<p>Well i just received my BA in Physics from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. I would like to go to graduate school for civil/structural or architectural engineering. Im just trying to get an idea of what my chances are of getting into these schools. My cumulative GPA at graduation is only a 3.2 (my junior-senior is higher but im not sure what it is). Hoever i scored a 1250 on the GRE with a 790 in quantitative. That should help me out a little right? Anyways, all the schools I will list im interested in their civil/structural M.Eng or M.S in civil/structural engineering programs. Im opting to avoid the thesis option at whichever school I attend. The only school Im not applying for a civil/structural course of study is Pennstate. Im applying for M.Eng Architectural engineering there. The rest of the schools are listed below...</p>
<p>Lehigh University
University of Deleware
University of Maryland
Drexel University
Carnegie Mellon University
Virginia Tech
Temple University (last resort ha ha)</p>
<p>What do you think of these schools and their programs? And what are my chances of getting into any of them? Also, Im open to suggestions of other schools and am not limiting myself to a certain area of the country considering my undergrad GPA and GRE verbal scores arent the best.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon is very competitive, but you have a decent chance for the others. Research experience would be a plus if you have any. Good luck!</p>
<p>You might be at a slight disadvantage because your undergraduate preperation is not in engineering, so they might expect you to have a higher GPA than the average student that is admitted. On most schools websites, they say that they consider applications from "superior" students who majored in other disciplines.</p>
<p>thanx guys. i dont recall them saying they expect more out of non-engineering students but i understand if they do. guess ill just apply to all of them and hope for the best. is that too many schools to apply to?</p>
<p>Not too many schools. I don't know if they expect more out of a non-engineering major but at the open house for admitted students 2 years ago, there were quite a few science majors.</p>
<p>well do you think my list is too long? im not worried about the application fees, i just want to get in. and i hope 7-8 schools isnt too much for my references. id feel bad if they had to write all those letters.</p>
<p>Definitely not too long. I had applied to 6 schools myself. I <em>think</em> professors tend to write 1 letter and send it to all the schools you're applying to.</p>
<p>yeah i was kind of unsure about that. i figured if they typed it, then obviously they'd just hit <em>print</em> 7 times lol but with the way colleges are i wouldnt be the least bit suprised if they wanted hand written letters.</p>
<p>The professors wouldn't do that to themselves, lol. These professors reading the graduate applications are the same ones who are writing recommendations for their undergrad students. They're not going to give themselves more work.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i wouldnt be the least bit suprised if they wanted hand written letters.
<p>thats a good point, i never realized the same profs write them as read them most of the time. well i emailed 3 of my profs, i hope they get back to me soon. ones on sabaticle in china and one virtually never returns emails or voicemails :/</p>
<p>I am not sure that you really are focused on structural engineering, but if you are, Fritz Lab at Lehigh has no peer at the other schools you listed.</p>
<p>structural engineering IS my top choice however, civil engineering is such a broad field and its not very difficult to branch off into another division if i were to find that i didnt enjoy it. my father was a structural engineer who designed nuclear power plants, but he didnt like it so he switched to designing neighborhoods and office parks. i cant imagine fully knowing whether or not youre going to love the field until you actually get into it. i know i want to be an engineer for sure, and structures have just always facinated me the most. by the way, what do you mean by "Fritz Lab at Lehigh has no peer at the other schools you listed."? are you just talking about there structural testing facilities which are supposed to be the largest in the nation? or are you refering to their academic program? because, according to US News, lehigh isnt actually very high ranking for grad civil engineering programs. of the schools i listed Virginia Tech is the highest, ranking at 10th in the nation.</p>
<p>Civil engineering is an extremely multi-faceted branch of engineering, so broad-based rankings can be misleading regarding specific specialties. A case in point is structural, where Lehighs facilities are vastly better than the other schools on your list. If you visit the schools, you would clearly see this. Here is a link you might want to look at: ATLSS</a> Engineering Research Center</p>
<p>great thanks a lot. so, if i were to get into all the colleges ive listed, how would you personally rank each program's structural branch (like from best to worst)?</p>
<p>yeah, or berkley or standford. i pretty much just applied to schools around me. not really because im trying to stay local just because i know i wont get into the tops schools, and i know these other local ones have master’s civil programs. VT, UMD, and Lehigh are obvious exceptions to the rule.</p>