Transfer to Ga Tech Engineering School

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
1

Hello! I am currently a physics and chemistry double major math minor at James Madison University. I love JMU, it’s a place that I definitely call home however I really wish to study material science/engineering, which JMU does not offer, so I am looking at transferring to Georgia Tech for the fall semester of 2016. I am nervous out of my mind as to whether or not I have what it takes to make, could someone please help me out and let me know what my chances are??

My Information:
Current GPA: 3.836 after 3 semesters
Current Major: physics and chemistry double major
Current Minor: math
SAT scores:
–Math: 750
–Writing: 650
–Reading: 630
SAT subject tests:
–Math 2: 790
–Physics: 800
–Chemistry: 800
High School GPA: ~3.5

Extra Curricular:
Eagle Scout
Held various leadership roles in my boy scout troop
Attended/Ran various leadership camps/programs
Founding member and officer of a Venture crew
300+ volunteer hours at a variety of places
Member of NSCS
Did research in thin films over the past summer and semester and attended the Materials Research Society Conference at which I presented two posters. I also have 4 conference papers published on the research that I conducted.
For the Spring semester of 2016 I am studying abroad at Oxford University where I will be studying materials science and possibly programming.
I was a first year orientation guide for JMU’s freshman orientation week
In high school I started our school’s chess club as well as served as an officer in said club and additionally in the Latin club

2

GT is a strong materials science program. You should pick four programs and apply to all four instead of focusing on just one. Look at Clemson U, and U of Florida as well for Materials science. If you are willing to go to the midwest apply to Purdue University in Indiana too . Purdue is close to GT in rank, and may be slightly easier for admission, but check if they take transfer students. Materials Science is a broad field, you will need to decide if you want to study metals, ceramics, composite materials, or polymers. Polymers may have the most jobs lately. Semiconductors is still a strong job market, if you have interested in EE and Materials Science. If you are most interested in polymers (organic chemistry should interest you). Then: U Massachusetts Amherst is very strong in polymer science as is Case Western Reserve U. Case offers Macromolecular sciences, as well as polymer sciences. The tire industry in Ohio hires a lot of CWRU grads. If you are more interested in the physics of materials then any other program including U Mass and CWRU are outstanding.

3

@Coloradomama Thank you very much! That was immensely helpful and really broadened the list of schools I was looking into! I am not quite sure what field exactly I would like to go into at the moment, currently I am leaning towards semiconductors or polymers, however ceramics also sounds interesting, however not quite as applicable as the other two, which I think you were also saying. In addition to Ga Tech I was looking at Rice, University of Virginia, and Penn state (do you have any input for any of those schools), however after looking over Clemson, Flordia, and Purdue they too strike a lot of interest in me and I will looking into them further and possibly apply to them as well!

4

Rice has a very high rank for many engineering majors, top program in chemistry too, and very strong math offerings. I am not as familiar with their materials science faculty as to what they focus on, but you can look that up. The Houston location near both NASA and major cancer research centers in Houston may be very helpful for some majors NASA hires a lot of materials scientists at all their locations, everything from ceramic tiles for heat shielding, to metal parts of spacecraft to plastics.

If you are interested in biomaterials,for instance, Rice may be very good if they have a joint program with Anderson or other hospitals in Houston. Rice is also well rounded with outstanding humanities and social sciences. Rice is fantastic for the size and individual attention you will get, but will cost considerably more to attend a private college of that small size. Admissions depends on showing interest for freshman, I would expect that transfers would need to show interest by visiting if possible, but ask if thats a criteria.

I also like UVA and know a few outstanding faculty there, one in ceramics. UVA is great if you want to have access to top notch English and history courses, as its so strong in English as well as good in Engineering. Physics is also strong, thats always good in case you find you don’t want to do materials science after all.

Penn State, I am less familiar. the location may not be ideal for summer jobs but its a very large school so should have a good placement office, but again, I am not familiar with that part of Penn or Penn State. Pittsburgh is drawing a lot of high tech firms due to CMU and U of Pittsburgh and thats not far from Penn State.

Just don’t limit yourself to GT. While GT is located in one of the best high tech cities in the USA, Atlanta, and offers some of the most innovative learning environments, a great campus and some of the best placement for an engineering college, its not your only option and may not even be your best option.

If you are looking at private colleges, MIT and Cornell have two of the broadest and strongest Materials science programs. On the west coast, Stanford and Berkeley come to mind, with UC Santa Barbara has some very good metallurgists and good microscopists, as well as super strong in physics. Try to learn more about biomaterials, composite materials (those are combinations of say a ceramic and a metal ) and semiconductors and that may help you once you transfer to find a research project of interest to you. Apply to several programs including some state options that may be easier for admissions. You can always do your masters degree at GT if you do not get accepted for a transfer.

5

Also look at RPI.

6

I’m a current MSE student at GT and I’ve interned with MSE Students mainly from Penn State and RPI! They definitely have strong MSE programs. I’d also recommend Rutgers for MSE. Alfred University is in rural upstate NY and they’re primarily known for their materials program - if you aren’t 100% sure MSE is what you want I would stay away from Alfred. I’m not sure how hard they are to get into, but they have good industry relations as well.

Good luck!