ME/AE and computational grad schools

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm about to apply to grad programs in AE/ME and computational science right now. I have a general interest in doing numerical and computational work on physical problems. For now, the main area of interest I have is computational fluid dynamics.</p>

<p>I got my BS degrees in physics and applied math last year. I ultimately want to do research in my career, but since I'm not too sure about getting a phD, just to play it safe I'll apply with the intent of getting a MS w/thesis. I don't want to go to a school for a MS if I can't get ANY funding throughout the whole program (so thats why I excluded schools such as UCSD). I'd be willing to pay for at most 1 year.</p>

<p>GRE: 800Q, 470V, 5.0 W
GPA: 3.77 overall and major. But I only took 2 engineering courses: A in heat transfer and B- in fluid mechanics.
Research experience: An REU in solid-state physics, and 2 quarters of research with an applied math prof doing research in materials modeling. No publications
Work experience: Two different internships in industry, including one that just ended last week</p>

<p>LORs: One from REU prof. Another from the prof I did research with in math (but he's a post-doc). My guess is that these LORs will be good but not great. I've heard various opinions for who to choose for my last LOR. I could choose a physics prof I took a class with 3 years ago, my heat transfer prof I got an A with 6 months ago (but he also works at a company, so he might not even have a phD), or my two different hiring managers at my internships (one has a phD in applied math in CFD)</p>

<p>Because I don't really have an advisor in the ME/AE field, I don't know who to ask for where I should apply. When I choose a school to apply to, how many profs should I find that have research I'm interested in? For some schools, I found about 2-6 profs w/ interesting research, so I don't know if thats too few. So far, I've identified these schools:</p>

<p>ME
stanford (but funding might be very hard for MS thesis, right?), berkeley, michigan, UIUC, Renssalaer (RPI) (ME, AE, nuclear), Virginia tech, florida, UCSB (website says over 90% applicants get funding)</p>

<p>AE
Texas A&M, texas austin</p>

<p>COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE
texas austin, MIT, stanford (website says RAship only given to MS students with firm commitment to pHd - does that mean chances are really slim?), maryland, minnesota</p>

<p>I would appreciate any comments. Thanks</p>

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<p>I also forgot to mention that I applied and got accepted into the UCLA ME/AE phD program for fall 2010 without funding, but I applied really late so it was the only school i applied to. I will likely turn down the offer as i heard its very rare for MS students to get funding and because I’d rather go to a different school than my undergrad anyways</p>

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<p>can anyone help me here?</p>

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<p>A PhD without funding is a definite no. Definitely not worth it and you would be smart to turn it down. Your degree is in physics and that could potentially present problems if you plan to go Aerospace and Mechanical. Make sure the school will not make you take mechanical engineering undergraduate classes or aerospace. ME’s for example take multiple classes each in solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and controls. </p>

<p>Stanford, Michigan Ann-Arbor, MIT, Minnesota, Texas-Austin will probably not give you any funding for a Masters degree unless its some special type of fellowship (scholarship) which are hard to get. They have plenty of PhD students and are not desperate to hand out funding for someone who wants to do a Masters. Research assistanships are mostly reserved for PhD students because they perform research for 5 years at a low cost to the university. I know a Mechanical Engineering graduate (one of the smartest people I have ever met) from my school with a 4.0 and he applied various universities and all offered him assistanships… to do a PhD and no assistanships whatsoever to do a Masters. He was in the same boat as you were in that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do a PhD.</p>

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<p>What I would do if I wear you is to look for fellowships from external sources (not the university) for example: NSF (National Science Foundation) or the SMART Scholarship offered by the government in exchange to work in a government lab for a few years after graduation.</p>

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<p>It seems that all schools require that. Hows that so bad? Will it delay the time when I can get funding?</p>

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<p>were these the really competitive schools such as Stanford, Michigan, etc? They didn’t even give him TA-ships? Did he receive funding within 1-2 semesters after starting his MS? I’d be willing to pay at first, but not for the whole program. </p>

<p>Is it reasonable to get this kind of funding at less competitive schools, such as Virginia Tech, Florida, UCSB, etc?</p>

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<p>aren’t those extremely hard to get, especially with my stats? I guess I could try anyways…</p>

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<p>My guess that they won’t make you take more than 2-3 maybe 4 classes but I would definitely ask them. It might delay funding that first semester where you take those undergraduate classes.</p>

<p>The guy I knew was applying to top schools. Some of the slightly less competitive schools such as Virginia Tech (and I say slightly less because it is a great engineering school) might be inclined to offer an assistanceship to an MS student but it is a matter of checking their websites. Some explicitely state on their website that the likelihood of MS students getting assistanceships are slim.</p>

<p>The NSF fellowship and the SMART scholarship are hard to get but I believe you are not giving yourself credit. You have a high GPA and research experience.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your help. Yes, alot of sites explicitly said that theres an extremely slim chance of getting funding for MS students. I won’t apply to those schools. For the ones that don’t mention anything, I guess I could email them to see what they say…</p>

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<p>can anyone else recommend good schools for research in CFD, and where I’m likely to get funding within a semester? Out of the many schools I’ve emailed so far, it seems like UC Davis could have profs willing to fund me in CFD</p>

<p>Maybe I should just go to UCLA instea as I’ve already been accepted there for the MS? but only 3 profs there do research in CFD, and 1 of them mentioned that he won’t take any MS students in the near future</p>

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<p>Ga tech is pouring lots of money into computational science, and they’ve got one of the top aerospace groups. Plenty of masters students at GT get funding for computational science gigs, and if you don’t get GRA you’ll still be able to apply for TA-ing, grading, etc.</p>

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<p>what about ga tech for AE/ME? At the moment, I’m focusing more on those, and may decide not to apply to computational science schools</p>

<p>I’m really looking to know which schools I have a decent shot at getting funding within a semester</p>

<p>I’ve changed my list to this so far, for AE/ME: UIUC, john hopkins, Renssalaer (RPI), UCSB, Duke, UC davis, Georgia Tech, Texas-Austin</p>

<p>maybe Florida, and Colorado-Boulder also</p>

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<p>There is an AE computational science track, which I assume focuses on things like fluid dynamics. I just know that AE people sometimes work for CS profs… I don’t know how funding is handled in the AE dept itself.</p>