I am currently an undergrad in my junior year at UT Austin. I’m majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in mathematics. My overall GPA is currently 3.8822–obviously this will change slightly before I graduate. For reference, I am in the top 5% of my class and will likely graduate summa cum laude.
Other relevant things: last summer I interned at a consulting company. I am still interviewing for jobs for next summer, although I expect to find something in the field of engineering. I am on the Formula SAE design team here at UT. I’m not sure yet what I want to study in grad school, but hopefully I can make up my mind soon.
I am hoping to find either an outside scholarship such as a NSF fellowship or a teaching/research assistantship to fund my PhD. I am considering schools such as Stanford, Rice, and Georgia Tech, although I haven’t quite made up my mind on the full list of places I’m interested in.
What would you say my chances are of being accepted for a PhD program at each of those schools? Any advice on things I could do to help my chances? Thanks!