But no relevant research/intern experience. To be fair, I am graduating college early and had one less summer to accomplish these things than typical 4 year grad. I will indicate this but I’m not sure how much admission officers will take heed.
what are my chances at top masters programs in mechanical engineering like Berkeley, Stanfordv(I imagine not Stanford)?
How about not necessarily top 10 but top 25 schools like Virginia/GA Tech??
Also, I have the opportunity to become vice president of a few clubs on campus but this will be my hardest semester coming up so I’m reluctant to make the commitment. Should I accept them to include them on my application? Or do masters admission officers not even care about extracurriculars as much as they did in high school?
Extracurricular a are going to be pretty much irrelevant unless they are directly related to what you wish to study.
Your chances at the very “top” programs are pretty slim, but you will probably get into some top 25 programs just fine. Tough to say exactly with graduate admissions though. I had similar stats but I had research experience.
You don’t need a summer to do research. Instead of being a VP, you need to find a professor to work for this fall. Start with the professor(s) you were going to ask for recommendation letters from for your apps.
Also, since you are not planning on a PhD, consider looking for employers located near great universities and offer education benefits. For example, Boeing sends a bunch of employees to UW Seattle, and not just in aerospace. The departments know these students are funded and it gives them a leg up in admissions.
Grad school admissions is typically handled by the departments, not by a general purpose admissions office. It tends to be more what are your talents in this field, not how well-rounded or enthusiastic about the school you are. Your professors at your current school are probably your best resource in getting names of schools that will be matches for you.
AroundHere: Thank You. Now do employers simply pay for the masters degree and I will not have to teach or do research? or do I work at the company and obtain my masters by night?
Obviously most engineering masters students do not have to pay for anything if they teach or do research, so what would be the situation if a company were to sponsor me? Thank You.
Generally, companies will pay for your degree part-time while you work full-time. No research, no teaching, little free time. Less often, they will give you X hours/months/years to complete the degree, with a contract to then work for then for Y years afterwards. In this latter case, you may do research or teach, depending on personal preference and program expectations. In neither case should you pay for anything.