Fall 2018 EECS applicant Profiles and Choices of University

[Kashyap_]

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?))
Masters Institution: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:
V:
W:


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

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

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

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

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

School - MS/PhD? - Department - Research Interest
School - MS/PhD? - Department - Research Interest
School - MS/PhD? - Department - Research Interest

[TheHoff]

Undergrad Institution: UERGS (Brazil), 1 year at UCSB
Masters Institution: UFRGS (Brazil)
Major(s): Computer Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 8.77 (not curved)
Overall GPA: Masters still in progress, so I can't really calculate
Position in Class: Top
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161
V: 152
W: 3.0 :'(

I'm planning to retake to GRE but my Masters is consuming most of my time and I'm not having much time to study for it


TOEFL Total: 112

Research Experience: 1 year at my undergrad university doing machine learning and signal processing

                                      2 quarters at UCSB working with Computer Vision, publication as 2nd author at CVPR'16

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Got funding for my Masters counts? hahaha

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Will be a TA next semester

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: Will get strong LoR from both research supervisors, took grad classes on computer vision, imagem processing and pattern recognition

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

UCSB - PhD - ECE - Computer Vision

UCF - PhD - ECE or CS - Computer Vision

UCSC - PhD - ECE - Computer Vision

Probably UCR and another one that I still have to decide

[vstrindberg]

Undergrad Institution: One of top 2 schools from Turkey
Masters Institution: Same as UG
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: 3.55
Overall GPA:
Position in Class: Top 25% I guess
Type of Student: 

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170
V: 144
W: 3.0


TOEFL Total: 88 but I will retake it

Research Experience: 4 Years working experience (2 Years Antenna design, 2 Years RFIC Design)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarship from National Scientific Institutions and from University

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA during MS

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: -

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: Not decided yet will apply 5-6 schools from a list of 15-20 Schools. All are in RF/Microwave Circuit Design

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

This thread seems too tool-ish

[Fiora]

On 10/22/2017 at 12:08 PM, TheMostPowerfulApplicant said:

This thread seems too tool-ish

I respectfully disagree. I've actually gleaned a lot of useful information about what each graduate program looks for from previous threads similar to this one, and I especially enjoy reading any reflections/comments from people about the whole process after the application cycle is over. I'm personally going to make another post in this thread in a few months when all my decisions are in.

[flyingpoint10924]

Undergrad Institution: Top 4 EE School 
Masters Institution: Top 4 EE School 
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Overall GPA: Undergrad (3.9) | Grad (4.0)
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: (International/Mexico, male, minority/latino)

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 165
V: 151
W: 4.5


Research Experience: 10 semesters of research, 6 publications (2 first-author)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: School related research awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 10 courses at the undergrad level

Special Bonus Points: Three strong letters of rec (2 of them from IEEE Fellow's/Chaired Professors)

Applying to Where:

MIT - PhD - EECS - Semiconductor Devices
Stanford - PhD - EE - Semiconductor Devices
UC Berkeley - PhD - EECS - Semiconductor Devices
Caltech - PhD - EE - Semiconductor Devices/Circuit Design
 

Edited November 28, 2017 by integrxl

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

On 11/27/2017 at 8:14 PM, integrxl said:

Undergrad Institution: Top 4 EE School 
Masters Institution: Top 4 EE School 
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Overall GPA: Undergrad (3.9) | Grad (4.0)
Position in Class: Top 10%
Type of Student: (International/Mexico, male, minority/latino)

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 165
V: 151
W: 4.5


Research Experience: 10 semesters of research, 6 publications (2 first-author)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: School related research awards

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for 10 courses at the undergrad level

Special Bonus Points: Three strong letters of rec (2 of them from IEEE Fellow's/Chaired Professors)

Applying to Where:

MIT - PhD - EECS - Semiconductor Devices
Stanford - PhD - EE - Semiconductor Devices
UC Berkeley - PhD - EECS - Semiconductor Devices
Caltech - PhD - EE - Semiconductor Devices/Circuit Design
 

wow very ambitious!

[DiscoTech]

8 hours ago, fullwaverectifier said:

Undergrad Institution: Private, Top-20, Catholic School
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.88/4.0
Overall GPA: 3.84/4.0
Position in Class: Near Top
Type of Student: Domestic, Female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 167
V: 164
W: 5.0

Research Experience: 8 semesters, 1 first-author journal paper, a few presentations/posters

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 summer internships, 2 semesters as a TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: IEEE student leader, student-athlete

Applying to Where: (ECE Ph.D., Circuits - RF/Analog)

University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, UPenn, Notre Dame, and a few others

 

LOL. No one's going to crack that mystery.

Strong profile, especially given that you're a D-I athlete. Good luck.

