<p>Has anyone heard about anything from Purdue or UIUC for funding for a masters program in Structures?</p>
<p>bahedou im waiting on berkeley…im really hoping i get in…wat do u think about our chances now?? very low??</p>
<p>according to their website apparently…notifications come in till end of April…I may have to ask them really soon because I have to reply to Stanford by April 15th</p>
<p>For those thinking of taking up unfunded offers: [Calculators</a> - Debt reduction planner](<a href=“http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp]Calculators”>http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp)</p>
<p>Punch in some numbers (interest rate will be 7.9% at best). Also, you probably won’t start paying until after the PhD so multiply the principal amount by 1.079^5. It’s very enlightening since it’s easier to think in terms on repeating payments when the amount is being compounded.</p>
<p>Brahmin I have no clue how our chances are. It definitely does not seem to be too high but you never know. </p>
<p>I have to find out soon as well so I might call them this week. I’ll let you know if I get any important info.</p>
<p>So guys, I applied to eight schools for MS/PhD in Structural Engineering:</p>
<p>UIUC - Accepted, no funding as of yet (emailed the chair since I attended Recruitment Weekend and waiting for an official “No” if there isn’t funding for me, crossing fingers)
Georgia Tech - Accepted, no funding
MIT - rejected
Cornell - Rejected
Lehigh - Accepted, no funding
University of Wisconsin at Madison - waiting reply
Columbia - Rejected
Drexel University - accepted, full funding</p>
<p>So as you see, it’s down to UIUC (if I miraculously get funding), Drexel, or UW-Madison (if they accept me AND give me funding). The professor at Drexel is waiting for my reply and would like to hear from me soon, but I am definitely interested in UIUC!! It seems as if my good-luck this year was just non-existent. In addition, I applied for two outside fellowships, one I didn’t get and the other (NDSEG) I’m still waiting to hear from.</p>
<p>I really want to go to UIUC but I can’t if I am not funded. Columbia, Cornell, MIT, Lehigh, and Georgia Tech are basically no-go’s now. From my understanding, Drexel is not highly regarded, especially in Structural. Drexel was my safety school and now it looks like I may have to go there. The professor that is giving me an offer there is cool and has interesting research, but I learned at UIUC’s Recruitment Weekend that the name of the institution you receive your PhD from is a huge factor in how far you can go (one professor even chuckled when I mentioned I applied to Drexel, and he went there for undergrad!!). The only way I could go to UIUC is if I get the NDSEG fellowship. I called the fellowship people and they said we should hear back in April but since they’re waiting on the DoD it could possibly be after April 15th. However, the percentage of students who receive that fellowship is pretty low.</p>
<p>If I cannot go to UIUC then my next idea would be to attend Drexel (or UW-Madison if I am accepted with funding), stay until I get my Masters and then re-apply to the top schools in Structural again for my PhD. If I get a PhD, I’m definitely getting it from one of the top ten schools, hands down. </p>
<p>What do you all think about my problem??? I need suggestions and comments.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>While the name of the school does have some bearing upon your future career, the world of academia is quite small and you will be judged mostly on the research that you have done. So long as you do good work, it doesn’t really matter where you went.</p>
<p>If you plan on switching schools after getting a masters at Drexel, as you mentioned, make sure you make that intention known. Since they’re funding you, they’re investing money into your future output, and if you leave unexpectedly for another school that can leave a lot of bad feelings that could follow you around for a long time.</p>
<p>@ Brahmin. The UC Berkeley website says that applicants who receive funding will be notified by April 1st. That’s Friday. After that they’ll accept more students apparently until the end of April but without funding.</p>
<p>All of my results are back…</p>
<p>School: Drexel University
Major: MSE (4 Year program, as opposed to the normal 5 years for Drexel Students)
Minor: Mathematics
GPA: 3.89
GRE: 800 Q/560 V/4 W</p>
<p>Research Experience: One summer internship at NAVAIR, two internships with NASA, undergraduate research at Drexel.</p>
<p>Awards/Honors/Recognitions: NASA Aeronautics Scholarship, Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars Program, ASM Liberty Bell Chapter Scholarship. Member of Alpha Sigma Mu. Competed in a math competition in Oregon one year. Also took the Putnam exam. </p>
<p>Pertinent Activities: Worked as a TA for the CS department for 9 months during sophomore year. </p>
<p>Applied to the following MSE Programs:</p>
<p>UVA: Accepted
University of Cambridge: Rejected
UC Santa Barbara: Accepted
Carnegie Mellon: Accepted
Northwestern University: Accepted
Brown University: Accepted
Georgia Tech: Accepted
MIT: Rejected
Drexel University: Accepted
Penn State: Accepted
Caltech: Rejected</p>
<p>Now, to begin the laborious task of determining where to go…</p>
<p>For future applicants:</p>
<p>Undergrad Institution: Poorly known liberal arts school, modestly well known Physics Dept.
