MechE Grad school admission advice?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any advice on my chances on getting into grad school and possible other programs I can look into. I have done a good deal of research but I am wondering about specific advice.</p>

<p>What I want to do - Mechanical Engineering. Aero-elastics preferably, but I would be happy in either fluid dynamics or structural dynamics. I would like to get a PHD but if the program requires it I would be willing to do a masters first. Also I want purely theoretical/computational modeling. I suck at experimental and don't think it would be the best career move.</p>

<p>My Stats
Bachelors of Science in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College with a 3.1 GPA
-I had some trouble in my first two years but any engineering courses I did badly in I later took the next level and did quite well. I was on the deans list for the last 4 semesters I attended.</p>

<p>Research- I have an REU where I published a paper directly in fluid dynamics in an Undergraduate research journal. I also have a patent, and it is clear that much fluid dynamics work was done. I also have several projects in structural dynamics that came close to becoming published papers, but the professor decided not to move forward.</p>

<p>GRE (old) Q-750, V-700</p>

<p>2 years in the work force as a MechE at Northrop Grumman (but not in the specific field I want to research)</p>

<p>Right now I am looking at University of Michigan (PHD, 2nd choice), MIT (masters and top choice), and University of Illinois (masters) as my top choices. I would like to know if anyone has any advice on how to improve my chances, what my chances are, and if there are any other programs/professors I should take a closer look at.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your advice and if I ignored any posting rules or if you need more information please tell me.</p>

2

<p>Those are all very selective programs (I assume that for MIT and UIUC, the Masters is a required first step toward the Ph.D.). It is hard to say if your chances are high to get into any of these three programs but I would not apply to these alone. Look for some less selective programs who have strong faculty in your area of interest. Since you have research experience and a publication, you should be able to identify these faculty by looking at the literature. It can’t hurt to make contact with the professors with whom you might see yourself doing research. </p>

3

<p>I would advise to apply to “safety” schools. Your undergraduate GPA would be concerning to the top programs even though you did show an upward trend in grades. But you should have no problem to Top 30 masters programs and Top 75 PhD programs.</p>

4

Thanks, for your advice. I don’t know if you even remember this post, but I just got news that I got into a top 5 pHD program. I think this may be only because I contacted my research interests per your advice. Thank you

5

Outstanding news, good luck to you in the future!

6

Wow, that is terrific. Best wishes.