[AngryLion]

Undergrad Institution: Jadavpur University, India (within top 15 in the country)
Major(s): Electronics Engineering
Overall GPA: 9.55/10

Position in Class: 6/70
Type of Student: International

GRE Scores (revised version):
Q: 170
V: 169
W: 5.0

TOEFL Total: 113 (Reading - 30/30, Writing - 30/30, Listening - 30/30, Speaking - 23/30)

Research Experience: Interested in Quantum Computing. 3 research internships (Indian Statistical Institute, SN Bose Center for Basic Sciences, USC Viterbi), 2 years worth of research. One foreign internship at Information Sciences Institute, USC Viterbi. Presently working on my final year thesis at my home university. 3 submitted publications (two have passed the initial stage of peer review), one draft to be submitted.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awarded the DAAD-WISE scholarship in 2017 for research in Germany (rejected). Awarded a scholarship jointly by the Indian government and USC Viterbi for a summer of research in 2017.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: No

Applying to Where: 
Berkeley (EECS), Caltech (Computing and Mathematical Sciences), Stanford (CS), MIT (EECS), UT Austin (CS), Maryland (CS), USC (EE), Waterloo (CS)

Can someone rate my profile here and tell me whether I have been over-ambitious with my choices? Will low name recognition of my undergraduate institution hurt my chances while applying?

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by soumik375

[DiscoTech]

6 hours ago, soumik375 said:

Can someone rate my profile here and tell me whether I have been over-ambitious with my choices? Will low name recognition of my undergraduate institution hurt my chances while applying?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: If one, two, or all of your recommenders have either the stature or personal connections to professors at the universities you are applying to, that will help a lot. Basically, the schools you've applied to need have someone THEY trust/respect/know vouch for you and your UG institution. It helps that your GRE scores are stellar.

Also, good choice of schools. You have clearly done your research. Vazirani, Childs, Aaronson, Vidick, .... you've covered all the places with top notch faculty. I have no idea if this is too ambitious though.

[AngryLion]

15 hours ago, DiscoTech said:

Short answer: yes. Long answer: If one, two, or all of your recommenders have either the stature or personal connections to professors at the universities you are applying to, that will help a lot. Basically, the schools you've applied to need have someone THEY trust/respect/know vouch for you and your UG institution. It helps that your GRE scores are stellar.

Also, good choice of schools. You have clearly done your research. Vazirani, Childs, Aaronson, Vidick, .... you've covered all the places with top notch faculty. I have no idea if this is too ambitious though.

Thanks for replying! Two of my recommenders are from Information Sciences Institute, USC; they may know someone from one of the big colleges as the USC group frequently collaborates with other groups around, but I wouldn't be too sure as both of them have only just joined. One of them has papers with bigshots like Edward Farhi, so perhaps he may be well-known. 

Also, do you work on quantum computing by any chance? You know the names of all the professors!  Out of the four, Vidick and Aaronson had replied to my pre-application mails. But, those were mostly generic replies, telling me to apply through the centralized system. 

Edited December 22, 2017 by soumik375

[SVorPhD]

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 university
Major(s): Electrical/computer engineering
Minor(s): Robotics and Mechatronics
Overall GPA: 3.89/4.00
Position in Class: Top 10%/200
Type of Student: International Asian male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 170 (97%)
V: 166 (97%)
W: 4.5 (82%)


Research Experience: senior thesis, summer research internship at ETH Zurich

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: some GPA-based ones; some from work

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2.5 years work experience in Silicon Valley; heavy digital design and embedded software implementation

Applying to Where:
Stanford - MS - CS - HCP part-time
MIT - PhD - EECS - Computation structures group (comp arch/systems/OS)

[geedhey]

Undergrad Institution: Top 30
Major(s): Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Minor(s):
Overall GPA: 3.03/4.00
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: International African Male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 155
V: 145
W: 3.0
IELTS (L:6.5, R:6.5, W:7.0, S:8.0)

Research Experience: Project Related Experience

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2.5 years work experience in with IT Consulting firm

Applying to Where: Cleveland State Uni, Texas Tech Uni, Tennessee Tech Uni, Oklahoma State Uni, Praire View A&M Uni, University of Tulsa

i need a review of my profile and schools am applying to please.

