PhD in Structural Engineering, seeking suggestions (plz help)

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi, this is my first post on CC, I was so frustrated so I decided to look for suggestions here... so here is my situation,I am an international student, I graduated from a local university in the UAE with BS in civil and environmental engineering, with a GPA of 3.22... Even though the University is not one of the biggest around, it is ABET accredited... then I enrolled in a graduate program in the UK, University of Manchester, and graduated with an MSc in Structural engineering (taught program) with a merit class (61.1%)...</p>

<p>At that point, I realized that even though the education system in the UK is not too bad, it is still not comparable to the US system... so I decided that if I am going to spend the next five years doing research, I would rather do it in the US, and I started looking for a PhD program in structural engineering at top Universities, only to find myself in shock at how competitive it is to get admitted... :-O</p>

<p>My top choices are: UC Berkeley, Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Penn State and Purdue University...
To be realistic and to count the things that are going against me... My GPA is awful and it is too low compared to other applicants, I reckon people that are getting offers from Berkeley this year have an average GPA of 3.7 and above, and I do not have research experience, the MS program I did was 1 year and was more focused on graduate courses.
so the option I am considering for the next admission cycle, is that if I apply for MS/PhD program at one of these Universities, and I use my graduate degree as a compensation for my low GPA, with good GRE (325+) and toefl scores (100+), and couple of years of working experience, I will be able to do another MS in one of these Unis, and I will work on a thesis, which will enhance my chance of getting accepted for PhD.</p>

<p>I know it's a long shot, but when I was an undergrad student, the idea of going to grad school never crossed my mind, and I find it really disappointing to never get the chance of going to your dream school and achieve your academic ambitions just because you were not interested in your early years in college...</p>

<p>I am not sure if anyone has been through the same experience, or if my situation is quite unique, I would really like to get some suggestions.. does the idea of doing another MSc enhance my chances of getting into PhD sound insane? and will I get accepted, or will I get a straight rejection?
I do not mind funding my MS and even the first year of PhD if it is going to be an issue for the admission folks...
Thanks :)>-</p>

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<p>You will certainly find that the admission criteria for a M.S. are not as stringent as for a Ph.D. If you are willing to self-fund the M.S. then you do have a chance of getting into one of your target schools, however, you will still be competing against many fine applicants.</p>

<p>I would suggest that you identify some other universities which have a strong program in the research area of your interest. Good research is being done at lots of universities and restricting yourself to only the highly selective ones will unnecessarily lower your chances to get into a Ph.D. program. By all means apply to your dream schools but also hedge your bets by picking a couple that you would not mind attending and which have a higher chance of admitting you.</p>

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<p>Hi xraymancs, I appreciate your suggestion.</p>

<p>What you wrote is convincing, and I am happy that you did not rule out the possibility of getting accepted by one of these 4 programs, and what you posted is exactly what I am going to do for next year admission cycle, I will apply to the same 4 programs with additional 2 that have a better possibility of giving me an offer.</p>

<p>But I still have a doubt, there are Universities that do not admit students who are going for another BS degree even if it is a totally different discipline (or at least that is what I heard about Stanford).
How is this relative to my situation? Have you heard of anyone who has done two MS in two different Universities on the same topic? Should I consider submitting my graduate transcript for MS/PhD admission as a supporting material or is this going to work against me?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>Since your MS is a coursework only degree which is only one year long, there is a reasonable possibility that you would be accepted for another MS. You must submit all of your transcripts with your application. If you don’t the university might well rescind your admission if they find out. There is nothing to be gained by hiding part of your education.</p>

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<p>you have been of great help… Thank you very much</p>