How difficult is it to attain admission into a top 10 MS non-thesis for Chemical Engineering

Graduate School
1

I have a lowish GPA 3.2-3.3 from a state school. My dream was to go into a really good MS program and head into industry. But I’m worried about how my job prospects will turn out if I don’t go to grad school. Is an MS necessary to get a good salary and does the MS have to be from a top program? Also is it worth going to one of those name-brand Ivy League schools if they’re not as good as a less reputable school within a niche field–chemE in this case? Like if I go to Columbia instead of Twin Cities or Austin, is that a good thing because employers will see the name Columbia even though it isn’t in the top 5 programs? Or does it just not matter at all? Also, how hard is it to get accepted at Columbia’s MS non-thesis ChemE? Does it give scholarships? I looked on their website and only saw their tuition–nothing about scholarships. Thanks!

2

H-Hello?

3

At the graduate level, the reputation of a particular department or program is more important than the overall ranking of a school. Non-research-based graduate degrees in science and engineering are generally not funded. Funding tends to go to PhD students and thesis MS students, in that order, usually in the form of research assistantships and/or teaching assistantships. Non-thesis MS students are almost never funded directly by the department. As a result, it’s almost universally easier to get accepted as a non-thesis MS student in most programs that offer a non-thesis MS option, because they’ll expect you to pay your own way or secure your own funding.

4

Plus the fact that Ivy League schools are not necessarily the best for engineering. Frankly, you don’t need an MS to get a good job as an engineer. Your GPA is above 3.0 and you should work for a time before deciding if a non-thesis MS is really going to help your career. Not only will you put aside some money to pay for tuition but your employer might even chip in and pay for part of it too. More importantly, you will have a much better idea of why you want the MS and a far better notion of what is the right school to attend.