Grad School with no research experience?

Graduate School
1

<p>I am a female senior at Michigan State University studying Civil Engineering. I have a 3.98 GPA, a 161 verbal, and 163 Quant on the GRE. I had 3 internships and studied abroad for a semester where I did a volunteer internship helping design a youth rehabilitation center. I would like to get into a good Masters program in Civil Engineering, but I have absolutely no research experience. </p>

<p>Prospective Schools:
Georgia Tech
U of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
U of Michigan
Purdue</p>

<p>Maybes
Wisconsin
Minnesota</p>

<p>Are these schools out of my reach? How important is research for a Masters Thesis-option?</p>

2

<p>Your test scores are good and so is your GPA. Requirements for engineering Masters programs are usually less stringent than for a Ph.D. program. However, many schools do not encourage a thesis option for most of their Masters students and you are likely to be admitted to the non-thesis programs instead. once there, it may be possible to move to a thesis program but you can’t count on it.</p>

<p>You should also consider the fact that engineering programs generally value real world experience in their applicants. You might want to consider working as an engineer for a few years and then looking to enter a graduate program.</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>I think you would be a pretty competitive applicant at each of these schools, even without research experience. Keep in mind, though, that it’s hard to get financial assistance in the form of research/teaching assistantships as a Masters student. I would strongly recommend adding Michigan State onto your list, even if it isn’t your first choice. After all, you would be an in-state student, so you wouldn’t have to pay private school level tuition. On the other hand, if any school offers you an assistantship as part of their acceptance to you, take it.</p>

4

<p>the main reason GPA is important is because they’re competitive in fellowships and scholarships, and those are mostly for phd candidates. Professors would take a higher GPA student over a lower GPA because he/she would have a better chance to get fellowships and save the professor a ton of money… provided they are equally proficient in doing research.</p>

<p>I think that by default, a Masters basically means the professor doesn’t have to spend any money on you, and that you have to come up with your own money to pay for school.</p>