EE Universities

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QUESTION:

Hello Sir, 

      This is Vineela persuing B.Tech final year in Electrical and Electronics Engineering . I am writing my GRE exam on 11th of  March. I am a final year student and I am interested in Electrical subject like Machines, Power Systems, Control Systems, I can do well in any electrical subject. I want to pursue my masters in EE. Will you please send me the good universities so that I can send my application. 

10th percentage  83%

12th   89.4 %

B.tech  70% no backlogs
GRE minimum expected score 294. 

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ANSWER:

Hi Vineela, 

Congratulations on your decision to pursue Masters in the US. 

These days Power Engineers are in great demand due to clean energy initiatives. My friends were able to find jobs very easily while being in college. Plus after US presidential elections now the policies towards green energy and infrastructure development are more clear and concrete. This will spiral up job growth in Electrical Engineering field. 

You have a pretty strong 10th and 12th score and decent undergrad score. Admissions into Tier 1-2 Universities depend heavily on GRE score so try to keep score above 305 benchmark.

Your field of study demands good research based Universities. Below are the Universities you should apply to.

1) University of Colorado at Boulder.
Why: Good research. Job opportunities. 

2) Polytechnic Institute of New York University.
Why: Experience of being in New York City. Job Opportunities. 

3) Michigan Technological University.
Why: Free application. Low fees. Job Opportunities. Great people.

4) University of Wisconsin at Madison or Milwakee
Why: Good research. Job opportunities. 

5) University of Texas at Arlington.
Why: Job opportunities. 

6) University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Why: Job opportunities. 

7) North Dakota State University
Why: Almost 100% scholarship. Study for 1 semester and than take transfer to better University

Usually students get low GPA in first semester due to non-experience reasons. You can clean this stain by transferring to a better University after first semester. This way you can gain experience for free and have another opportunity to make better GPA with 9 credits to transfer.

8) Washington State University
Why: Job opportunities. 

Good luck!!! 

Low GRE score options

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QUESTION:

Hi,

      I am Kumar (Name Changed) and I am applying for MS in Electrical Engineering in Fall 2013.

My profile :

Gre : 305 Verbal : 147 Quant : 158 A.W. : 3.0
Toefl : 95
acads : 60% Pune University ENTC
10th : 80%
12% : 70%

Projects : 3rd yr Minor project
Electronic peddle shifter for college BAJA team
Final yr major project

Co-curricular : Winner of a college event 'circuit debugging'
participation in various other events and workshops on robotics and embedded systems

Extra-curricular : Represented India for table soccer (during my 12th)
district level in badminton and karate(till 10th)

Applying for MS in Electrical Engg.
Interested in Embedded systems

I have shortlisted some universities .

1. UT Dallas
2. UFL
3. University of Colorado-Boulder
4. UNCC
5. UMass, Amherst
6. Syracuse
7. Virgina Tech
8. University of Virginia

Now I feel that my gre score is is low and I am thinking of retaking the exam again .

But it is already late to apply to most of universities so I am confused over 

weather to apply this year or to wait till Fall 2014(retaking gre again).

Will it be worth to wait for one year.?

Thanking you in advance.

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ANSWER:

Hello, 

Congratulations on your decision to study in the US. Your background shows that you are a very talented person. Also I am glad that you have selected decent universities for Masters.  Although I am surprised that you have not listed any universities in California—Hub for Electronics companies.

University of Pune is known to be conservative in giving scores, so 60% is a good score. But keep in mind all the Universities you mentioned above attracts students from many other Universities located in many different countries. So, say a student from Osmania University—A University known for giving high scores—will have an advantage over you. So under this condition your low GRE is a cause of concern. I believe you can do much better and so I recommend you giving GRE again.

However you still have time for Fall-2013. Apply to couple of other Universities like SDSU, SJSU, NYU-Poly, NJIT, Stevens, UTA for being on safe side. Come to the US in Fall 2013 and based on your first semester performance  you can easily take transfer in any of above University. That is what even I did and it did wonders for me.

Advantage will be that you will not waste a complete academic year + save on cheaper tuition in above college compared to more expensive universities you mentioned earlier.

Wish you best luck.

--Chirag Shah

Master's for Telecom in the US

Question:

Hi chirag,
i find your blog extremely helpful.
Am Khyati (Name Changed) . 
Profile :
10th- 85%
12th-79%
BE-65% (just completed in 2012 in EXTC)

Am planning to give my GRE by the end of November . However looking at the deadlines , i guess i should be giving the exam early.
Also ,i got placed in Tech Mahindra. ( So i was planning may be i might go for my job for 2 years and then MS )
However ,something caught my attention while reading your blog .. u mentioned Tech M as an exception . What is it about Tech M ?? is it not good to go for it if u plan for MS??

Also , am a Telecomm engineer and it is an IT based company . so is it worth going  for it . (Though it undertakes Telecomm projects  -IT based work) ?

One one favour, can u suggest some universities for Telecomm ?  ( considering :GRE -300 , TOEFL -100)

Answer:

Hi, 

Glad you find this Blog useful. It appears from your question that you are looking towards the US to pursue Masters. Indeed a very good decision.

