<p>Greetings,</p>
<p>I am an international MS student at the University of Akron, OH. My MS will be completed by next Spring. So I am planning to apply to PhD programs for Fall 2012. My area of interest is mainly Earthquake Engineering. My current research topic is about Self Centering Seismic Resistant Steel Structures.</p>
<p>The universities I am considering:</p>
<p>Lehigh
SUNY Buffalo
UCSD
UIUC
Georgia Tech
Purdue
UT Austin
Stanford
UC Berkeley</p>
<p>My credentials are:</p>
<p>BS in Civil Engineering (Bangladesh University of Engg & Tech)
GPA: 3.18 out of 4.00</p>
<p>MS in Civil Engineering (The University of Akron)
Expected GPA: 4.00 out of 4.00</p>
<p>GRE: V:580 + Q: 800 + AW: 3.0
TOEFL iBT: 113</p>
<p>Research Experience:
-Working as Graduate Research Assistant at UAkron since January 2011.
-I will have a conference proceeding at 2012 ASCE Structures Congress (Abstract Submitted, main Paper is almost done, will have to submit it by December)
-I am working on a Journal Paper as well, but that won't be done by next year.
-I also had a thesis written on Building Codes for my undergrad degree.</p>
<p>Reference:
I think my research adviser at UAkron is pretty impressed with me. He is from Lehigh. So I am expecting a good recommendation from him.
I will get another recommendation letter from my thesis supervisor at my Undergrad University.
The other recommendation would be from one of my course teacher at UAkron. He is from UIUC.</p>
<p>My undergrad GPA and GRE AW score are big drawbacks. But will my other credentials be enough to cover those?</p>
<p>What are my chances of getting into the schools I mentioned with Assistantship/ Fellowship? Is there any other school you suggest that would be fit based on my interest and credentials?</p>
<p>Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>