Chances of being admitted

WilliamScore
Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:05:17 +0000

I posted this thread in a different part of the forum.

I need an honest appraisal of my chances of attending a Ph.D. programming in engineering at a “middle 50%” college. I currently have a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have applied to a several mid-range universities, and one or two upper-ranked universities, but I have so far been rejected from four (all in the mid-range category), and accepted from none.

I figure either I’m doing something wrong, or I’m having bad luck.

Right off the bat, my weak point is experience. It was very hard for me to get my foot into the door during undergraduate studies. Summer of my junior year, I applied to seven Undergraduate Research Programs, didn’t get accepted at a single one, although people with worse qualifications did.

GRE: 800 Q/760 V/ 5.5 W

GPA: 3.51 (in major) - 3.22 (overall)
(Could have been higher, but I made some bad choices with choosing professors and was given grades in a few classes lower than what I deserved - but there’s nothing I can do about it now)

Research: Senior Design (required), Foreign Exchange Program at National Taiwan University (#1 University in that country).

Relevant work: engineering tutor for two semesters, MATLAB teaching assistant, worked at a medical center at a large university for several months as a research assistant/programmer

Honors: Mechanical Engineering Honor Society, Dean’s List, Evola Prize for Leadership from a campus organization (I don’t know if the latter is important or not, but I wrote it anyways).

Ethnicity: I usually mark “other”.