<p>For a Masters in Engineering.</p>
<p>I know it's probably hard to get into the Top 15 schools or so, but even the schools ranked 15-50 have acceptance rates of 15-25% according to US News.</p>
<p>I realize that pHd acceptance rates skew this some, but it couldn't be that much. For some reason, I feel like it's much easier to get in than that.</p>
<p>I haven't heard of that many people being rejected by an MS program. Am I wrong? Are those #s accurate? Is it that competitive?</p>
<p>MS programs are much easier. You might even get into a top tier school with only middling stats for a graduate student, but in any case you’ll probably have to pay for it yourself. </p>
<p>Probably best to see if you can get some funding, because paying for it out of pocket is painful.</p>
<p>I’ve read everywhere they rarely fund Masters students.</p>
<p>My ‘stats’ are very good, but I am a older returning student, so I really only applied to local places, and got in to all of them. Of course, unfunded.</p>
<p>How likely are places to fund you for an MS?</p>
<p>If I lived in CA or Illinois, I’d apply to Berkeley and Champaign, but I automatically assumed I’d have to pay full (and out of state) tuition.</p>
<p>Should I take a year off, work, and then try and see if some place will fund me?</p>
<p>Most of the research universities put there funding into Ph.D. students or Masters student on the track to become Ph.D. students. Professional Masters of Engineering students generally self-fund. It is sometimes possible to have your employer help with the tuition for a masters degree.</p>
<p>You probably won’t find university sponsored funding, but an employer might be willing to do it if you’re worth having.</p>
<p>Given the heavy amount of advertising for their Master’s programs, I’d have to think many universities view their graduate programs as cash cows. They’d be happy to accept as many students as possible.</p>
<p>I sure think it’s easier to get into Stanford as a grad student than an undergrad.</p>
<p>Yeah, Stanford EE/CS are definitely cash cows. They will gladly take your $50k/yr if you’re competent enough to finish their program.</p>