Please Help-Would a Low AWA score have an adverse effect?

[Eyohimself]

Hi everyone,

I need your suggestions and ideas on this issue so as to calm my worries. Actually, I wrote the GRE and obtained scores of Quantitative, 780; Verbal, 630 and a mere 3.5 in the AWA.

Well, before the AWA score was released, I contacted professors in MIT, Stanford and UT at Austin whose research areas are of interest to me and receive positive replies from them . They all strongly encouraged me to apply and asked me to include their name in my SOP so it be forwarded to them.

However,now comes the AWA and it was as low as a 3.5. Please, do you guys think this might hurt my application? Besides, can you suggest where else to apply to as safety nets? I find it difficult getting that info here in Russia where I am studying and online sources are conflicting. These are stats:

Undergraduate Institution: Ranked Number one in Telecommunication Engineering in Russia.
GPA: 4.94/5.00 to date
Research Experience:

Presently, an RA in my university in collobartion with a great IT research center in Russia and conducting real time research. A publication will be made very soon.

Summer 2007-- Research intern, Nortel Networks, Russia.

Summer 2006-- Engineer, TvoeTV ( a Telecomms firm in Russia)

Sophomore year ( Oct 2005 - May 2006)-- Research Assistant in Circuit Analysis laboratory of my University. No publication from the work but great recommendation from the professor.


Dudes, please, help me out by suggesting where I can apply to with the above credential and your opinions on what effect the low AWA will have on my applications to the top schools( MIT, Stanford and UT), which I have already applied. Do I have a chance at Rensselaer Polytechnic and John Hopkins University?

looking forward to seeing your replies.

[rezbipul]

HI
Did you check the schools' requirement?

Here is a useful link:

CS Graduate Acceptance Estimator: List of Departments

[Eyohimself]

Rezbipul,

Thanks. I think I have seen that site before. The schools I applied to were not in the list. I wanted to get opinions about how much attention these top schools, preferably the first ten pay to the AWA section.

Testmagicians, there must be people who are well informed on this forum. Could you drop a line or two? It will really have a great effect on someone miles away.

Still waiting to hear from you.