<p>Where do you want to go? I know a few stanford structural engineering grad students from UCSD. unfortunately, they all aced undergrad. Any luck at continuing at UCSD?</p>
<p>Yah, that seemed to be a popular choice along with berkeley for those who had good grades. Well, I was thinking along the lines of the USC online program. Out of the online programs I saw out there, USC’s coursework still seemed quite relevant with what some of the design work I do. I’m not sure about continuing at ucsd, even though its a great school, I know for a fact the MS program on campus will require you to go to school full time. The classes there are scheduled so that you cannot have a full time work (classes throughout the day). Also, my office is based in Irvine right now so not possible to commute. That’s why the online program seems so attractive because of the flexibility. Another option is going to UCI. From their website, they say that they encourage part time students with full time work as most of their classes are early in the morning and late at night. A friend of mine (similar situation as me who graduated with me) went to USC’s orientation last year. According to him, he said it was a guarantee for people like us as long as you can afford it. At least that was the feeling he got. So what do you think are my chances? Any other options out there for me? Thanks.</p>
<p>I would recommend taking a few graduate level classes online and then apply to a traditional school. Georgia Tech actually offers some online engineering courses/master’s degrees.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I have several friends that pursued master’s degrees in engineering right out of undergrad and all of them were given full rides (and none of these guys were terribly bright. Not dumb, but not top of their class). I recall one of them that attended VMI for undergrad then NC State for grad school telling me that engineering programs are almost always “free”, that is engineering students almost always get a full tuition waiver. This has been a few years ago, have things changed in the past 5 years?<br>
Also, isn’t there currently a shortage of engineers? You always here about how so few people are going into math and science fields, including engineering. If this is the case, I would think that it would be possible to get into a reputable engineering program even with the sub-3.0 gpa.</p>
<p>Among the top engineering programs (i.e. Stanford, MIT, Cornell), Master’s degrees are usually unfunded. That is not to say funding does not exist for master’s students however. Master’s students can receive funding at these schools (but it’s rare, based on merit, and only given to a handful each year).</p>
<p>i also want to go to grad school…i am at penn state and i just officially finished all the reqs for an undergrad degree in chemical engineering with a 3.33…but i am deciding to stay for an extra semester(this fall) to schedule graduate courses(i hope getting good grades in grad courses will help offset my low undergrad GPA)…the grad school i go to has to be more highly regarded (in engineering) than penn state otherwise its not worth going at all IMO…problem is PSU is already a top engineering school so naturally all the schools im applying to are very selective…i really want to go to stanford (chemical engineering)…and I’m torn because I want to pursue a PhD, however, i probably won’t make it into one because of my GPA…i have strong original research experience (no publications though)…so i’m thinking i should apply to the masters program for a better shot of getting into schools, figure out a way to shell out the 80K for two years, and then hopefully get into the phd program?</p>
<p>racnna,</p>
<p>Hello to a fellow Penn State engineer! I can appreciate your ambition, but I disagree with your goal here.</p>
<p>First of all, your gpa is not very competitive with top schools - while you may want to go to a “better” school, so do the other 30 people applying to each spot, and they have a better gpa. Admissions is holistic, so you are not dead in the water, but you need to give the admissions committee some reason to take you over that person with the 3.7 gpa, who also has solid research and great LOR’s. A 3.33 gpa at least gives you a decent shot at PSU and similar schools.</p>
<p>You are correct here that you may still be able to step into a solid masters at a good school. Even if it is only at the same level as PSU a solid performance will still boost your chances. It will almost certainly be very expensive, and I am not sure you really need it.</p>
<p>Second, the “ranking” of a grad school is a tricky thing. Every school is great at SOMETHING, but better grad schools have more somethings to boast about. If you are unsure of your intended specialty, go to a big name school with lots of choices, but remember that you will be competing with a higher calibre of applicant many of whom are definite matches to the professors. Otherwise go where the experts are. In my case Northwestern and Ohio State (ugh) were near the top of the list, and neither are top-10 schools. I very nearly went to Northwestern, until I visited and became disenchanted with the idea, and strongly disagree with the idea that a PhD is worthwhile only if the ranking is better than undergrad - many people do so for a variety of reasons, and there is no real stigma attached to doing so.</p>
<p>Why do you want the PhD, and why are you so fixated on the ranking?</p>
<p>Well I got accepted into the University of Maryland Master in Sustainable Energy Engineering starting this fall! I am still shocked as to how I got into this program given my GPA…</p>
<p>I am still not sure If I will pursue this degree. My concern is that it is entirely online, it is a brand new program (so I don’t know where the grads will get jobs, and I’m not sure if I can completely change my career with this degree like I intend to. I think my degree of choice would actually be mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>What do you think my chances are of getting admitted to one of the top tier Mechanical Engineering schools such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, UW, or UC Davis if I do well in the online MS from University of Maryland? Maryland is ranked #17 for engineering grad programs and this new degree combines professors from the department of mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, and reliability engineering. Keep in mind my low undergrad GPA. The admin advisor at UCLA told me that the minimum requirement is 3.0 and any student below this GPA requires a special admission process. (DSA) Dean Special Action, which means several deans must review this recommendation and compelling reason must be provided for admission. So while doing well in M.S. program from a top 20 engineering school would definitely be a plus, it would not cancel the fact that I don’t meet the minimum GPA undergrad requirement for another school.</p>