<p>I am currently a 2nd->3rd year civil engineering undergrad at ucdavis. I was hoping I could get some questions answered here.</p>
<p>Testing:
1. I should start taking my GRE and EIT junior year, correct?
2. Is the EIT basically all about passing or do they compare scores for graduate admissions?
3. How many times did you take each of the tests and how did you prepare?
4. Are the GRE/EIT tests just like the SATs in that you can take it as many times as you like and they take the highest score?</p>
<p>Graduate School:
5. Do graduate schools look mostly at overall,major, or upper div GPA?
6. When do most people start applying for graduate school?
7. Where do I get more information about each graduate school program? There doesn't seem to be an incredible amount of resources with admissions stats and such as undergraduate programs do.</p>
You should probably aim to take the GRE late junior year or early senior year. The FE exam, which you take to get your EIT, you will take at the end of your senior year; you are not eligible to take it before then.
The FE is solely about passing. It’s not a requirement for graduate admissions. Many people don’t even take the FE until they get a job (not recommended… you’ll forget a lot of things if you procrastinate too long).
I took the GRE twice and the FE Exam once. I didn’t prepare for either. I took the GRE a second time because I wanted to try to improve my writing score (didn’t really matter, actually… got the same score the second time). If I had to do it over again, I’d download the FE equation book from the NCEES (testing agency) website and look over it. Like the SAT, they’re the kinds of tests where you can either accept that you know it or you don’t, or you can beat yourself over the head and try to cram all the curriculum into your head a second time. The second method works for some people… doesn’t work for me.
The GRE testing system is like the SAT since they’re both done by the same people (so far as I can remember). I’m not sure if you can just send the highest scores. Their website will fill you in on it… The FE exam is a little more complicated. You can only take it every six months-- once in October and once in April. You don’t try for the highest score; you either pass it or you fail it. There may be a limit for the number of times you can try to take it but I’m not sure. Check the NCEES website.</p>
<p>Grad School
5) They look at all three. They really look at your major GPA, but they take all three into account. Different schools look at it different ways.
6) I started researching grad schools a little bit at the end of my junior year, and in earnest during the summer before my senior year. I talked to my professors and asked their opinions on the schools I was considering.
7) Get information (general list) by looking at the US News & World Reports lists-- they actually do have a grad schools ranking. Use it as a general guideline and not as though it’s written in stone. Get information from your professors-- they are your best resource. If you have particular interest in a subfield of research, pursue that and see where that research is done. Research the individual schools by going to their department websites and looking at the curricula for the different graduate programs-- what the requirements are, how soon you can finish a degree, whether you want to pursue a PhD or just get your masters’ and go into industry.</p>