:
Q: 159 (74th)
V: 167 (97th)
W: 5.0 (93rd)

Research Experience

Research in tissue engineering (3.5 years), stem cell mechanobiology (summer), and nanomaterials+drug delivery (summer)

3.5 years of research experience with one summer REU at UCSD in BME and summer internship at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in Bangalore, India

1 publication accepted (2nd of 6 authors) and 2 more in preparation (3rd author of 7)

Probably 1 first author pub before I graduate

5+ conference presentations

Mentored a high school student and two undergrad

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Goldwater Honorable Mention (national scholarship)

Numerous KU scholarships for research and academics in biology, chemical engineering, and math

KU undergraduate research poster competition winner

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: organic chemistry tutor, Biomedical engineering society treasurer, Society of Scientists Publicity Director

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 

I've studied abroad twice (once in India for a paid research internship and once in London to network with Cambridge faculty)

Applying for PhD at:

Johns Hopkins- Biomedical Engineering going here

UT Austin- Biomedical Engineering accepted but I turned them down

UCSD- Biomedical Engineering never heard a word back from them

MIT- Biological Engineering

Harvard- SEAS Biomedical Engineering

Harvard MIT MEMP Program

University of Washington in St. Louis- Biomedical Engineering

Northwestern- BME rejected me but offered me for consideration for unfunded masters (not going to happen)

 

I also won the GRFP, so it was successful, despite being rejected from almost everyone. Luckily, Austin and Hopkins got back to me before the rejections came in, so I didn't care much. 

My advice to anyone in biology applying to BME that nobody asked for but I will give anyway: apply to programs who are tight with their medical school as opposed to their engineering school. I think most of the schools didn't even give my application a thorough evaluation once I saw I don't have an engineering degree (I know for a fact this happened at UCSD).

 

Best of luck to all future applications!

[Yathish]

What if we accept an admission offer with funding and reject it later for a better offer? Will it affect in any way?

[TonyClifton]

Undergrad Institution: Oregon State University 

Major(s): Electrical and Computer Engineering

Overall GPA: 3.69

Length of Degree: 5 years

Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Scores:
Q: 164
V: 167
W: 5.0

Research Experience: None!  This was the limiting factor of my application.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: An employee recognition award, an honors society and some scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Two six-month internships, one of them with Intel

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Applying for MS in ECE at:

 

UT Austin - Rejected

Georgia Tech - Rejected

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (CSE) - Accepted

Oregon State - Accepted

University of Wisconsin-Madison - Accepted

NC State - Accepted

University of Washington (EE) - Accepted

UC Boulder - Accepted

UC Davis - Accepted

UCSB - Accepted & attending

 

No funding offers all around, possibly due to lack of research and teaching experience.  U-M would be great but is way too expensive without funding.  UW-Madison would also be great, but the professors who I was interested in were unavailable.  UCSB offers the best batch of professors, courses and job opportunities for my focus.

 

I mixed it up with recommendation letters, going with two industry / one faculty for some, and one industry / two faculty for others, except for UC-B, which requires four total.  It turns out that I applied to too many universities because I was expecting admission at the master's level to be more difficult.  

 

To anyone thinking about Oregon State - if they offer what you are looking for, do it!  It's a great university for engineering, but they don't offer much in the way of computer engineering at the graduate level, and I wanted to go somewhere fresh.