<p>I am currently a junior CmpE major at Purdue University and have a 3.4 gpa. I also am on a five term coop rotation with NASA so alternate between semesters of school and four to five months of working. Because of this I will graduate a year late. Next summer I will get the opportunity to get more research experience and hopefully TA a sophomore class. </p>
<p>I want to get a PhD so I can work in research and development. I really like Purdue's "big school" atmosphere and have enjoyed my time here so far. What tier of schools should I be looking at for doctoral programs? Unlike for undergraduate admissions, it is very hard for me to gauge where I have the potential to be accepted. Any input?</p>
<p>When I was an EE undergrad, I considered applying for graduate school and going for the Ph.D. However, I went straight into industry and pursued an MBA two years later, switching into consulting and then VC.</p>
<p>That being said, I attended Nebraska, which is less known in EE than Purdue yet students who wanted to attend graduate school with 3.5+ and some research experience got into first rate graduate schools such as Stanford, Georgia Tech, University of California-Davis and University of Minnesota. However, research experience was less of a necessity then than it is now.</p>
<p>So here are a few questions you may want to consider:
What is your in-major GPA?
Do you have any research experience (perhaps through NASA)?
Do you have good contacts with at least professors who will be willing to write recommendation letters?</p>
<p>Since you are a junior, it still isn’t too late to start doing research and depending on your answers to those three questions, your chances may range from fair to excellent at top 20 schools or perhaps top 10 schools. Purdue is very well respected in academic circles and one good research project with a professor would almost guarantee you admission into a top 10 graduate school.</p>
<p>Now that I am an unemployed VC with an engineering background, I am beginning to think whether I should have gone for the Ph.D. (maybe it still isn’t too late).</p>
<p>That’s a hard question. First a disclaimer, I know what a few schools do. I don’t have first hand knowledge of more than a handful, so YMMV, use at your own risk, etc.</p>
<p>Your GPA is on the low side for PhD programs at the top tier (They’d like a 3.8+ with a 3.6+ being carefully considered), but more than enough for the bottom tier. GRE scores are going to play a role here. If you do well on them (1350+, 3.5+) I’d say it would be worth your while to apply to the top schools in the field (Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Stanford, G. Tech, UCB, MIT etc.). I don’t think your odds are very good for any of them, but with good letters, good GRE scores and a good statement of purpose you might well get lucky somewhere. Some of them will evaluate you differently than others (some look mostly at the last 4 semesters, others more broadly for example) so applying broadly is a good idea.</p>
<p>I’d suggest applying to Cornell, UCI and UCSB also. After that I’d look around at the major conferences in the area you are most interested in (ISCA for architecture, DAC for VLSI, OSDI for OS (I think), etc.). See what lower-tier schools have had a decent publication record in the last 5 years and apply there. You can certainly get into schools that are ranked toward the bottom with a 3.4 from Purdue. I’ll not name names, but ask your academic advisor. Is it worth going to a bottom-tier school? It depends on what your goals are. Getting an academic gig will be hard. Getting a good job at an Intel or the like should be quite reasonable. Of course you might be better off just going straight to work if that’s the goal…</p>
<p>If you are a US citizen you have some serious advantages over the international students so things might be slightly brighter than I’ve described.</p>
<p>Again, I don’t do much with graduate applications so take this all with a really really big grain of salt.</p>
<p>as far as admissions, how much harder do you think it would be for someone such as myself to be accepted to a computer or electrical engineering doctoral program at a top 40 school as opposed to a top 20? (just trying to get an idea)</p>
<p>Is it much harder to get in to Princeton than say Columbia? What about Columbia as opposed to the University of Maryland? Notre Dame?</p>
<p>thanks for all the help and being patient with me</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t really have a whole lot more I can help with. As I said I know a few different schools. I would guess you’d have a good chance at schools in that range, but it’s just that, a guess.</p>