<p>i am considering applying for a masters program in mechanical engineering. by all means i am an average student, hate to say it but that is what my stats show i guess.
my cumulative undergrad gpa is 3.4 in bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, i graduated from a state university in minnesota
took the new gre and my minimum from the score range that they show at the end of the test for verbal is 570 and 770 for quantitative, will recieve the final score in november, i am guessing its the percentile that counts more than the score.
no internships or research in college.
i am now back home, and have been working in various places trying to get a feel for what i would like to go into, examples include working for a hydropower company including developing and installing a 25kw micro hydro power plant, installing wind monitoring stations and collecting wind data of an area, am working now in developing a windpump to start a drip irrigation in a remote village in my country to help the farmers with water for irrigation. my wind tower experience and current project has been through my position at the national academy of science and technology of my country.
what i want to ask you all is since i am intending on paying for my education it is worth trying for a position at top colleges and university, i've looked at caltech and stanford and both have blown me away. i am not interested in getting a phd degree so was thinking that if i am going to be down over 80k in loans i might as well try for the best instead of an ok school.
i dont know if i would have an application strong enough to pull that off though. with my stats in mind what else would i need if i was to get a chance at pulling this off ???</p>