EE Universities

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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

______________________________________________________

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.

______________________________________________________

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