Stanford/MIT Graduate School (Engineering) Advice

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello everyone! I am a long time reader but first time poster. I would like your advice on whether you think it would be possible for me to attend Stanford or MIT graduate school with my credentials.</p>

<p>For a long time I've been trying to decide whether to attend grad school or move directly into the industry for the last couple of years. After talking with many professors, advisers and mentors in industry, I've decided to pursue a graduate degree. </p>

<p>Stanford and MIT are the golden standard for electrical engineers and would be my first choice in a grad school. Stanford and MIT both have world class facilities and faculty which is why I would give my left arm to work with people of such caliber. I'm not in it for the name-dropping.</p>

<p>So a little about me:</p>

<p>I am currently a Senior in Electrical Engineering at a VERY large public university (One of the Top 3 by enrollment). I currently have 2 semesters left before graduation. I have a 4.0/4.0 GPA and am pretty confident to keep that upon graduation.</p>

<p>I want to enter a MEMS research technology PhD program, which Stanford offers. To prepare myself for this, I've spent all of my technical electives on graduate classes incorporating Semiconductor Physics, Fabrication, Design and Materials. So, I'll have 5 semiconductor classes after graduation with several fabrication and design labs.</p>

<p>I've been fortunate enough to have had 3 summer internship opportunities and one Co-Op position. I've worked for NASA, Lockheed Martin and a spacecraft design company. All positions were in Electrical Engineering (Programming, Circuit Analysis and Electromagnetic Design) but not necessarily dealing with semiconductor technology. It wasn't until recently that I decided to pursue semiconductors, so in the past I tried to get a wider view of the Electrical Engineering field.</p>

<p>I have recommendation letters from:
The head of the Electrical Engineering Graduate Program
A semiconductor fabrication professor I've had several classes and labs with
My Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Coordinator</p>

<p>The thing I am worried about is I don't have much research experience. I always figured I would go into industry directly after graduating so I focused on getting my internships and Co-Ops. However I recently decided I want to attend graduate school and am going to pursue that goal whether it is with Stanford, MIT or another college.</p>

<p>I still have a year left, so I could always get a semiconductor research position over next summer with a professor here. Although I already have an offer from Texas Instruments in semiconductor design over the summer, so I don't know which would be better (Guessing the research position?).</p>

<p>Any advice on how to spend my last year before graduating and on whether I stand a chance at Stanford or MIT admissions without stellar amounts of research?</p>

<p>*As a side note, I have no way of paying for grad school out of pocket. I managed to keep out of debt in my Undergraduate degree by paying for tuition and books from money I earned during my summer internships. So for graduate school I would need loans, a fellowship or a Teaching/Research assistanceship. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>P.S. (Sorry about the wall of text!)</p>

2

<p>Any school worth your time will give you a full stipend to cover living expenses and then a little.</p>

<p>Try to pick up some research experience during the school year.</p>

<p>Don’t necessarily look at MIT or Stanford because they “the gold standard.” Find specific labs within a bunch of schools you’d be interested in working in. Remember, you’re really applying to them and not to the school attached to it. Also, don’t get too caught up in the title of your degree. The majority of your time will be spent working as a researcher in a lab, and there’s a chance you’ll be working side by side with people from other departments, but will still have the same job opportunities when you finish.</p>

3

<p>I echo the suggestions given above. Don’t focus your attention solely on MIT and Stanford. These schools, and others like them, have a lot of applicants and are very selective. You could get in but you might not and that is no comment on the quality of your resume and preparation. Make sure you apply to schools who have researchers in the field you want to pursue. More than the university name on the diploma, it is your Ph.D. Advisor which will determine your job prospects after you graduate.</p>