<p>Hi, I'm a senior in chemical engineering at the university of washington right now.</p>
<p>I was wondering what tier schools I should be looking at for a PhD program.</p>
<p>my stats:</p>
<p>overall gpa as of now = 3.3
department/major gpa = 2.95
GRE = taking later this month
extracurriculars = undergrad research with one thesis and presentation, some internships, members of engineering organizations.</p>
<p>i'm obviously not 1st-tier material. My grade dipped during my junior year when i had to do hardship withdrawals due to a life crisis i was having. obviously this will be explained in my application essay, and hopefully that will cushion my low department/major gpa a bit, but i'm guessing they won't really give too much of a ***** about my life problems and they'll just focus on the numbers haha.
I was thinking second tier phd programs? if so, which ones would you suggest i apply to?</p>
<p>Ok, to summarize this all better, here are my questions:</p>
<p>1.) Which schools should I be looking at for PhD (not masters. and i want to get full funding of tuition + extra) ?
2.) How many schools do people usually apply to for chem E phd programs?<br>
3.) How many safety schools and reach schools should i apply to?<br>
4.) What would be examples of my safety schools and my reach schools?
5.) What other options besides PhD do I have where I don't have to pay for tuition. I come from a poor, disadvantaged background, so i don't have money for tuition. I heard some M.S thesis programs offer full funding?</p>
<p>Thank you very much in advance.<br>
(and please state ur background. like if ur a chem e phd student right now, just say so so that i can sort through the people who know what they're talking about from the people who don't know)</p>
<p>1) You should make a list of the schools you want to attend based upon YOUR research interest. Go to US News and search graduate engineering programs. Also, just do a general google search for graduate programs in chemical engineering, and look at programs. You probably should have done it this summer. </p>
<p>2) 10-12</p>
<p>3) There are no safety schools in grad admissions. </p>
<p>4) “Safety” = Florida A&M University-Florida State Chem E, “Reach” = MIT. The term safety and reach are both misleading. You are applying for a PhD, and you have research experience so don’t count yourself out at any school. </p>
<p>5) If you are a “Minority” (God I hate that term) you can apply for a GEM fellowship. These fellowships pay 16K for MS/PhD Engineering students, align you with companies to get summer internships, a tuition remission, and provide healthcare. But the deadline for this fellowship is quickly approaching. If I were you I would try to finish at least part I of it this weekend. There are a list of GEM universities at their website: [The</a> National GEM Consortium](<a href=“http://www.gemfellowship.org%5DThe”>http://www.gemfellowship.org).</p>
<p>You should talk with your professors about programs that might be the right fit for you.</p>
<p>Any doc program should be offering full tuition remission plus a stipend in the form of a GA, TA, or RA - if you aren’t fully funded, then there is something wrong with that program and I’d stay away from it.</p>
<p>There are some masters programs that offer the same type of full funding, but they are far and few between. </p>
<p>10-12 schools is a generally accepted number to apply to. 2-3 reach, 2-3 “safeties,” and the rest should be in between. But ALL should match your research/career goals very closely. Fit is important. You can be rejected from a “safety” school because your interests do no match their faculty’s very well.</p>
<p>They might overlook your low GPA if it is due to one bad semester. You can’t have mediocre grades straight through and then say one semester is due to crisis. But if you had good grades, and then one semester dropped you way down, it may be overlooked. Doing very well on your GREs will also offset it. If your GREs are mediocre, then explaining your low GPA won’t help at all. </p>
<p>Definitely talk to your professors. They will have a lot of insights into programs that might work for you, and may even know some faculty at those programs.</p>
<p>my grade dipped for 2 quarters. unfortunately those quarters were quarters full of chemE courses, so that brought down my major/dept gpa. I will hopefully raise it with this quarter by december, since most apps are due by january. </p>
<p>can more people please give me more safety schools i should consider? I heard University of Wyoming has a chemE phd program that is very easy to get into…</p>
<p>i’m not looking to pursue a teaching career, so i just need a phd to advance myself in the industry and perhaps a r&d job.</p>
<p>thanks for helping me out. keep the replies coming! :D</p>
<p>There are no safety schools for Ph.D admissions. Particularly given your GPA, which is marginal.</p>