<p>Hello good people of this forum,</p>
<p>I would like to get your opinions regarding my chances of admission to a few Chemical Engineering MS/MEng programs I am considering. First off, a little bit about myself - I am a 4th-year undergrad studying Chemical Engineering at UCLA, due to graduate this June. The following also apply to me:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>GPA: cumulative 3.788, major 3.926</p></li>
<li><p>GRE: not taken yet</p></li>
<li><p>Cumulative four quarters of research (2 quarters in hydrogen power, and 2 quarters and counting in tissue engineering/biomed-type research. I am presently still doing research on the latter), plus a two month research-internship hybrid program in Singapore (resulting in the creation of a scientific poster that was presented at an international conference, though not sure if this amounts to anything in terms of publications)</p></li>
<li><p>Letters of rec: I am most likely getting these from a) my present PI, b) a ChE professor I had for two classes who knows me and my work ethic rather well, and c) my supervisor in Singapore, who is a PhD student there. Not sure if this last one is appropriate. Also, kinda worried about the quality of my letters of rec because I am pretty sure I will get OK/good recs from these people, but not necessarily litanies of outstanding praise. The reason for this is frankly I am not sure if they like me/know me well enough. Yep.</p></li>
<li><p>I have also worked as a self-employed HS math/science/SAT prep tutor for over 5 years to offset the cost of my undergrad education, and am the current VP and past treasurer for the UCLA chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I am considering the ChE MS program at Stanford (my top choice), MS at UC Berkeley, MEng at Cornell, and MS at UCLA (through their auto-admit program, but UCLA is my safety). I am actually starting my apps for these schools right now, which is realize is really late, but I think I can pick up the pace since I have my recommenders, personal statement, and GRE lined up, and 1-3 months or so on average to do them all.</p>
<p>So, what do y'all think? What do you think are my chances at these schools (esp. Stanford)? Should I be worried about my letters of rec and/or applying this late? Plus, any suggestions for one more hi-quality graduate program I should consider that fits my stats (I prefer one year MS/MEng professional-oriented programs over two-year ones)?</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight and Happy New Year!
-R</p>