<p>Okay, we're coming down to the wire here on school choices. The big concern is of course money and if my son goes to MIT for undergrad, there won't be money left for grad school, which he really wants to do (at least a Masters, in Mechanical Engineering). Some questions we're trying to find the answer to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I know some fields (ie Chem E) it's really hard to stay at MIT for grad if you've done undergrad there. Is ME one of them?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there any kind of a 5 year BS/MS program in ME or is it for sure 2 more years after undergrad? The other school he's considering offers a set 5 year program you apply to during junior year. </p></li>
<li><p>What kind of scholarship/grants/FA are available for grad students in ME? Is it likely we'll need to come up with another $60K a year for those 2 years, in which case he should take the full ride to a top-ranked state school for now and apply to MIT for grad school (and pray he gets in?!)? Or would some percentage of it likely be funded somewhere/somehow? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>There is very little grant aid available for graduate school (they’re called fellowships, but are almost exclusively for doctoral students). There are often funded slots available through research or teaching assistantships. However, many of those slots are also reserved for Ph.D students. Finding funding for an MS is more difficult.</p>
<p>For engineering, your undergraduate training is far more important than your master’s training. I would make a decision based on the undergraduate training alone.</p>
<p>MIT almost exclusively hires graduate students as TAs. At least in computer science, this comes with a full tuition scholarship and a stipend. It’s how I’m paying for my master’s.</p>
<p>In my day, and I think things are about the same now, the usual way to receive the SM degree in ME was in calendar one year (typically one summer session plus two regular semesters). The degree takes 72 units (6 “big” courses) plus a thesis past the SB. If you are an undergrad at MIT in ME, you can apply your senior year and be admitted early to grad school, which is the way it was when I was there and was what I did. I suspect most of the engineering departments work pretty much the same way. When I was in ME, the majority of the grad students had MIT undergrad degrees.</p>
<p>There are three kinds of financial aid available: fellowships, teaching assistantships, and research assistantships. Fellowships are very competitive, but there used to be, and I still believe are many TA’s and RA’s to be had for SM students. My experience is totally different from what Polarscribe wrote, though I defer to anyone who is actually a grad student at MIT now.</p>
<p>At the graduate level it’s pretty much the student’s responsibility to find financial aid. What I did was talk to several professors I knew and was offered one TA and two different RA’s. I took the more interesting RA because as a TA it would have taken a bit longer to graduate because as an RA my research duties doubled as my thesis. As an TA I would have been a bit more restricted on how many credits I could register for in any semester. </p>
<p>However, I think it is too soon to be thinking about grad school when your son hasn’t even begun as a freshman yet. He might change his mind 10 times between now and graduation. My experience is that in engineering most graduate students get substantial financial support as TA’s or RA’s even at the master’s level, so I would advise not worrying about it until much later, and I would certainly would not recommend basing an undergrad decision on something so speculative. If someone with more recent experience wants to weight in and confirm or contradict my comments, please do!</p>
<p>In days of old the graduate office administrator was the best person to talk with about anything like this. You can find the current person the ME dept. web site.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the input. Feeling like we’re running out of time on all the factors going into my son’s decision, so I posted this while making some calls and waiting for some returned calls. Started with the MIT ME department, who referred me to someone at the undergrad department then finally someone in admin in the grad department (as suggested by Techtool). She pretty much told me what several others did - that there are fellowships, but definitely not for the majority of students. But that the vast majority of students able to be admitted to grad school at MIT should also have no problem finding a RA or TA position to provide most of their funding.</p>
<p>Also learned that MIT ME really doesn’t have a 5 year program (like the EECS department does). Some students do start early in their senior year (not a majority again) but for the most part it’s a 2 year program. </p>
<p>Finally, while she definitely confirmed that for Chem E it’s nearly impossible to stay at MIT for grad school after undergrad, she said that was a “departmental decision” and that the ME department did not follow that policy. It was a bit funny because I think at first she thought I was trying to ask how hard it was to get into grad school and was giving me statistics but when I explained I had a son at MIT in Chem E, she understood then what I was getting at. I don’t expect a guarantee at this point that my son can get into MIT for grad school in 4 years - I just want to know if his being at MIT will make it unlikely or still a level playing field!</p>
<p>Thanks again for the help - I know it sounds like I’m trying to plan my son’s life 5+ years down the road but it’s actually just one of many questions/comparisons we’re looking at as he makes his final decision. Which I think at this point will be MIT! :)</p>
<p>I thought there was a lot of funding for PhDs. When we were at Harvey Mudd, the grads on a panel going for their PhDs were being funded; several will be attending Harvard in the fall. </p>
<p>I’m confused; perhaps we’re not talking about the same things? I assumed if my son did well in u/g (math), he would have a very good shot at getting funded for his PhD.</p>
<p>Quite a few MIT undergrads earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 4 years. By passing advanced standing exams, some incoming freshman accumulate enough credit to free up enough time to pursue a master’s.</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily have anything to add here, except to say that I’m going to the thesis defense today of one of my good friends from undergrad, who will be getting his PhD in mech E. He has had funding all the way through his graduate work, which I think has been an RA. :)</p>
- I just want to know if his being at MIT will make it unlikely or still a level playing field!</p>