<p>Hi everyone, </p>
<p>To give a little background about myself, I am a rising junior mechanical engineering major at UCONN and have thought about transferring ever since entering UCONN. My career goal is to end up on the business side of engineering and as a result I do plan on going pursuing an MBA degree from a top-tier university like Columbia. I have also debated whether or not it would be necessary and or helpful to get a masters in mechanical engineering. If so, I have also considered completing such a masters at a school like Columbia, which would place me in a better position to get accepted to their MBA program. </p>
<p>Anyways, I recently was accepted to USC's mechanical engineering program as a transfer student and am very conflicted on whether or not I would like to transfer. Obviously USC does have a better engineering program, but would this truly matter if I end up pursuing a masters in mechanical engineering. Would continuing at UCONN and graduating with a 3.6+ gpa make me a contender for top-tier engineering grad schools just as graduating from USC would? Putting all social aspects aside, another fear of mine of transferring is that I would have to start from scratch and develop new relations with professors. I realize that graduate schools place an emphasis on research and internship positions and being at UCONN I have already developed great relations with teachers. Just as an example, my thermo professor this past semester asked me to take a grad level nano thermal course with him this upcoming year. Because of our good relationship, I also plan on asking to become an undergraduate research assistant of him. </p>
<p>Any help and or input would truly be appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Have you asked your profs at UCONN where their students go for grad school? If you haven’t, well do that. UCONN is a perfectly fine institution, and your GPA is very good for an engineering major. It looks like you are doing well there.</p>
<p>The good MBA programs expect a bare minimum of two years of work experience with increasing responsibility - they prefer more years of work than that. The other criteria include GMAT scores, undergrad GPA, and letters of recommendation from undergraduate instructors and from professional colleagues. The name of the place that you graduate from barely matters at all.</p>
<p>I have not asked my professors about that but will do so soon. My plan is to complete my masters in mechanical right after graduating. For this I would like to attend a top tier school. I would however be willing to go to a university like Columbia that does not necessarily have a top 10 engineering program but does have an excellent MBA program that I could apply to after working for some years. Do you know what is most heavily looked at by graduate schools? Also, compared to undergrad, I have heard that graduate engineering programs are easier to get into. Is this necessarily true? </p>
<p>Speak with your professors about going straight into an MS Eng. They will have ideas for you. </p>
<p>Unless you are applying to a joint MS Eng/MBA program, admission to the MS Eng and eventually to an MBA program are completely separate. It won’t be easier to get into the MBA at Columbia (for example) just because you completed an MS Eng there several years before.</p>
<p>Grad school admission is based on overall undergrad GPA, GPA in subjects pertinent to the intended graduate studies field, GRE (or other career-specific exams), letters of recommendation, related work/research/internship experience and publications, and your statement of purpose.</p>