<p>I'm trying to trim down my list of schools and get some rough chances. Some background first:</p>
<p>Quick stats:
Applying for PhD in Mechanical Engineering (robotics/mechatronics)
GRE: 770Q, 630V, 5.0 W
GPA: 3.48 overall, 3.56 major, 3.71 junior year </p>
<p>Research experience:
Started working this semester in a lab in my department (Cornell, MAE). Our work (related to my field of interest) will be publishable, and we plan to attend a conference/enter our work in a student competition in the spring. </p>
<p>5~6 months worth of research at another university. Completely unrelated (materials science) to my field of interest. Second author on a paper recently submitted to a journal.</p>
<p>Work experience:
Internship at a large engineering company, technical but unrelated to my field.</p>
<p>Other:
No significant awards (four semesters on Dean's list), but I hold leadership positions in a couple of campus organizations (this can be fairly time-consuming). I have also worked about 8 hours a week grading papers for Statics and Dynamics.</p>
<p>Letters of Recommendation:
Two strong ones, one from each of my research professors
Third one: still debating whom to ask...</p>
<p>My list so far (6):
Cornell
U of Michigan
UCSD
UC Irvine
Case Western
Penn State</p>
<p>I want to pick 1 or 2 more, possibly from the following (I'm open to suggestions for other schools):
Johns Hopkins (good school, interesting research, not sure about location/weather)
U of Maryland (same as above)
RPI (not sure I want to go here, but it's a good school)
U of Washington (same as above)
Tufts (just discovered it, research looks interesting but I don't know much about the school)</p>
<p>Would ANY of these (both lists) count as legitimate "safeties" for me? Is this a good combination of reach/match/safeties? I really would like to continue my studies, so I want to get into at least one or two schools... </p>
<p>I would appreciate any feedback with regards to my grad programs list and my chances. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.</p>