PhD Admission in Structural Engineering

<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>

<p>As far as I know, UCB’s civil engineering generally does not provide any funding to 1st year PhD students (they will only fund those who pass their qualifiers). So if you have the money or able to obtain a fellowship, I suggest that you not waste your time and money applying to UCB.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input. Any info about the rest of the schools.</p>