<p>What I would have done if I were you is apply to graduate programs at schools that have a lot of interdisciplinary research going on. That way you could have “explored” a lot of courses and then chosen a direction without “wasting” a year. For example, at my school some of ME faculty do a lot of research with the materials engineering department, and some of their research assistants are from the materials department. There are also professors whose work is very theoretical and there is little distinction between themselves and physicits.</p>