<p>I've found a lot of threads asking for specific questions on getting to grad school for engineering, but I just want a general overview on how to go to a good grad school (since I'm an incoming college freshmen). </p>
<p>If I do well academically at NU/Rice/Cornell for environmental engineering (and perhaps industrial/operations research), what else would make me a competitive applicant for engineering grad school at a school like Stanford? Do grad school admissions place an emphasis on research, internship, extra-curriculars, and standardized tests (if so, which ones)? </p>
<p>Thanks a lot! I know this is four years early, but it's good to know about this process early, I think.</p>
<p>they definitely look at research and GRE. but not so much on extra-curriculars. i think internship/work experience help out A LOT too. that’s speaking from my own experience. they like it when you been in the field and know what’s going on in real life instead of merely knowing the concepts. oh don’t forget to get good GPA too.</p>
<p>as far as research goes, speaking to my profs at my school, they don’t expect to see much research from a MS applicants but it’s essential for phd. make sense cuz how many undergrad would actually get to do research right? so i think it’s best to get research experience from master and use that for phd applications.</p>
<p>also get to know the profs during undergrad so it’s easier to ask them for LOR near end of college. don’t forget to write an impressive POS as well.</p>
<p>If you plan on going to graduate school for a PhD, research is the most important thing you can do as an undergrad–especially if you want to go to the best schools. Most of my colleagues in my PhD program did 1-2 years+ of research experience as an undergraduate, many under more than one professor. Good grades and GRE scores are important, but what makes you stand out is research. EC’s usually mean very little for graduate school applications, unless they’re somehow directly related to your major.</p>
<p>Having multiple research experiences not only helps you get into the top schools, but (coupled with good grades, LOR’s, and GRE scores) also makes you highly competitive for national fellowships that pay PhD students quite nicely. This is way down the road, but you can read this site for a primer: [Philip</a> Guo - Advice for applying for graduate science fellowships: NSF, NDSEG, Hertz](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/fellowship-tips.htm]Philip”>http://www.stanford.edu/~pgbovine/fellowship-tips.htm).</p>
<p>SheerReflection, I don’t truly know how much undergrad prestige matters, but from my own experience I’d say not much. I got my bachelor’s at a “third tier” state university but got into four top 10 engineering PhD programs. Two girls in my class went to MIT for their PhDs in engineering. Going to a prestigious school could only help, but I think you can challenge yourself anywhere and that’s probably what grad schools most want to see from your application.</p>
<p>A useful guide (it’s written for CS, but I would expect it to be similar across most science and engineering) written by a prof who has been involved with PhD admissions at three top-10 CS departments:</p>