ChE in need of honest advice

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm a recent chemical engineering graduate from a decent university. I have been working as an engineer for about 6 months and have found it very dissatisfying on an intellectual level. I'm not very surprised as I had 2 internships during undergrad that resulted in similar feelings (but kept telling myself give it another try as the field is vast). I have recently set my sites on going back to school to get a PhD as a BME or Biological engineer in the fall of 2011, but I suspect I might be setting my goal a little high and would like some feedback. Here's some background info:</p>

<p>-My overall GPA is between 3.3-3.4 but more towards 3.4 for the last 60 hours of coursework </p>

<p>-I flirted with the biological sciences and BME all throughout undergrad and my GPA in just those classes is quite good (3.7-3.8)</p>

<p>-My research experience is damn near nonexistent. As stated above, I spent a lot of time trying out the industry of my own field first. By the time I realized my passion for BME grad school (late junior year), any prospects for research or to distinguish myself had pretty much fizzled.</p>

<p>-That's not to say I'm ignorant of all current research. I am a more than casual reader of the literature but would definitely require some intensive classes to be able to approach the threshold of 'specialist' that I feel PhD requires. And I have no research of my own to prove that I'm worth this investment to a grad school.</p>

<p>-My GRE scores are V-650 Q-790 and A-4.0</p>

<p>-I do have a lot of potential people for Letters of Rec. I am sure a professor from one of my BME classes would give me a letter (although about my strength and passion as a student of the subject, not as a researcher). I was also considering asking my supervisor for a letter as I feel my only shot would be to emphasize my time spent in industry (and my intention to return after a PhD).</p>

<p>Any advice or criticism or estimation of my chances would be more than appreciated. Is there any angle that would actually give me a shot at this? How can I try to put passion to paper when I'm a little lackluster on paper? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I think most of your qualifications are alright. Have you considered applying for a PhD right away and if you don’t get into decent grad schools that someone with your profile minus the lack of reserch gets in to you could consider doing a masters? I know of a coworker that is doing her masters at Yale in BME (yes Yale BME) and she does research part time at Yale (approx. 10-20 hours). Maybe you could do something like that?</p>

3

<p>I have considered doing a masters with research then moving on to PhD. The thing is, I’m ready to go all out. I know this is what I want to do so I don’t see the point in going halfway with a masters. Maybe I’m just being selfish?</p>

4

<p>Put yourself in the shoes of those that evaluate the admissions, and you will see that “motive” might be in question for someone that does not have research experience? You should consider getting a masters or at least starting to read up on current Journal articles. For example, try visiting the “news” section of the Departments that you are interested in. They probably have the most interesting stuff in that section.</p>