<p>I'm graduating this December and beginning my applications for graduate school for fall 2013. I'm focused on finding a graduate program in Structural Engineering, but I'd prefer a program that allows a good amount of interdisciplinary work between aerospace, mechanical, and structural. My career goal is to find myself working in research and development for really cool stuff (i.e. anything from earthquake damping systems to space structures). </p>
<p>My Stats:</p>
<p>School: University of Texas at Arlington (2nd Tier Public)
Major: B.S. Civil Engineering w/ Structural Specialization
Minors: Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering
Overall GPA: 3.77
Math/Sci/Eng GPA: 3.76
Civil GPA: 3.63</p>
<p>Research Work:
Pavement sample testing @ UTArlington - Summer '11 @ 10 hours/week
Seismic testing of full-scale masonry walls @ UTAustin - Fall '11 @ 40 hours/week
Computational Modeling of Hybrid Masonry @ UIllinois - Summer '12 @ 40 hours/week
Potential publications at both UTAustin and UIllinois (nothing definitive yet)</p>
<p>Professional Work:
Project Management internship @ sub-contractor - Spring '11 @ 20 hours/week
Structural Design internship @ mid-size architecture firm - Spring & Fall '12 @ 30 hours/week</p>
<p>Recommendation Letters:
I'll ask the professors that I worked with at UTAustin and UIllinois and the PE I work for at the arch firm. I expect to get great letters from all three. </p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Various officer positions in Chi Epsilon
Member of Tau Beta Pi</p>
<p>Issues with my application:</p>
<p>Issue 1: When I started college I bounced around two different universities and a community college. I had poor grades, and I really didn't care. I didn't get my act together until I started at UTArlington two years after high school. While I understand schools prefer to see an upward trend in grades, I'm concerned they'll view my transfers and poor grades as a lack of focus and commitment.</p>
<p>Issue 2: When I hope to enter graduate school, I'll be 6 years out of high school. I'll be older than a significant number of the applicants, and I think this might affect me negatively.</p>
<p>Issue 3: I've taken two graduate courses in Structural at UTArlington, Intro to FEM and Advanced Mechanics. Both courses were taken online while I was living in Austin and working at the laboratory. I received a B in Adv Mech and a C in FEM. Ultimately, I wasn't prepared for those classes and my grades reflect that. I'm concerned that prospective graduate schools will use those two courses as predictors of my ability, and I don't think that's fair due to the conditions under which I took the courses.</p>
<p>Questions: </p>
<p>Q1: What's the best way to handle Issue 3 above? I can certainly mention the conditions in my personal statement, but is there any other way to communicate this?</p>
<p>Q2: Should I ask a professor from my home institution for a rec letter? I know a couple professors I could ask, but they just don't know me as well as the three individuals already selected. Does it look bad to not include someone from the institution from which you're graduating?</p>
<p>Q3: Does my lack of extracurriculars hurt me? I've read before that they really don't matter, but I don't want to be perceived as all work and no play.</p>
<p>So I invite comments, suggestions, questions, random thoughts, and anything else. Let me know which schools would fit me really well. Let me know which schools you think I should avoid. Let me know if you think I should head in another direction.</p>
<p>I give thanks for any input.</p>