<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am not sure how competitive I am for the schools I'm applying too, and I'm not sure if I should start looking for work in the unfortunate case that I don't get in anywhere. Any advice is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Currently I am applying to:</p>
<p>Berkeley EE MS/PhD
MIT MS Aero and Astro
Princeton MS EE
UT Austin MS EE
Stanford MS Management Science and Engineering
ETH-Zurich MS EE</p>
<p>Stats:</p>
<p>Ethnicity: white, male and American
major: electrical engineering at a top 10 school, specializing in communications
GRE: quant~ 800, verbal~490, essay~4.5
GPA: 3.56
I had a 3.66 before the fall semester, but made a C in my Electricity and magnetism class, despite making an A in Physics II (same material) a year earlier. I got busy with research in senior design, I've talked to my professor and he may change my grade to a B, I'm going to email this grade change to departments... this is what I am most worried about, as it's my first C and at the end of my career.</p>
<p>3 RECS:
Outstanding rec from a top guy in medical related engineering (leader in the field), who I did research for. Outstanding rec from a high-ranking European professor, I studied abroad and did research in his lab, in a DSP related field. Good rec from a professor who knew me pretty well and liked me, I think he addressed my low fall semester grades.</p>
<p>Also:
I spent a lot of time tailoring my personal statements to specific professors
Communicate well, likable and am about to start contacting professors (does this help?)
Applied to NSF fellowship
No publications, though lots of research experience</p>