Need advice for grad school

[Jassi]

I am an undergraduate student in EE right now with graduation expected in May 05. I have already applied to my first choice school (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and that is the only school I am interested in attending. However, I am torn between applying to more schools or just banking on UofM. Applying to more schools will cost about $60 a pop and a lot of headache with getting more letters of recommendations, applications and SOP. I placed about 85 percentile in all sections of the GRE and I am looking at ~3.8 GPA when I graduate. I also have a lot of research and teaching/ tutoring experience and I am looking for a full ride for my grad program.

The schools I can still apply to are Purdue, Cornell (I think) and some others in or near the top 10. The reason U of M is my first choice is because it is close and has a really good reputation and an amazing program.

So, if anyone has any words of advice or experiences, please share. I am really confused right now

 

[DanTMWTMP]

i'm in EE, but nowhere near as smart as you are hehehe. A couple of my peers who went into grad school stayed @ UCSD (we attend UCSD), because they already had relations with the professors, and were already taking some grad classes during undergrad.

Donno, have you thought about the grad program in your own school? Hehe, you are very smart and hardworking, and you have many many options. That's a good thing and something I wish i can have

good luck :thumbsup:

 

[Albis]

ask any professor and they will tell you to apply to at least 5-10 more programs. you seem to have good scores but nothing super amazing to make you a sure thing at UM. you have to think what happens if michigan rejects you? do you have a job lined up or will you just bum around and try to apply again?

 

[MySoS]

What about schools like CalTech.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Jassi
I am an undergraduate student in EE right now with graduation expected in May 05. I have already applied to my first choice school (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and that is the only school I am interested in attending. However, I am torn between applying to more schools or just banking on UofM. Applying to more schools will cost about $60 a pop and a lot of headache with getting more letters of recommendations, applications and SOP. I placed about 85 percentile in all sections of the GRE and I am looking at ~3.8 GPA when I graduate. I also have a lot of research and teaching/ tutoring experience and I am looking for a full ride for my grad program.

The schools I can still apply to are Purdue, Cornell (I think) and some others in or near the top 10. The reason U of M is my first choice is because it is close and has a really good reputation and an amazing program.

So, if anyone has any words of advice or experiences, please share. I am really confused right now

What are you confused about? You said that you had only 1 school in mind, so that sounds pretty unconfused to me.

BTW, I graduated from Cornell in '88 with an MSEE, was also accepted at Michigan.

 

[BullsOnParade]

Look into GaTech, if you're intersted in DSP especially.

 

[Jassi]

Thanks

I have already taken 3 Grad level classes and I will take 2 more next semester. I also have guaranteed acceptance at my school and a lot of professors I can approach to become my advisor. But I don't want to stay at my current school for my masters or beyond, I will probably lose about a semester and a half, but I want to start over. If I stay, I can probably get my masters by December but I want to switch my area of focus as well.

I was really interested in DSP but I had the most horrible experience in a DSP class this past semester and ended up getting the worst grade I have ever gotten.

 

[Legendary]

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is a sure thing, especially an application at UofM AA. Eat the $60 and have a little peace of mind.

 

[gopunk]

Originally posted by: Jassi
I am an undergraduate student in EE right now with graduation expected in May 05. I have already applied to my first choice school (U of Michigan, Ann Arbor) and that is the only school I am interested in attending. However, I am torn between applying to more schools or just banking on UofM. Applying to more schools will cost about $60 a pop and a lot of headache with getting more letters of recommendations, applications and SOP. I placed about 85 percentile in all sections of the GRE and I am looking at ~3.8 GPA when I graduate. I also have a lot of research and teaching/ tutoring experience and I am looking for a full ride for my grad program.

The schools I can still apply to are Purdue, Cornell (I think) and some others in or near the top 10. The reason U of M is my first choice is because it is close and has a really good reputation and an amazing program.

So, if anyone has any words of advice or experiences, please share. I am really confused right now

does your school have a letter forwarding service? that way your recommenders only need to send one letter of recommendation...