Major: Physics
GPA in Major: 3.81
Overall GPA: 3.72
4 Years
Domestic, white, male
GRE Scores: 750V/790Q/4.5W</p>
<p>Three summers at undergraduate institution, one summer intern in research department of a Fortune 500 company, all materials research except for one summer at my undergrad.</p>
<p>One third author publication, another third author in submission
5 total poster presentations, 3 at national/international conferences</p>
<p>Freshman honor society, physics honor society (Sigma Pi Sigma), various minor school scholarships</p>
<h1>Pertinent Activities or Jobs: started and run a weekly help session for introductory physics students</h1>
<p>Applying to Materials Science and Engineering PhD programs:</p>
<p>Northwestern University: Rejected (My top choice)
Stanford University: Rejected
UIUC: Rejected
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor: Accepted
Georgia Tech: Accepted
Penn State: Invited to visit, but still waiting
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: Accepted
RPI: Accepted
UC Davis: Accepted (My safety)
Iowa State University: Accepted (My other safety)</p>
<p>I intend to decline RPI, Davis, Penn State and Iowa State, so my choice is between MN, MI and GaTech. I feel very torn. I want to go into industry after my PhD, and I have a two-body problem. I have visited all three. Any opinions on those three schools?</p>
<p>how is the funding?</p>
<p>All programs that accepted me offered full funding in the form of research assistant positions, although, surprisingly, my back up schools gave me the lowest offers (~20k).</p>
<p>My top choices all offered better (high 20s) stipends, and cost of living seems comparable in those places. I do not think that anyone I met at those programs’ visits had been admitted without funding.</p>
<p>Also, I had heard back from most of the programs by late February. Materials departments generally seem to be quick with decisions. Michigan and Illinois both let me know by early January.</p>
<p>Undergrad Institution: Rose-Hulman, #1 for only undergrad degree in engineering
Major(s): Civil Engineering
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA in Major: 3.92
Overall GPA: 3.76
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Top 10% in major
Type of Student: White male</p>
<p>GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 520
W: 4.5</p>
<p>Research Experience: One summer at University of Pittsburgh, a conference proceeding (1st author out of 4) </p>
<p>Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean’s List 10/11 quarters</p>
<p>Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Student grader, Over-the-phone tutor </p>
<p>Applying to Civil (Structural) Engineering programs at</p>
<p>Pittsburgh [MS] - [ACCEPTED, TA]
Purdue [MS/PhD] - [ACCEPTED]
UIUC [MS/PhD] - [ACCEPTED, INTERNAL FELLOWSHIP, RA]
MIT [MS/PhD] - [REJECTED]</p>
<p>NSF GRFP - [AWARDED, ACCEPTED]</p>
<p>DECISION: UIUC</p>
<p>My SO has finally heard from Rutgers MSE; he is at the top of the waitlist, so please if you’re not planning to attend, tell them!</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Also got Cornell and NSF GRFP. Choosing Stanford EE. My final tally:</p>
<p>Accepted:
- Stanford EE (1-year fellowship)
- Illinois ECE (3-year fellowship/RA combo)
- Cornell - ECE - (1-semester fellowship & RA/TA guarantees)
- Northwestern MatSci (1-year fellowship)
- NSF GRFP</p>
<p>Waitlisted:
- MIT EECS (withdrawing)</p>
<p>Rejected:
- Berkeley EECS</p>
<p>Undergrad Institution: UC school
Major(s): chemical engineering
GPA in Major: 3.68
Overall GPA: 3.45</p>
<p>GRE Scores:
Q: 780
V: 560
W: 4.0</p>
<p>Research Experience: 4 years
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 internships</p>
<p>Applied chemical engineering PhD</p>
<p>UCLA
UCI
USC
UCSD
Columbia
UPenn
Stanford
Berkeley</p>
<p>Applied material science PhD</p>
<p>Northwestern</p>
<p>Accepted: UCI PhD full funding, Columbia Phd full funding, UPenn MS no funding, UCSD MS no funding</p>
<p>Rejected: Northwestern, Stanford, Berkeley
Ignored: UCLA, USC</p>
<p>I don’t know who UCSD, UCLA, USC think they are.</p>
<p>D has not yet heard from 3 of her Grad School applications … The only one still in consideration is MIT.</p>
<p>Has anyone else NOT heard anything from MIT Graduate Civil Engineering, Structural Dept.?</p>
<p>Being this close to April 15, I think it’s safe to say she’s been put on the waitlist. After April 15 MIT will know roughly how many they will need to admit off the waitlist, so odds are she will hear back some time next week or slightly later, depending on where she is on the list and how many students short MIT is.</p>
<p>My stats can be found earlier in this thread but I just wanted to give the final tally:</p>
<p>Accepted:
Caltech (attending)
UMichigan
UPenn
Northwestern
UDelaware
Carnegie Mellon</p>
<p>Rejected:
MIT
Berkeley
UCSB
Cornell</p>
<p>All the schools that accepted me gave me fellowships.</p>
<p>Major: ECE
Undergrad Institution: Ohio State University
GPA in Major: 3.93
Overall GPA: 3.93
Position in Class: top 5%?
Type of Student: Domestic Asian</p>
<p>GRE Scores:
Q: 800
V: 670
W: 4
Research Experience: 1 year research in ElectroScience Lab on Multi input Multi output radar system.
However, no publications.</p>
<p>Awards/Honors/Recognitions: none really
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internships at GE-aviation (3 months) GE-Energy(3 months) Texas Instruments (3 months)</p>
<p>LORS: 1 LOR from my lab advisor, two from ECE professors.</p>
<p>Applying for MASTER or PHD in ECE at: </p>
<p>MIT(rejected)
Stanford(accepted)
Texas(accepted)
cal tech(rejected)
Michigan(accepted)
Georgia Tech(accepted with full funding(RA or TA) 1/31)
UCLA(accepted)
UC Berk(rejected)
Cornell(accepted) </p>
<p>Going to Stanford in Fall</p>
<p>Undergrad Institution: Some British Uni
Major(s): Physics
Overall GPA: First
Length of Degree: 3
Position in Class: Dunno, upper 20%?
Type of Student: Asian american</p>
<p>GRE Scores:
Q: 770
V: 700
W: 4.0</p>
<p>Research Experience: 1 semester in optoelectronics. No publications</p>
<p>Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some lame department award</p>
<p>Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Internship at some uni near home</p>
<p>Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Did some outreach activities??</p>
<p>Applying for MS in EE at: </p>
<p>Stanford (rejected)
USC (accepted)
UCLA (accepted)
Texas (rejected)</p>
<p>Going to: Dunno</p>