<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am planning for PhD program in Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>M.S GPA: 3/4
B.S/B.E GPA: 3.88/4
GRE: 1260 (Maths:760 & Verbal: 500 AWA:3)</p>
<p>One Research Project
Four classroom projects
No experience or thesis.
Good Reco but not that strong.</p>
<p>I am willing to take admission anywhere in US.</p>
<p>Please suggest me schools.</p>
<p>Ask your professors for suggestions. MS or PhD? Why?</p>
<p>The OP already has a MS.</p>
<p>Thank you for reply,
I already have MS.</p>
<p>Why that low gpa as MS? Where did you go (undergrad & grad)?</p>
<p>You didn’t mention the most important things:</p>
<p>-What your research interests are. You can’t be willing to take admission anywhere you get in; you need to have an idea of what kind of research work you want to do with an eye towards your future career in EE. Then you need to select schools based upon who’s there doing the kind of research you want to do.</p>
<p>-Classroom projects don’t really mean a whole lot - everyone has to do that. You said you have one research project, but no experience. What does that mean? Did you do an independent study? That’s experience, even though it’s not as ideal as working as a research assistant. If you honestly have no research experience you shouldn’t expect to gain admission to a reputable doctoral program. You’d need to take time off and gain that experience.</p>
<p>-If your recommendations are not that strong, you need to find ways to strengthen them. You need strong recommendations.</p>
<p>-In addition to this, your MS GPA raises some red flags. A 3.0 is pretty low for a master’s degree - you should have at least a 3.5.</p>
<p>Honsetly it doesn’t look like you’re quite ready for application to PhD programs.</p>
<p>There you have it, OP. Thanks Julliet for being so helpful. Normally I don’t read too closely to posts such as these because they just strike me as unprepared for further graduate study with such vague details and sound of desperation. Especially, you, OP, as a MS student, you should have a good idea of where you should be applying based on where previous students from your program received acceptances. And be more specific, as Julliet says, in what you’re looking for beyond just “electrical engineering.”</p>
<p>Also, I would have expected, for engineering, to see more projects than what you’ve listed from both MS and BS work. Why didn’t you do a thesis-type of work for either of those degrees? Why don’t you think you’ll get strong recommendations?</p>
<p>Thank you so much Ticklemepink,</p>
<p>In the Reply of: Why didn’t you do a thesis-type of work for either of those degrees?</p>
<p>During BS program, there were no thesis type of class has been offered. While in MS, we had one class but the professor which used to take be in-charge of this class was not that helpful. And this class used to delay graduation of so many students. So, Instead of taking this class, I did a thesis type of work by my own at home.</p>
<p>Now, the dilemma is that I can’t show this thesis work it in resume, because I don’t have authentication(certificate or acknowledgement from any professor) of the work to show to admission committee of PhD schools. </p>
<p>If I can mention this work in resume, how can I prove authenticity of work to addmission committee of PhD program?</p>
<p>My thought is, get at least one recommendation from your UG adviser who could mention that the department didn’t offer any kind of thesis type work.</p>
<p>Since you don’t have any projects in which someone who could show support for, you may want to consider working in a few years in the field and have something to show for beyond that home thesis project. Do you have a couple of professors in your MS program who could explain why you left that program?</p>
<p>Risky strategy- show your LOR writers what you’ve done with your home thesis project. Tell them (and in your SOP) that you found the MS program project to be problematic in terms of completing your degree ON time and instead you chose to create your own project independently. You’ll have to talk to professors to see how this particular plan can work.</p>
<p>Thank you so much ticklemepink, you are so helpful.</p>
<p>I contacted to UG school last week only, and found that non of my professor with whom I took classes are currently working there. So, chance to get anything from UG school is non.</p>
<p>I don’t think any of my LOR writer(MS professors) going to write about these thesis and 3 projects in recommendation letter. I had make mistake in choosing MS school; professors were no approachable. It was my interest and passion that I did something extra beyond class. Accentually, I can’t even blame professors, because of budget cut in school, the MS school had such problems.</p>
<p>Can I mention these projects and thesis in final Resume and SOP directly?</p>
<p>Hey, I just answered such a question in my previous post!</p>
<p>You sure can and should mention what you’ve done in your CV, quality of what you’ve done is obviously important but it’s even better if you have done something on your own; ever heard of “independent research” and the emphasis they put on?! you shouldn’t worry about authenticity of it, include whatever you’ve done in your CV, then set up a website and put your works there: codes, results, reports and whatever you created for your “passion” and give a link to them in your CV. Anyone one with half-brain will recognize and can judge the authentic work. If possible, you might wanna upload some of the reports and results with your online application too.</p>
<p>Good Luck</p>
<p>I’m going to tread lightly here. Your writing in your last post seems to suggest that you’re not a native English speaker. Am I right? Did you do your MS or/and UG in the US or abroad? That could make a difference in helping us in giving you the right guidance.</p>
<p>^^ congrats after all that struggle! even the title “suggest me” is crying OP is not native. just came to grips with it NOW, ticky?! and what’s its importance?</p>
<p>That sarcasm was absolutely unnecessary. </p>
<p>I have seen such titles written by NATIVE English speakers, believe it or not. It’s only the writing IN the post that reveals the OP’s background. Even if the OP said “in US,” still can’t assume that one’s isn’t a native English speaker for that we could be talking about someone who’s living in the UK or grew up with an English speaking parent or is in a country where English is taught as a second language throughout primary and secondary schools. I’ve been on these boards long enough to know that it’s better for the OP to come out with it so that s/he gets appropriate advice.</p>