Chances at top 5 engineering schools this fall?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>It's tough compiling stats from all over the place, and I don't know if I want to burn the $700 or so to apply to all of these schools or whether I should only apply to one or two and a master's at my undergrad school as a backup. The thing is... I am looking to study robotics/mechatronics in graduate school, but my major does not overlap with this field at all.</p>

<p>BS: Materials Engineering</p>

<p>GPA: 3.91</p>

<p>GRE: 800Q, 510V, 4.5AW</p>

<p>Research: 4 quarters of computer graphics/robotics research (does not have anything to do with my undergraduate major), 1 conference paper on findings getting sent in another 15 days. Continuing the research for senior design project. Spent a month in another country doing research with a team from my school and another team from Princeton, and will likely make the same trip this next year.</p>

<p>Recs: 1 extremely solid rec from a graphics prof who I've done research with, 1 pretty good rec from a prof. who got his Ph.D from Stanford in robotics/controls, and another very solid rec from my boss at an internship at an underwater ROV company </p>

<p>Jobs: Internship at a robotics company (1 summer), study session leader for 4 or 5 different engineering courses (1 year), TA for chemistry classes (1 year)</p>

<p>Other: Materials engineering honor's society, graduating summa cum laude, dean's list/president's list every single quarter/year, scholarship awarded to student with highest GPA in his/her major class, member of a club that launches nano cube satellites, tons of quarter long class projects (solar water heaters, building brick ovens, manufacturing teams, fiber optic light measurement systems, etc.)</p>

<p>Another thing to mention: My undergrad, while from a school known for its engineering studies, is not a top 20 school (Cal Poly SLO).</p>

<p>I'm looking at applying to the following graduate programs:
Stanford - ME Master's
MIT - ME Master's
Carnegie Mellon - Robotics/CS Master's
Cal Tech - ME Ph.D
UC Berkeley - ME Master's
UCSB - Materials Science Ph.D (in case I change my mind in the next year, unlikely)
Cal Poly - Computer Science Master's (backup)</p>

<p>What are my chances at some of these? I'm mostly worried about the fact that I'll be applying for a study that I don't have a background in, and that my undergrad school isn't top 20. Are these valid concerns? Thanks guys!!</p>

2

<p>You did well in Gre, so that should eliminate your concerns on Cal Poly not being a top 20 eng school. You showed that the education you got paid off, and that Cal poly is not some random party school. About applying for a different program in which you have no background, you should clearly explain why you made this decision in your SOP and you’ll be good. If you’re switching majors, you probably know why. Let admission officers know that too.</p>

3

<p>I would strongly advise against applying to $tanford a$ a Ma$ter$ $tudent. $tanford ha$ a policy where they only offer re$earch a$$i$tant$hips to Ph.D. $tudent$. $o, apply directly to their Ph.D. program. Don’t know anything about MIT.</p>

4

<p>Why are you only stopping at a masters at some schools but going on for a Ph.D at others? They are very, very different degrees. Also, specifically about CMU: is a robotics masters actually worth anything? I would imagine that that field is very specialized and dominated by Ph.Ds.</p>