<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>I'm a student from India (Canadian citizen, but of Indian origin), currently in the senior year of her undergraduate study (Electronics and Communication engineering, SRM University, Tamil Nadu). I've decided to apply to the following universities for their (Fall 2012 term) Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences graduate programs:</p>
<p>1.) Stanford University, CA
2.) UC Berkeley, CA
3.) Georgia Tech, GA
4.) Cornell University, NY
5.) UCLA, CA
6.) UC San Diego, CA
7.) Princeton University, NJ
8.) University of Washington (Seattle), WA
9.) Penn State, PA
10.) University of Maryland (College Park), MD</p>
<p>Here are my academic details:</p>
<p>My GRE Score (Exam taken in December, 2010):
Verbal score: 700/800, 97th percentile
Quantitative Aptitude score: 790/800, 91st percentile
Total: 1490/1600
Analytical Writing score: 4.5/6</p>
<p>My undergraduate CGPA so far (Cumulative grade-point average): 9.8 on a 10-point scale</p>
<p>I'm yet to write the TOEFL iBT. I'll be writing it at the end of this month. I'll inform my score as soon as I get the results.</p>
<p>My academic project work:</p>
<p>Currently working in the area of VLSI/hardware design and signal processing. Will be implementing a signal processing (data compression) system design of mine into an FPGA (hardware) chip. I'm working on this project under the supervision an ex-professor of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Madras. Will be finished with this project within the next three-four weeks. Next in line is a project in the bioelectronics research area (with a major hardware and signal processing component to it), under a project guide with a PhD from IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bangalore, followed by a Post-Doctoral fellowship from Purdue. This project will probably take another month to finish, as per my estimates.
I will be able to finish both these projects a couple of weeks before the deadline (Dec 2011 Feb 2012) to submit applications in the universities of my choice.
(I might work on a short paper to be published under a professor, as well, but the details are yet to be decided for this. It's only tentative.)</p>
<p>I've also short-listed some professors who match my research interests in the universities of my choice. After completing the task of going through some of their research papers, I plan to email them, possibly within the next two weeks.</p>
<p>Extra-curricular activities: Not going to go into much detail here, but here's a brief mention. I've been trained in Indian classical vocal music and Indian classical dance, and I've given several music and dance recitals. I also teach at my dance school. I'm on the Editorial Board of my university's online magazine and on the planning committee of my university's literary activity club.</p>
<p>I'm currently still working on my SOP and, regarding my LORs, I'll get one each from the professors under whom I'm working on my projects/paper and one from the Vice Principal (PhD) of my institution.</p>
<p>My main questions are:</p>
<p>1.) I'm not technically from the top-rated institutions in my country (which are predominantly the IITs, IISc, NITs (National Institutes of Technology), and BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science)). However, my university recently received the ABET Accreditation* (ABET</a> | Accrediting College Programs in Applied Science, Computing, Engineering and Technology) for its Electronics and Communication department, in which I currently study, and my university also has tie-ups for Semester Abroad Programs with many good institutions around the world such as MIT and Carnegie Mellon, to name a few in the US. My question is, in spite of being from a university not as popular or well-known as the top-rated institutions in my country, do I still have a chance at top-rated universities in the US, like the ones I've mentioned?</p>
<p>2.) In general, what are my chances at the universities I've mentioned?</p>
<ul>
<li>ABET Accreditation: ABET, Inc., is the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. Among the most respected accreditation organizations in the U.S., ABET has provided leadership and quality assurance in higher education for over 75 years. </li>
</ul>
<p>I apologize for the exceedingly long post, but I'm highly unsure and want to be very clear about myself before expecting my doubts to be clarified.</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this.</p>