My chances at UC Berkeley, please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hey everyone!</p>

<p>I'm a student from India (Canadian citizen, but of Indian origin), currently in the senior year of her undergraduate study (Electronics and Communication engineering, SRM University, Tamil Nadu). I've decided to apply to the following universities for their (Fall 2012 term) Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences graduate programs:</p>

<p>1.) Stanford University, CA
2.) UC Berkeley, CA
3.) Georgia Tech, GA
4.) Cornell University, NY
5.) UCLA, CA
6.) UC San Diego, CA
7.) Princeton University, NJ
8.) University of Washington (Seattle), WA
9.) Penn State, PA
10.) University of Maryland (College Park), MD</p>

<p>Here are my academic details:</p>

<p>My GRE Score (Exam taken in December, 2010):
Verbal score: 700/800, 97th percentile
Quantitative Aptitude score: 790/800, 91st percentile
Total: 1490/1600
Analytical Writing score: 4.5/6</p>

<p>My undergraduate CGPA so far (Cumulative grade-point average): 9.8 on a 10-point scale</p>

<p>I'm yet to write the TOEFL iBT. I'll be writing it at the end of this month. I'll inform my score as soon as I get the results.</p>

<p>My academic project work:</p>

<p>Currently working in the area of VLSI/hardware design and signal processing. Will be implementing a signal processing (data compression) system design of mine into an FPGA (hardware) chip. I'm working on this project under the supervision an ex-professor of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Madras. Will be finished with this project within the next three-four weeks. Next in line is a project in the bioelectronics research area (with a major hardware and signal processing component to it), under a project guide with a PhD from IISc (Indian Institute of Science), Bangalore, followed by a Post-Doctoral fellowship from Purdue. This project will probably take another month to finish, as per my estimates.
I will be able to finish both these projects a couple of weeks before the deadline (Dec 2011 – Feb 2012) to submit applications in the universities of my choice.
(I might work on a short paper to be published under a professor, as well, but the details are yet to be decided for this. It's only tentative.)</p>

<p>I've also short-listed some professors who match my research interests in the universities of my choice. After completing the task of going through some of their research papers, I plan to email them, possibly within the next two weeks.</p>

<p>Extra-curricular activities: Not going to go into much detail here, but here's a brief mention. I've been trained in Indian classical vocal music and Indian classical dance, and I've given several music and dance recitals. I also teach at my dance school. I'm on the Editorial Board of my university's online magazine and on the planning committee of my university's literary activity club.</p>

<p>I'm currently still working on my SOP and, regarding my LORs, I'll get one each from the professors under whom I'm working on my projects/paper and one from the Vice Principal (PhD) of my institution.</p>

<p>My main questions are:</p>

<p>1.) I'm not technically from the top-rated institutions in my country (which are predominantly the IITs, IISc, NITs (National Institutes of Technology), and BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science)). However, my university recently received the ABET Accreditation* (ABET</a> | Accrediting College Programs in Applied Science, Computing, Engineering and Technology) for its Electronics and Communication department, in which I currently study, and my university also has tie-ups for Semester Abroad Programs with many good institutions around the world such as MIT and Carnegie Mellon, to name a few in the US. My question is, in spite of being from a university not as popular or well-known as the top-rated institutions in my country, do I still have a chance at top-rated universities in the US, like the ones I've mentioned?</p>

<p>2.) In general, what are my chances at the universities I've mentioned?</p>

<ul>
<li>ABET Accreditation: ABET, Inc., is the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. Among the most respected accreditation organizations in the U.S., ABET has provided leadership and quality assurance in higher education for over 75 years. </li>
</ul>

<p>I apologize for the exceedingly long post, but I'm highly unsure and want to be very clear about myself before expecting my doubts to be clarified.</p>

<p>Thank you for taking the time to read this.</p>

2

<p>If you have an interest is in bioelectronics and you have a background in signal processing then I would also consider BU. They have some good professors in the field, including</p>

<p>[S&lt;/a&gt;. Hamid Nawab](<a href=“http://iss.bu.edu/hamid/]S”>http://iss.bu.edu/hamid/)</p>

<p>Check out his CV. </p>

<p>He is also highly rated by students:</p>

<p>[HamidNawab</a> - Boston University - RateMyProfessors.com](<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=131471]HamidNawab”>Hamid Nawab at Boston University | Rate My Professors)</p>

<p>BU biomedical engineering is highly ranked:</p>

<p>[Best</a> Biomedical and Bioengineering Programs | Top Engineering Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/biomedical-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/biomedical-rankings)</p>

<p>Other than that, I would say, you have a reasonable chance of being admitted, even though verbal score is low. They will probably discount that score because English is your second language. Good luck.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the info, I’ll look into it. However, you mentioned that my GRE verbal score is quite low when, in fact, it’s on the much higher side (i.e., the 97th percentile). Any reason you think it’s low?</p>

<p>In fact, it’s quite a bit above the average GRE score for most ivy leagues. You might want to check it out. I got these from [GRE</a> Scores- Good GRE Scores - What’s a good GRE score?](<a href=“http://testprep.about.com/od/thegretest/f/GRE_FAQ_Score.htm]GRE”>What's a Good GRE Score? Here's How to Tell).</p>

<p>Columbia:
Verbal: 529/800
Quantitative: 773 </p>

<p>Cornell:
Verbal: 607/800
Quantitative: 770</p>

<p>Dartmouth:
Verbal: 561/800
Quantitative: 768</p>

<p>Harvard:
Verbal: 555/800
Quantitative: 768</p>

<p>Princeton:
Verbal: 626/800
Quantitative: 731</p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania:
Verbal: 531/800
Quantitative: 753</p>

<p>Yale:
Verbal: 522/800
Quantitative: 743</p>

<p>Cheers!!</p>

4

<p>Hi, I just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to look through my long post and provide me a helpful link. I really appreciate it. Thanks once again.</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>As far as I know, GRE verbal score means close-to-nothing if you’re a STEM major. Ex: my brother was admitted to all the top physics grad schools with just a 400 on verbal but 800 on quantitative. </p>

<p>Also, as far as I know, STEM grad schools don’t give a crap about anything that isn’t related to your field of study. When I was talking to some Stanford/Berkeley professors about grad school admissions, they said that the more important things regarding your application strength are your GPA/research experience, followed by GRE quantitative score. So, in essence, the GRE plays the role that the SAT plays in undergrad admissions.</p>

<p>Also, people (in the US) apply to an insane amount of graduate schools (20+ unless you’re sure you’ll be admitted somewhere). A part you can’t control when you apply to grad schools is how many spots they have open for incoming graduate students. For example, this year, the Stanford professor I talked to had only 1 open spot for 20 candidates. Even though most were qualified, he only could take in one student. </p>

<p>I don’t think any of us could give you a really good chance at those graduate schools. But do note that you probably have a chance. Keep your options open though.</p>

6

<p>My fault Cryptic, for not knowing, sorry. I am helping S pick an undergrad school, so more familiar with SAT than GRE scores, these days. It has been 30 years since I took the GRE. Glad the links helped. Good luck.</p>

7

<p>Thanks a lot for your inputs. I do realize how extremely competitive it is. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.</p>

8

<p>Mitigated, I forgot to mention – thanks for your highly objective and fair opinion. You seem to be very well-informed. May I ask you any more doubts I have regarding applying to grad schools?
And Perazziman, best of luck to your son for getting into a good undergrad school. I’m sure things will work out well. You didn’t need to apologize, it’s not at all an issue :slight_smile: I was concerned that perhaps my scores might have been low for Berkeley standards.</p>