<p>I have a BS in Math and Physics with a GPA of 4.0. I want to pursue my Masters and PhD in Nuclear Engineering at MIT. I have great extra curriculars in terms of civic engagement and my interst in Music. I have also worked as a Physics Lab assistant and Calculus tutor for the last 2 years. GRE: MATH 800, Verbal: 700. I will also have exceptional recommendations.</p>
<p>However, I have no research experience at all. The school that I am at does not have any research opportunities at all. None whatsoever....</p>
<p>Is this going to hurt my application for MIT? Do they even consider applications with no research experience for graduate engineering programs? Any help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>You have excellent stats. Where did you go for undergrad?</p>
<p>Have any work/experiences related to Nuclear Engineering?</p>
<p>You have excellent stats... good recommendation letters would really help your chances. Congrats on the 4.0 BTW.</p>
<p>Are you applying for Fall 2009 and what's your undergrad school? Your chances would probably increase if you try and start doing some research under a Professor this semester.</p>
<p>I go to a small private school in Springfield, Illinois which is supposed to be a school big on civic engagement. Hence I have outstanding civic engagement extracurriculars. </p>
<p>But we have only one Physics professor and there is no research opportunities at all in any field here.</p>
<p>Also, I have no research experiences related to nuclear engineering.</p>
<p>All I will be doing this upcoming semester is independent study on Mathematical-Physics for Scientists and Engineers and Computational Methods for Neutron Transport for 2 credits each.</p>
<p>This summer I worked on Advance Calculus Summer Reasearch (nothing to do with Nuclear Engineering) with my Math professor and he has claimed that my research work is like a Master's level thesis (which I am sure he will mention in his recommendations). </p>
<p>What do you all say?</p>
<p>Any type of real "research" is always good in my opinion. I think you are doing all that you can. Write a kick-@ss SOP and cross your fingers.</p>
<p>What other schools are you considering? I know rankings can be skeptical, but these were the graduate rankings for nuclear engineering:</p>
<ol>
<li>Univ. Mich. - Ann Arbor</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Univ. of Wisc. - Madison</li>
<li>Texas A&M</li>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>Univ. of Cal. - Berkeley</li>
<li>North Carolina State Univ.</li>
<li>Oregon State Univ.</li>
<li>Georgia Inst. Tech.</li>
<li>Univ. of Florida</li>
</ol>
<p>Also, are you planning to apply for a phD program? I would think that you would have a much greater chance if you apply for masters since it will give you a feel for what nuclear engineering is like.... Unless you know exactly your field of interest and who you would like to research under at MIT. (Just an opinion...)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hence I have outstanding civic engagement extracurriculars.
[/quote]
These will not be useful to you in your application, unfortunately -- most grad school applications don't have a space for non-major-related extracurriculars.</p>
<p>
[quote]
All I will be doing this upcoming semester is independent study on Mathematical-Physics for Scientists and Engineers and Computational Methods for Neutron Transport for 2 credits each
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I took a few Nuclear Engineering courses for fun--looks like you'll learn MCNPx, Origen or Fluka. Good stuff!</p>
<p>Anyway, you'll get accepted to MIT/any nuclear engineering school. I had a friend with a 3.9 in ME and he got into all nuclear engineeering schools. I used to be heavily involved in Nuclear Eng, but I think you should really give Wisconsin/Berkley a hard look. I say that because at a few conferences/seminars I attended, professors insinuated that these were some of the up and coming programs.</p>
<p>Research experience is more important for PhD admissions than for master's admissions. You could go for a master's first and gain research experience that way (e.g. through an RAship, through a thesis) and then go for the PhD.</p>
<p>tahncol86: I am considering pretty much all the schools that you mentioned. I will be applying to 10-12 schools to make sure I get in somewhere.</p>
<p>I definitely want to do a PhD in nuclear engineering. However, for most of the Nuclear Engineering schools, you have to apply to the masters program first and then only you can apply for PhD. For example, I'd have to apply to the Masters program at MIT. I don't think I could apply to their PhD program directly. It is not like Univ of Michigan where they have a MS enroute to PhD program and you directly apply to the PhD program.</p>
<p>molliebatmit: I am sad to hear that they don't have space for non-major related extracurriculars. Since I go to a liberal arts schools which is one of the colleges named as "College with conscience", my entire educational background and experiences have been shaped by civic engagement. I have been putting in more than 10 hours a week for the last 3 years in community service/civic engagement events. I believe that nothing shrivels the meaining of human life like the ignorance of great opportunities for the care of underpriviledged. I am sure I could include that in my personal statement???</p>
<p>nshah9617: Wisconsin and Berkeley are both in my list of schools. I will definitely give all the 10-12 schools that I apply a hard look. And yes I am looking forward to learning some good stuff this semester.</p>
<p>jessiehl: For most of the schools, (besides Univ of Michigan) I will be applying to the masters program. I hope you are correct in asserting that "Research experience is more important for PhD admissions than for master's admissions" since I have no research experiences at all.</p>
<p>Thank you all for being so helpful. Please do give me any suggestions/advice you all have. It is great to hear from you all.</p>
<p>Nuclear, </p>
<p>Try getting involves with ANS or going after your RO license. Also, look at doing work at Oak Ridge or Los Alamos national labs.</p>
<p>Finally, since you are a nuclear engineer from Springfield...your name isn't Homer Simpson by any chance, is it? ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have been putting in more than 10 hours a week for the last 3 years in community service/civic engagement events. I believe that nothing shrivels the meaining of human life like the ignorance of great opportunities for the care of underpriviledged. I am sure I could include that in my personal statement???
[/quote]
It's a great thing, but it's not going to help you get into graduate school. Graduate schools are not looking for well-rounded human beings; they are looking for excellent future scholars in a particular discipline.</p>
<p>I would not include this information in your personal statement. You can continue to be devoted to civic causes as a graduate student, but this is not part of your academic and professional development as an engineer, so it's irrelevant for applications.</p>
<p>Wow, your stats are amazing!</p>
<p>There are some other excellent nuclear programs out there as well.. they certainly give MIT a run for the money. I found a good summary of them here:</p>
<p>Nuclear</a> Science and Engineering Programs | Top Graduate schools, Master's degrees, and PhD programs - TopGradPrograms.com</p>
<p>The site above doesn't seem to have many schools on the list. I suggest you to go to the department website and browse through different research projects and professors.</p>
<p>I was thinking that I had no chance of getting accepted to MIT since I do not have any research experiences. </p>
<p>But you guys gave me a hope. I really really hope that I get into MIT. </p>
<p>Does anyone know how many applications they receive for the Graduate Nuclear Engineering program and what is the acceptance rate?</p>
<p>I know MIT's Materials Science program tends to put almost no weight on research experience for admission into their grad school. From the people I know that were accepted there (and not accepted there), it seems to be almost an entirely numbers game. Maybe you'll get lucky and their Nuclear Engineering department is the same.</p>