It is always useful to have work experience prior to coming to the US. It does not matter if it related to your field of study, but some kind of experience which gives you confidence as a person, horns your soft-skills and adds up to your resume. 

So I would suggest to definitely start working with Tech Mahindra. My reply about Tech Mahindra as mentioned in earlier blog post was more of a personal grudge. So do not worry about that part. 

Ideally you should aim to get admitted in Fall-2013. So it means you should give your TOEFL within 45 days and GRE by the end of December.This all should happen while you are either working or waiting for your joining date. By end of January you should be done applying to different schools.  

Ideal universities for Telecom Engineering with above profile would be

University of Texas at Arlington (More Development Jobs)

San Jose State University (More Development/Service Jobs)

San Diego State University (More Development/Service Jobs)

Polytechnic Institute of New York University (Service sector jobs)

North Carolina State University (Development and Service sector jobs)

Arizona State University (Good school, but not much job opportunities) 

All the best,

Chirag Shah

Plan for 2012

Last year, I mentioned about my plan for 2011. Most of it was a success. So it is time to make plans for year 2012.

For this year luckily there is no study*. So I can use this time to take couple of certifications. The basic one any Network Engineer must have is CCNA. So planning to take it by first week of March. Apart from this Intuition is another thing I want to complete by July. Once I am done with Intuition, I will know the business side of Finance too. 

For the personality development program, I will try to attend the ABToastmasters. This is a very good club to improve public speaking. Also the presentation seminar provided to TAPS is a good way to improve these skills. Planning to learn Spanish this year. May be Rosetta stone could be used. I have joined Gym to get fit. Planning to reach to 150 lbs. 

On the fun side planning to improve my Garba skills and continue to write for campus newspaper.

This is what comes to my mind for now. I will keep posting.

*no college studies

Universities to select for 3yrs IT experience and Avg Profile

Question-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am frm ECE field and working in XYZ in Pune , I am applying for univ in canada,  germany, netherland, singapore .... not US coz i think thats will be very costly ...

I have decided some univs also... but prob is that I have avg profile... except work exp of 3 yrs ... that also i doubt wont help as it is in IT sector... n i want to apply for electrical field :(

now prob is that univ i have selected are among the top univ ... now confused whether it will be right to apply to these univ.... means i have to have gud academinc profile (like IIT name)

would be very helpful if u can help me how to select univ.... it should be all top ... or some avg unv also... 

how much will be the expenses if i apply in US or any other ... 

Suggestion----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi, 

Good that you have decided for MS after 3 yrs of Experience. 

Your question mainly boils down to 

1) Which country for MS

2) Which Universities to apply for

For 1) I think US offers best option for you. As you mentioned cost as a factor, I believe the return on investment (ROI) is pretty high. In spite of avg academic record, your GRE score would determine how much scholarship you get. Your soft skills would help you landing an on campus job. Plus there are lots of internship opportunities available (Your US based company work-ex would be helpful). So in the end I believe you will gain valuable experience and education plus your balance sheet would be in green.

For 2) The job market for international students in US is in favor of IT. So if you want to go for Electrical you have to be in one of the best Universities and have to do a thesis\project on something which industry needs. 

Electrical is a broad field. Unless you mention what you are interested in 1) VLSI 2) Embedded 3) Telecom 4) Power 5) Computer Network 6) Semiconductors and many more. 

Basically for Computer Networks look for schools in California or NY City. For VLSI and Embedded go for schools in California, Texas, Michigan, Chicago area. For Power look for schools in Michigan, NJ, NY, California or may be anywhere. Power is very good across US.

I hope this helped. Let me know if you find this useful. 

New Semester Vows and expectations

New York: It has been 6 months since I am living in New York Metropolitan region and it has been great. It is indeed a city of opportunities. People from all race, ethnicity, color, country, religion, ideology live here. I wonder what would have Williams Wordsworth have written about NY. Whether it is Mets or Jets they all make you feel a part of it. 

At any rate, last semester fulfilled my dream of writing articles, teaching an all girls high school and what not. What it not fulfilled was making an Android Application. Other failures were surely there but tomorrow new semester is going to start and would like to concentrate on new challenges ahead.

This semester I want to do a technical internship in a big company. Have some surprises lying ahead for sure. Want to try my hands (Rather legs) on Ice skating. Plans are afoot to get my first project via Kaunas Tech. Want to give CCNA by the end of this semester. I wish to be clean with Java by the end of Semester. Also want to complete all labs of Webgoat by the end of January. I do expect of getting at least 4 GPA to save my scholarship. Other targets are to have a nice physic. 

Today my dream of having my own website is about to be complete. Next targets are to learn Drupal. Others are to make a website for my mama and to find a Summer internship. Want to do a project under a Prof. and to do a geeky thing each week, much up to my satisfaction. 

I hope with best wishes from my Mom and other well wishers I will be able to complete much of it.

Have a great New Year.

Soham whispersssss ! But loudly !!: Narendra Modi's day out with CM (Common Men)

There is something about this man which makes me Mesmerize.....May be his Positive attitude.....