<p>Hi, everyone. I am applying for a master degree in mechanical engineering. I need some advices.</p>
<p>I am an international student and I major in ME for my undergraduate. For master, I still plan to apply for mechanical engineering. The reason I am interested in Umich is because it has the direction of vehile engineering and I would like to work for a car companies in future. </p>
<p>Some people in my department told me that a lot of prestigious schools prefer the applicant who have done research, especially the talented students who has published journal articles. Unfortunetaly I haven't done research yet. I will find some research opportunities on my next semester, but it is too late for application. Should I still give a try? Umich is my dream school but I also understand that not everyone could get accpeted.</p>
<p>By looking at the admission info, I learn that there are three kinds of options for master degree: 1. Coursework 2. Independent research option 3. thesis option ( I guess the most challenging one.) Honestly, I do not what "independent research" means? Does it mean I need to work in the lab as GRA for professors ? So should I apply for the coursework option because I do not have research experiences? </p>
<p>Thanks for reading my post, I know everything still up to me and I have to make my own decisions. But I feel like it might be helpful to ask others for suggestions. I appologize if I have any grammar problems. Have already been studying in the US for four years, I still have some langauge barrier to overcome.</p>
<p>Independent research means you have your own project but under the guidance of a professor. Research experience helps but may not be necessary. Have you done any intern of co-op? That would help too. I know one grad student in ME from Hong Kong. He came for the master program but switched to Ph.D. program this year. PM me if you have more specific question.</p>
Thanks for your suggestions ! I really appreciate it ! I get rejected by UT Austin, UIUC and CU Boulder. Based on this trend,I do not think I will have be admitted into Umich this time. You are right, it is time to do internship to gain some experience. Possibly I will find out what I want do do for graduate school during intern. Then I will try again.
I don’t know what initial filters are used at Michigan to whittle down the number of applications that the graduate school receives but I expect the most critical factor is your undergraduate GPA and then the college/university where you received your ME degree. It’s very rare that an undergraduate student has published journal article(s) (his/her name might be placed in the middle if a multi-author paper). I believe at Michigan financial aid to MS students is very rare so you will probably be paying full fare
@PeterW Pretty sure that my gsi said that Michigan pays for your grad degree if you want (through working as a GSI or Research Assistant or something). And he said that this is for everyone in engin grad school atleast.
@YellowWolverine Funding is typical for PhD students, but not guaranteed (or even usual) for masters students. This is the case at most universities although there are slight variations depending on the specific program.