Can you please recommend schools where I may be competitive?

[fouriertransform10]

I am writing this because I am currently concerned about my chances for being admitted to graduate school in the very competitive field of engineering (ECE, in particular).  I have had some schools in mind that I would to apply to, however I do not want to overshoot and risk being rejected everywhere (although that may still happen, regardless).  First, here is a brief overview of my academic record: 

• Major: ECE
• GPA: 3.15
• GRE: 155 V, 160 Q
• ~1 year of research in bio imaging and signal processing.  I feel as if I've done some strong and valuable work here, and it is also the field that I would like to do graduate research in.
• ~4 months of computational physics research; not my current field of interest, but I did gain some good technical skills from it

Here are a few schools I've considered applying to:  BU, RPI, Tufts, Northeastern, University of Rochester, UC Irvine, University of Washington, UIUC        (all ECE)

Are any of the schools on this list reasonable for me to apply to?  Should I aim lower or higher?  Can you recommend some ECE programs that someone with my background might have a chance at?  I am currently not sure whether I want to go for an MS or PhD, although I believe that I may be more likely to get into an MS program.

Any other recommendations? Should I retake the GRE to get a higher quant score?

Thanks! 

[Edotdl]

I don't have personal experience with MS admissions, but I think you should have a reasonable chance for a MS at the schools you listed. A PhD might be harder since your research experience is probably around average and your GPA/GRE is on the lower end. Although ideally you'd want a 165+ Q as an engineer and to offset the GPA, I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make in the end. You might be better off focusing on writing the best SOP you can and/or reaching out to professors that might be able to support your application. Good luck.

[Biohazardia]

Definitely reach out to professors about your application, and have many professors around you look at your SOP to edit it and make it stronger. Also you need pretty strong recs to offset that bad GPA. (My GPA was around yours when I was applying for an engineering PhD and basically I had to do everything I could to offset it). Keep doing research, try to publish if you can or at least have something in submission, and definitely try to apply for SMART, NSF, etc. grants that will make you more marketable in the spring if you get them. You should be able to get into several MS programs at least with your current credentials though (assuming good SOP and recs - personally I think that's more important than concentrating on improving your GRE). Also if you can bring up your GPA to above 3.2 or 3.3 with your fall grades, that would be helpful. You might have a harder time with a PhD, its definitely possible in my opinion but hard. Try for schools in the 20 - 60 range, ranking wise. Good luck! 

Edited September 6, 2016 by Biohazardia