[12o'clock]

Undergrad Institution: Small public institution
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 3.87
Position in Class: Near top (around 5-10% I'd guess)
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 157 (76%)
W: 4.5 (82%)


Research Experience: 1 REU, no publications, 2 conference talks

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor, TA, grader, Vice President of Tau Beta Pi, University Chapter

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 2 summer internships at government agency

Applying to Where:
Ohio State University - PhD - ECE - Communication & Signal Processing
University of Colorado, Boulder - MS - Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering - Communications, Data, Information & Networks
University of Texas at Austin - MS - ECE - Dice
University of Michigan - PhD - ECE - Signal & Image Processing and Machine Learning
Georgia Tech - MS - ECE - Digital Signal Processing
University of California, San Diego - PhD - ECE - Signal & Image Processing
University of Washington - MS - EE - Signal Processing
University of Maryland - MS - ECE - Communication & Signal Processing
Carnegie Mellon - PhD - ECE - Data/Network Science
Northeastern University - PhD - ECE - Communications, Control, & Signal Processing
 

 

[abcd128]

Anyone going to Umich for their ECE visit days in March? Any advice on what to do/wear/see on these visit days? 

[nero]

Any news from Boston University Electro-Physics track?

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

good luck my EE homies

[Fiora]

Undergrad Institution: University of California campus ranked in USNWR Top 50
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.51/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.47/4.00 (average GPA from current school and previous college)
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: International Female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5.0 (93%)

Research Experience: ~2 years on 2 separate projects; presented results of one at a symposium. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, paid summer research fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Officer of engineering club at previous college, some related volunteering

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points: Female in engineering (probably not a very large boost)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Area of interest was microelectronics/circuit design

Applying to Where:

Applied to master's programs in EE at all the following schools.

Stanford University - Rejected

Duke University - Accepted

UC Santa Barbara - Accepted

University of Southern California - Accepted

University of Washington, Seattle - Rejected

UC Davis - Accepted

General Comments: Pretty much what I expected - my stats were just okay, nothing really mind-blowing or outstanding, but I did get into some pretty decent schools. My GPA was definitely on the lower side for most master's programs. On the other hand, I had a good GRE score, strong letters from my recommenders, and spent a lot of time and effort on my SoP (one professor told me it was "among the best he had read in years"). I did not apply to more schools in other regions of the country (particularly the Northeast and Midwest) because I personally cannot stand the harsh winters in those areas. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how things turned out for me. Best wishes to everyone applying next year!

Edited April 15, 2018 by Fiora

[TheMostPowerfulApplicant]

18 hours ago, Fiora said:

Undergrad Institution: University of California campus ranked in USNWR Top 50
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): N/A
GPA in Major: 3.51/4.00
Overall GPA: 3.47/4.00 (average GPA from current school and previous college)
Position in Class: N/A
Type of Student: International Female

GRE Scores (revised):
Q: 166 (91%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5.0 (93%)

Research Experience: ~2 years on 2 separate projects; presented results of one at a symposium. No publications.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, paid summer research fellowship

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Officer of engineering club at previous college, some related volunteering

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points: Female in engineering (probably not a very large boost)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Area of interest was microelectronics/circuit design

Applying to Where:

Applied to master's programs in EE at all the following schools.

Stanford University - Rejected

Duke University - Accepted

UC Santa Barbara - Accepted

University of Southern California - Accepted

University of Washington, Seattle - Rejected

UC Davis - Accepted

General Comments: Pretty much what I expected - my stats were just okay, nothing really mind-blowing or outstanding, but I did get into some pretty decent schools. My GPA was definitely on the lower side for most master's programs. On the other hand, I had a good GRE score, strong letters from my recommenders, and spent a lot of time and effort on my SoP (one professor told me it was "among the best he had read in years"). I did not apply to more schools in other regions of the country (particularly the Northeast and Midwest) because I personally cannot stand the harsh winters in those areas. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how things turned out for me. Best wishes to everyone applying next year!

congrats! why not apply to Caltech, Berkeley, or CMU SV if u applied to Stanford?

 

Which one you going?

[Fiora]

4 hours ago, TheMostPowerfulApplicant said:

congrats! why not apply to Caltech, Berkeley, or CMU SV if u applied to Stanford?

 

Which one you going?

Thank you! I actually did consider those schools, but because of my relatively low GPA I wanted to mostly focus on schools at which I thought I had a more reasonable chance of admission. In that sense, Stanford was pretty much my one “Hail Mary” option. Between the schools you named, it also had various course options and programs that would have made it a better fit for me.

Also, CMU SV didn’t offer as many classes in my areas of interest, and Berkeley’s program didn’t seem to be a good fit for what I wanted to do afterwards (its MS was very academic and very much geared towards preparing students for a PhD afterwards, which I wasn’t interested in). I did think about Berkeley’s MEng program, but I didn’t think I had the requisite computer science background as stated on the admissions page, so ultimately I did not apply there.

Nonetheless, I’m very satisfied with the choices I have. I actually will be attending Duke in the fall - I was initially hesitant because it was so far away from where I currently am (SoCal), but after visiting the campus at an admitted students’ weekend last week I came away very impressed with the level of support and opportunities available to its students. I’ll most likely be returning to California after I finish my master’s, so this is also a nice opportunity for me to experience a different part of the country.