Admission into EE-PhD, Berkeley

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello All,</p>

<p>What: Admission for PhD at Berkeley(I live in Bay Area, CA)
When: Fall '11
Why: My dream to obtain a PhD and become a prof somewhere down the lane(15 yrs from now). Also, company will cover the cost.</p>

<p>My Profile:
Working in a really well known semiconductor company.
Intern experience of 1-1/2 yrs in 2 diff semiconductor companies.
MS(Thesis) in EE (semiconductor) from Texas Tech University
GPA: 3.59
GRE: 1340/1600 (Q:740 V:600 AWA:3)
No professional publications. Although publishable work I did previous became confidential property of the company, hence cannot publish it for obvious reasons.
Academic scholarship for MS
Bachelors GPA: 3.54</p>

<p>I will be studying part-time.
Do you think I can apply? Or should I give up hope.</p>

<p>If not, can you please let me know how I can better my profile if I want to get into Berkeley PhD (Doesnt matter if it takes years, I will do it). Its become like an obsession.
I am planning to take supporting classes in Spring '11 anyway (Try to get my foot in the door).</p>

<p>Thanks,
fan of TOOL(band)</p>

2

<p>Getting a PhD and working in academia is a worthwhile and commendable goal.
Getting into UCB…is a strange one. Why the fixation on one university?</p>

3

<p>I live near UCB… And it is one of the best schools… Also I cannot pursue full-time PhD… I found this certification program “Integrated Circuit Design and Techniques” [Certificate</a> Program in Integrated Circuit Design and Techniques ? UC Berkeley Extension](<a href=“http://extension.berkeley.edu/cert/icdesign.html]Certificate”>Technology and Information Management | UC Berkeley Extension)</p>

<p>Will it help me get into PhD?</p>

4

<p>Any EE grad students here from Berkeley? It will be very helpful to get some insights…</p>

5

<p>Berkeley EECS doesn’t allow part-time study. </p>

<p>Your QGRE should be closer to 780-800, and UCB can be biased against people who already have an MS. You would also need a PhD-level supervisor at your co. to recommend you, and testify that the work you’re doing is ground-breaking. Your grad GPA is also low for Berkeley. If you’re doing amazing work at your job, then maybe you have a chance, though.</p>

<p>The certificate program wouldn’t really help, since it’s targeted at professionals. Research papers are the only thing that would help you at this point (it’s a red flag that you didn’t publish while doing an MS).</p>

6

<p>@trout: Please explain how “UCB” can be biased against people who have an MS"</p>

7

<p>

Most of the top EE programs prefer to have students right out of undergrad (i.e. BS holders, not MS holders). A lot of stellar MS holders get rejected, even those that are as good as the universities’ own BS-holding admits who’ve progressed past MS stage. Why? Perhaps they prefer to catch them young and mold them. I don’t know. But this is the reality, and not just with Berkeley. Stanford seems to be the only major exception as they take in a lot of both BS and MS holders (and then weed out the weak ones with qualifying exams).</p>

8

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</p>

<p>I asked a professor about this, and he said that admissions into the PhD program for MS holders is harder because if they fail the qualifying exams then they walk away empty handed. At least if you are a BS holder and fail the qualifying exam, you can leave with an MS. That’s the only reason he gave me.</p>

<p>I also think that admissions requirements are more stringent for MS holders. They have to show that they can handle the coursework, and probably expected to have some publications in addition to a thesis. These are just my speculations.</p>