<p>I'm currently a student at the University of Florida studying Chemical Engineering. I came into school with more than 52 credits from AP testing (I took 13 tests and got 4+ on all of them). Because of this, I'll be able to graduate with a degree in chemical engineering in less than 3 years. UF, though, offers a neat combined degree program which means I'll be able to earn both a bachelors and masters degree within 4 years. However, I'm holding off because I've always aspired towards earning a graduate degree at a more prestigious university (i.e. Stanford, MIT, etc..). Will earning a Master's degree at a comparatively low ranked university (UF is only #24 in engineering) bar me from earning a higher degree at the universities I aspire towards? Would I best be served by getting a bachelor's and applying for other universities for graduate study?</p>
<p>I say only #24 because I desperately want to get a job designing and developing on the cutting edge of technology in my field… and I only see that happening if I get my terminal degree from one of the best universities (for chemE that is MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc…). I think that your advised plan is best, To apply for a Ph.D program after obtaining the 4-year masters.</p>
<p>Could you please elaborate on that jmilton?</p>
<p>Sometimes this very issue worries me - I don’t know if I’ll ever have what it “takes” to succeed in my dream career. Sometimes people who have more experience describe the job as if it requires some ambiguously defined mystic characteristics of thrift and insight. Should I be concerned if I didn’t spend my childhood obsessing over legos or taking apart every technological device I got my hands on?</p>
<p>thats like the biggest misconception about engineering. HS kids think you have to be this one of a kind genius…not the case at all…the only prereq is that you love math and chem and dont mind solving math/chem type problems. You are in the exact same boat as every kid that is just starting out in engineering and noone is like a ‘supergenius’ or whatever…maybe one or two super geniuses in the whole class who knew from age 11 that they wanted to pursue chemE…but probably not in U of Florida. you’ll definitely be at the top of the class if you go there…you’re basically on the same level as everyone else…in your case you have absolutely nothing to worry about… 52 AP credits?.are you kidding me?</p>
<p>if you prefer to go elsewhere(MIT /STANFORD) for a masters
1)finish your undergrad chemE in three years, and get a full time position. work for a year and apply to mit/stan chemE Masters of Engineering pograms. You should definitely apply to the MIT+singapore CDO practice program. Its a dual masters degree that can be finished in about 18 months- free ride. they’ll pay everything for you. its definitely a program you should look into
OR
2)finish undergrad chem E requirements in three years and spend an extra year pursuing a second major/taking graduate level courses, then apply to MIT /stan.</p>
<p>If you want to be a researcher and you want to go to a top school, you are going to have to prove to the school that you can produce top quality research. Remember that the top ranked schools recive many more good applications than they have seats available.</p>
<p>So, from my understanding, someone who has a Masters degree from a descent school can probably demonstrate that he can research. However, I seriously doubt that getting the masters degree would hurt you in anyway especially if you have a good GPA and have written a good thesis.</p>
<p>As to the poster above me, I think you would have to work for more than a year to “impress” and admissions committee. Also, they may end up scrutinizing the position if they thought that you weren’t doning anything very useful. If you could get some sort of fellowship or research grant from your university or a company or something (not likely for an undergraduate though) that would look great.</p>