Chances of PhD in chemical engineering just after bachelors

[alive1208]

Hello Guys,

 

I am a final year undergraduate student of Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur (one of the top university in India). I am looking forward to apply for PhD program, after completion of my bachelors. My profile so far is

 

Undergrad CGPA: 8.7/10

 

Research experience:  3 months Summer research internship at one of the top 50 universities

 

Publications: 2 Journal papers (with 1 first author and 1 second author) - (both in journal of power sources, impact factor > 6)

 

Conferences: 3 conference papers (ECS, hydrogen and fuel cell conference, 1 non-peer reviewed) 

 

GRE: Quants: 170

         Verbal: 156

         Writing: not received

 

LORs: 2 good recommendations, 1 decent reco. 

 

I am planning to apply to these universities: Stanford, UC Berkeley, UT Austin, Georgia Tech, U of Michigan, Cornell, Yale university, WashU. 

What are my chances of getting into these universities considering my 'not-so-good' CGPA? Also, will not having a Masters degree affect my chances for getting admit for a PhD? Any suggestions or opinions are welcome.  

[Dawnbreaker]

• What is your area of interest? Chemical Engineering is too broad. Some of the universities you have listed are easy to get into for some areas of ChemE, while very difficult for other areas.
• The first author journal paper will help a lot, not so sure about the second author one. How many authors were there in each paper, and where were the papers written (IIT, IISc, or some university in USA)? It would be beneficial if you can list the journal names.
• GPA is always measured relative to the university at hand. For example an 8.7 GPA from an IIT is not a big red flag (I had a similar GPA, albeit closer to 9, but still managed to get into all the top places). On the other hand, an 8.7 from an NIT or lower is kind of a negative point. Instead of "a top university in India", it might be better to explicitly mention the university name. "Top" means different things for different people, for example some professors I spoke to in the US seem to have the view that only IITs, IISc, and ICT do anything worthwhile as far as ChemE is concerned.
• Not having an MS is a total non issue. More than half the PhDs in US come directly out of B.Tech. Also, a word of caution. There is nothing like an "integrated" MS/PhD program in the US. It is simply a PhD program, and you pick up an MS "on the way".

Given the lack of info, I cannot really assess chances of admission. However, superficially I'd say everything except Yale and Purdue are ambitious, while these two are possible. With more information, this could of course change for the better

[alive1208]

 

• What is your area of interest? Chemical Engineering is too broad. Some of the universities you have listed are easy to get into for some areas of ChemE, while very difficult for other areas.
• The first author journal paper will help a lot, not so sure about the second author one. How many authors were there in each paper, and where were the papers written (IIT, IISc, or some university in USA)? It would be beneficial if you can list the journal names.
• GPA is always measured relative to the university at hand. For example an 8.7 GPA from an IIT is not a big red flag (I had a similar GPA, albeit closer to 9, but still managed to get into all the top places). On the other hand, an 8.7 from an NIT or lower is kind of a negative point. Instead of "a top university in India", it might be better to explicitly mention the university name. "Top" means different things for different people, for example some professors I spoke to in the US seem to have the view that only IITs, IISc, and ICT do anything worthwhile as far as ChemE is concerned.
• Not having an MS is a total non issue. More than half the PhDs in US come directly out of B.Tech. Also, a word of caution. There is nothing like an "integrated" MS/PhD program in the US. It is simply a PhD program, and you pick up an MS "on the way".

Given the lack of info, I cannot really assess chances of admission. However, superficially I'd say everything except Yale and Purdue are ambitious, while these two are possible. With more information, this could of course change for the better

 

My area of interest is in electrochemistry, fuel cells and batteries. I have all my papers in the same field too. 

Each paper had 4 Authors and both the journal papers are in Journal of Power Sources - Elsevier [first and secon author respectively]. 

conference papers are in Electrochemical society(ECS) [first author] and Hydrogen and Fuel Cell conference.

All the papers were written at US university where I interned this summers.

I am from IIT and I have really no idea regarding what is considered as a good enough grade.

I am sorry if my post was not very clear. 

[Dawnbreaker]

Which university in the US are we talking here? Since you have multiple papers during your stay there, it's almost certain that you will get an admission offer from that university, and comparable ones. Apply here and make this your safety admit.

 

I am not an expert in electrochemistry, so I am unable to judge the relative quality of your research work. However, superficially, I'll say you have a very good shot at most universities you mentioned. It's kind of like a twilight zone where your application might warrant a serious consideration at most if not all universities (including the top 3-4), however it's not strong enough to automatically guarantee you an admit. Which IIT are you from? Is it one of the top 5? Who are your recommenders, and what is your relationship with them?

 

Also, just a thought. If you still have the option of switching to dual degree, I would encourage you to go that route. If you stay for an additional year and do well in projects and courses, it's quite possible to boost up the CGPA to 9.1 or 9.2. With that CGPA and your publications (which at least superficially, seem very impressive) you have a very good shot at getting into the top programs like MIT, Caltech, Stanford, UCB, Minnesota etc. In my opinion one year of additional preparation is worth it if you are getting into one of those universities. Only you can answer this question, but would you be happier joining a place like Michigan or Austin this year, or would you be happier to spend an additional year at IIT and end up at Caltech or Stanford? Think about this question and make an appropriate choice. Best wishes

Edited August 2, 2015 by Dawnbreaker

[alive1208]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions. U of Wisconsin Madison and minnesota are my safe universities. I don't really want to go to the 'top' US universities like MIT, Caltech, WashU except Stanford and UC Berkeley ( only because these two have some really nice research group with which I would love to work and also, I love the California )  . But I would be happy with UT Austin, Michigan. only problem with UT Austin is texas. I kinda don't like texas much

My recommendation would be 1 from my summer intern professor with whom I had 2 papers, and 1 from my university, the professor under whom I did all my other undergrad projects, and 1 would be from one of my course instructor from last semester courses.

As far as dual degree goes, research here is frustrating for me and no one in my campus at IIT Kanpur works specifically in the fields I want to work. So I don't want to convert my program to dual degree. I think I am ready to apply this year itself, although I have my own doubts of selecting top 3 universities where I want to apply. 

Thanks a lot for the suggestions again.  

[percheme]

Wow. Your credentials look really good! I'd say you're in great shape for the upcoming application season. We're in the same both for applying to programs (ChemE) and we're also applying to some of the same schools so I look forward to seeing you around the forums!!

Edited August 9, 2015 by percheme

[Chai_latte]

I just wanted to add that the second author is good, too.  At least in chemistry, a number of kids coming straight from undergrad haven't published yet.  So, don't sell that second author short.  

Your profile looks great.