<p>I guess since the bio people have one, engineers should start one too. Include Applicant type, GPA, school type, GRE, intended major, degree, any research and schools applying to:</p>
<p>US Domestic Applicant
School: Top 15 Private School
GRE: 1440
GPA: 3.6 (3.9 in upper division)
Field: Structural Engineering
Degree: MS or PhD
Research: 2 third author publications.
Applying to:
UTexas
Berkeley
MIT
Princeton
Cornell
Columbia
Stanford</p>
<p>Noone wants to contribute?</p>
<p>Unofficially in at Stanford at this point according to my advisor who spoke with the head there that has seen my app. Publications make you golden. No word on funding. Waiting on others.</p>
<p>I'm surprised you're unsure whether you're aiming for a MS or a PhD. Most engineering applicants at this point are pretty sure of what direction they want to head in.</p>
<p>Certain schools such as Texas, Stanford, Columbia force you to apply to MS first and then you reapply and pass qualifiers to obtain a phD. I'm MS/phD everywhere but at some schools I'm actually a MS while at others if I get admitted I'm in at the phD program also (Cornell, MIT, Princeton).</p>
<p>I'm glad I found this thread.</p>
<p>quick question for all you guys...seriously, what would be the difference in terms of career when you do a MS or a PhD? I still don't understand. </p>
<p>To my understanding, MS will just give you a move in depth study of what we've all done already granting us a better chance at high end jobs instead of just BS and PhD is strictly to sit all day working on journals and research (could you still be involved in industries)?</p>
<p>if you want money and are targeting industry, go for a Masters as it is more undergrad with harder math. Simple as that. PhD requires passion and dedication. The trade off with money being greater understanding of research methods, connections in academia, and an inherent sense of accomplishment and extrinsic respect. While hard, I have seen people with PhDs work and publish at the same time.</p>
<p>If you want to go into academia, you pretty much have to get a PhD. If you want to go into industry, you can get a PhD if you want, but it won't really benefit you much more than a MS. You do a PhD if you love a certain subject and can eat drink and sleep with it for 4 years.</p>
<p>It's not that uncommon to see PhD's in industry though... a few of my adjunct professors have PhD's and work full-time in industry.</p>
<p>So, thanks to the last two responses.
I'll b taking my GRE end of October, so at this point I'm trying to get the logistics ...I'm having problems finding Grad Schools with funding for MS/Phd (either) and I hear rumors that only natural sciences have sufficient funding for such programs. Is that just a rumor or a fact? Also, I'm international student already here in US finishing up my Undergrad. How'd that affect this situation?</p>
<p>Thanks,
-me!</p>
<p>anybody have a clue? where all could I apply hoping for a full scholarship (The other rumor I heard is: Full scholarship is available only for PhD program not just MS)?</p>
<p>sorry, lately there's been a lot of rumors around me ;-)
I'm hoping to clear them out here.</p>
<p>thanks again.</p>
<p>It'll be very hard for you as most funding is reserved for US citizens pursuing a phD. Its very rare for a Master's degree to get funded at the top schools unless you are pursuing a Meng at Cornell or MIT (Meng is the coursework version of a masters without a thesis). The only real exception is at Princeton where a MSE is fully funded. On that note, im gonna stop posting here as this forum and the lurkers who are clearly reading the posts in this thread without contributing are worthless.</p>
<p>Just go ahead and apply for the PhD programs if you are unsure. I know plenty of colleages who felt that the PhD wasn't right for them about a 1 year or 2 into grad school. They just left with their masters and I'm sure is doing quite well in industry. Some schools require a MS before you even apply to their PhD program though.</p>
<p>Just know that even if you accept going to a PhD program doesn't mean you are locked in.</p>
<p>Funding generally is reserved for PhD candidates only, but with that being said no one is really a PhD candidate when they first arrive at a school regardless of what they put on their application. In my view you have to pass quals before you are a PhD candidate and that is no small task. Many students go into the entire process with the intention of getting a PhD but realize 1-2 years in that its not right for them and decide to leave with only a masters. Getting a PhD requires your heart to be fully there and if it is not you are wasting your time and the departments time by sticking around.</p>
<p>The point of this was that if you do have intentions of gettting a PhD its fine to apply to get the funding and leave after a masters because frankly, a PhD isnt for everyone. If you know you just want a masters and lie to the school about your intentions, well some ethical issues may be there but its still possible.</p>
<p>viennariver, I think the point of enrolling as a Phd and then quit as a Master in either case(intentionally or not) would result in bad influence on the people who would come behind you from the same shool. </p>
<p>I heard that U Mich is having a such situation around.</p>
<p>UK International Student</p>
<p>School: Top 5 UK School, I'm an exchange student at GA Tech at the moment.</p>
<p>GRE: 1460, 5.5</p>
<p>GPA: N/A... I'm on course for 1st class honors, which is roughly equivalent to a summa cum laude for those places in the US which have it. I will soon have fall semester grades for 2 graduate-level chemical engineering classes, probably As.</p>
<p>Field: Chemical Engineering</p>
<p>Degree: PhD</p>
<p>Research: 2 summers of research, and doing undergrad research at the moment. Working on papers for the 2 most recent projects, and should have letters of recommendation from both professors involved indicating probable eventual publication (though that's obviously not guaranteed).</p>
<p>Applying to:
MIT
Princeton
UWisc
UMinn
CMU</p>
<p>
[quote]
It'll be very hard for you as most funding is reserved for US citizens pursuing a phD. Its very rare for a Master's degree to get funded at the top schools unless you are pursuing a Meng at Cornell or MIT (Meng is the coursework version of a masters without a thesis). The only real exception is at Princeton where a MSE is fully funded. On that note, im gonna stop posting here as this forum and the lurkers who are clearly reading the posts in this thread without contributing are worthless.
[/quote]
For Engineering or Computer Science, I know that it's not true that funding is reserved for US citizens only. Most of the top tier universities offer funding for their phd students but not Masters student.</p>
<p>Most engineering schools fund MS as long as the students do a research thesis.</p>
<p>you are wrong rold, this is particularly true in engineering. Its much easier to fund US students particularly through NSF at the top schools and other grants geared towards US students.</p>
<p>Blah2009:</p>
<p>You are talking about fellowship. But most top tier schools support their Phd students in the form of RAship or TAship, if the student doesn't have a fellowship.</p>
<p>I want to ask...is it better if the research you have been doing as an undergrad is similar to the specialized area you want to be into? what if the research you have been doing is totally different than you desired field? are you screwed? (ie you do research in solid mechanics but you write that your desired field is propulsion...) thanks</p>