Profile Evaluation - Aerospace Engineering Ph.D applicant

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Hello,

Please evaluate my profile based on below details.

Aerospace Engineering Ph.D Applicant

Undergraduate

Institution: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ

Degree: Bachelor of Engineering, Chemical Engineering

Overall GPA: 3.301

Major GPA: 3.41

Last 2 years GPA: 3.47

 

Graduate

Institution: Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken NJ

Degree: Master of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Thermal Engineering Specialization

Graduate Certificate of Special Study: Computational Fluid Mechanics & Heat Transfer

GPA: 3.91

 

GRE

Quant - 158 (Was mostly OK, but got perturbed by time-pressure at the very end, thought about re-taking, not sure if it will make or break me)

Verbal - 155

Writing - 4.0

 

Research Experience as Undergraduate Student

• Research Assistant in Computational Catalysis Laboratory
  • Presented research findings at two conferences

Research Experience as Graduate Student

• Research role investigating slip on super-hydrophobic surfaces using techniques in computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

Teaching  Experience as Graduate Student

• Graduate Teaching Assistant in Department of Mechanical Engineering for the following courses:
  • Graduate Heat Exchanger Design (~30 students),
  • Undergraduate Heat Transfer (~60 students)
  • Undergraduate Engineering Thermodynamics (~110 students)

Industry Experience

Have been in industry for one year as finite element analysis (FEA) & CFD thermal management engineer.

LORS

• 1 from Prof that I've TAed for 3 times (Strong Interaction)
• 1 from Prof that I had for the majority of my graduate Thermal Sciences courses (Moderate-Strong Interaction)
• 1 from Prof that I've had, TAed for, and that hired me out of school (Very Strong Interaction)

Misc (not sure if pertinent)

- Several graduate CFD projects involving construction code to model various thermal and flow phenomena 
- Have awards & honors for graduate academic and professional achievement + misc undergraduate honors & scholarships
- US Citizen

 

Interested Fields for Ph.D

Computational fluids & heat transfer, high speed flows

 

Universities Applying (For Spring 2016, and maybe Fall 2016 depending on how things turn out)

Here are my the list of universities I plan to apply for. Is there anything I could/should do to strengthen my standing?

UT Austin
University of Minnesota
Georgia Tech
Penn State
Washington University in St. Louis

 

Could anyone comment on what will be most relevant to admission committees and if whether my background helps or hinders my goals (since it's not typical)?

Thanks!