Hi all,
I am an undergraduate student in my sophomore year studying Chemical Engineering at Lamar University in Texas. I stay highly involved on campus and am the Vice President of my (social) fraternity, I have a 3.843 GPA (which I will raise to a 4.0 by retaking three classes), I am part of the Honors Program, I have had a Process Engineering internship with ExxonMobil following my freshman year, this summer I will participate in an NSF REU at a private school in New York, where I will be conducting Chemical and Environmental Engineering research for both the University and the DTRA, I lead both an honors chemical engineering and a STEM community group every week, I am an engineering ambassador, and I have lead chemical engineering recruitment camps for high school and middle school students.
I do however have major flaws: I am not enrolled in an extremely prestigious engineering program (My parents are unable to support me financially, so I decided on a school that offered me a full scholarship), I don’t know how well I’ll do on the GRE (I did score in the top two percent on the SAT, but that was largely due to my perfect score in mathematics), and I feel as if my essays aren’t as compelling as other applicants to top schools (I have never made less than an A on an essay in college, but I don’t have any ‘Come to Christ’ moment that is highly impactful).
I am wondering if you think I could make it to prestigious Engineering Graduate schools (for Ph.D.) such as MIT, Harvard, Yale or Stanford. Also, what experience can I attain (/what can I do) that will make me a more competitive applicant (I have been told to apply for the Goldwater scholarship)? Lastly, what should I focus on in my essays specifically for Engineering Graduate School and what should I aim for on the GRE?
Thank you in advance for your input, I really appreciate any help you can offer me!
Essays aren’t as important for PhD admissions as they are for undergrad. The people in charge of PhD admissions are the faculty themselves and they usually try to determine how proficient you will be at conducting research and how great your knowledge of chemistry is. They tend to focus primarily on recommendation letters (very important), undergraduate GPA, rigor of courses taken, research experience and GRE scores. All other aspects - non academic extracurriculars, essays, etc. aren’t really important.
Scholarships or NSF Graduate fellowships will help tremendously. Conducting research with a well known professor in the field who is able to write good recommendation letters will be another help.
People from non prestigious universities get into top engineering programs all the time, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it. What you do at college matters far more than which college you came from.
Remember, also, that the programs you mention are highly selective. Thus, you may be an outstanding candidate and yet not be admitted because the pool of applicants large and just as strong as you on average. Find some programs which you are willing to attend but which are not as selective and you will be better off in case you don’t get into these programs. In addition, why retake courses to get a 4.0? This is not really necessary as you clearly have a good academic record and you would be better off taking advanced courses or doing more research. Both of these will help your application more than retaking courses in which you already have decent grades. Focus on doing much better on your future courses. A 4.0 GPA in your Sophomore and Junior years makes a very effective case.
More importantly, you should really only go for a Ph.D. if you have full funding. This means you don’t need parental support. Don’t go for a Ph.D. if there is no support.
Essays - or, more properly, statements of purpose - are important in graduate admissions, insofar as they explain to the admissions committee what your background in research looks like and what your future research interests are. It also is your opportunity to explain your fit with the department.
An NSF Graduate Research Fellowship does look good but usually you find out about that around the same time as you are getting admissions decisions, so it may be too late.