TL;DR: Low GPA, Great Research/LORs + Publications, Co-Op Experience, SOP in-progress, List of programs needs-to-be-finalized.
Hi all,
Been lurking on CC for quite a while, a little in awe over all your guys' stats/success stories. Hopefully I can pick your collective brains for some help/advice for my situation.
Applying to: Still
TBD; looking for primarily an M.S./M.Eng. in Bio(medical) Engineering - any recommendations for programs would be awesome!
*Currently considering: UT Austin, UT Southwest, UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley (Ph.D with current lab), Stanford, JHU, Utah, and CU Boulder*
Education:
University of California, Berkeley:
Major: B.S. Bioengineering, Expected Dec. 2012 - 1 semester remaining
(2.65 cumulative GPA, ~2.8 major GPA) <-- Major deficiency in my application; too low to recover from?
GRE: 165V, 163Q, 5.5AW (translates to ~700V, 780Q, 5.5/6 AW) [Is my Quant. score too low?]
Research Experience:
Lots of research experience since high school, not all in the same lab.
- High school internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA. Power systems/ChemE research for lunar/martian applications
- NSF internship at UC Riverside my frosh summer, biophysics/biomechanics research
- 1.5 years at a highly-regarded HHMI faculty member's lab at Berkeley - Biophysics/MCB/cellular mechanics research (great recommendation)
- 1+ year at highly-regarded microfluidics/biophysics/mechanical engineering lab - Publication in preparation/submission in high/medium-high impact journals [Amazing PI loves me, inspired me to go into grad school, outstanding recommendation]
Work Experience:
Just finished up a 6-month co-op with a major (multi-billion $ revenue) biomedical device company in the LA area (wanted to get a feel for industry, since I am fairly certain I don't want to go into academia following graduate school). Picked up Six Sigma Lean and Mistake Proofing certifications, LOTS of first-hand engineering design and development experience. Great experience. Company policy prohibits individuals from providing recommendation letters, but I could possibly use a program manager and a senior engineer as references if necessary.
Extracurriculars: Strong leadership in nanotechnology club on campus
Letters of Recommendation: 2 or 3 excellent recommendations from past PIs/professors, 1 outstanding recommendation from my current PI
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My GPA does not really indicate any sort of trend, maybe slight upward? One cause I can think of for my performance is that until my junior year I tried to pursue both research + pre-med coursework on top of my normal engineering classes (no longer pre-med, obviously!). *I don't have any excuses for my grades* - I try pretty hard in my classes (could probably do a lot more, as is easily visible) but I think my interests (and bulk of dedication) are geared toward my research. My SOP will reflect the above statement, unless you guys feel it isn't relevant to mention?
I have one semester remaining, so I'll be cracking down on the books and can hopefully raise my GPA a little bit (obviously will not hit a 3.0 overall though).
I know my prospect of a Ph.D is pretty much shot with that, I am hoping my strong research background and LORs will help get me into a good MS/M.Eng program. Eventually, I'm hoping to get an MBA and continue in industry.
With a Ph.D, I am aiming for perhaps working in startups where specific technical knowledge will be required (early R&D efforts, etc.). No academia, not a fan.
I realize my application is kind of perplexing...trust me, I know, welcome to my life! Any advice/help anyone could offer would be most appreciated.
Thanks!
- AquaBear
