Applying to graduate school as a junior in EECS

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi...I'm looking for some advice on school choice and what I should expect on my graduate school application. I'm currently a junior in EE at a top 15 US (top 20 for EE) school. Since I'll be completing my degree in June 2006, I'm applying for MS/PhD programs in EE probably with a concentration in microelectronics. Here is my brief stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.87/4.00
Member of EECS and engineering honors societies
Research experience as an REU intern and currently devoting a large number of hours per week on a research project
No publications yet..expecting one on an undergraduate journal, but that doesn't count ...
Have been overloading every quarter since freshman year (i didn't have a lot of AP's) and taking advanced EE classes.
Will be taking the GRE soon, expecting 550-600V, 780-800Q.</p>

<p>Schools I'm applying to (not in order of preference):</p>

<p>Stanford
Columbia
MIT
UIUC
Michigan
Georgia Tech
Cornell
UCSD
UCLA
University of Washington
Northwestern</p>

<p>I think my relative lack of research experience and having no publications are going to hurt my chances at top schools. I dont know if finishing early puts me at a disadvantage also. But what do you think of my chances of getting into the slightly less competitive schools on the list, like Michigan, Washington, and UCSD? I know it's an ambitious plan, that's why I'm here to listen to your opinions.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot.</p>

2

<p>Any publication, including one in an undergraduate journal, "counts". One way to facilitate your application is to check out what graduate programs are doing research similar to the type that you have been doing as an undergraduate. If you find a good match it is very possible that your adviser/research director knows the faculty at that graduate program and you can find out about a letter of recommendation specifying your work to date. Graduate school admissions has much more flexibility and different entry points than undergraduate admission. Who you know (or who your teachers know) and the type of work (not necessarily the volume) can be very important in this process.</p>

3

<p>I think the most important thing is how the school and you MATCH. Lack of research experience is a disadvantage but not a big deal. What do you learn from your research? What approach do you use? How do you solve a problem? What raise your interest? Why do you want to apply to the school? (Not just because it is top)
The stats won't change. Your PS will help you enter the schools you mentioned above. ---- My humble opinion
Best wishes!</p>

4

<p>Just a little update on this thread, I took the GRE today and got 620 for verbal, 800 for math. Do you think the verbal score is too low?</p>

5

<p>No. Honestly, I think as long as you don't get a 300 or something, the quantitative is all that matters for engineering fields.</p>

6

<p>620 is very respectable for a verbal score. Look at the percentile, schools look at percentiles more closely than the actual raw score.</p>

7

<p>competitive Not necessary to worried about GRE scores anymore.
Just concentrate on what you can change now! PS, for instance.</p>

8

<p>look back
quoted:" Will be taking the GRE soon, expecting 550-600V, 780-800Q."
higher than your expectation so be optimistic!</p>