Work Experience & MS - Help!! :(

Graduate School
1

<p>I did my Edexcel BTEC National Diploma (Level 3) (Equivalent to 3 A levels). Joined a Scottish University and completed BE (Hons) Mechanical Engineering. I graduated with a 2:1 (Second-Upper Class) degree classification (PS: No idea as to how much GPA that translates to, perhaps if anyone has any idea?)</p>

<p>Returned to my home country as I was not able to find a job in Scotland due to work visa permit limitations. Here at my home country I have been searching for a job for almost half a year now.</p>

<p>I have few offers on the table. But that's where the problem is! All of them are for the position of a 'Sales Engineer' as there isn't much of an industry in terms of 'Designing' or 'Manufacturing' here. Its mostly a trading industry which is why most fresh graduate students from universities here get positions of Sales Engineer.</p>

<p>I want to pursue my MS in Mechatronics or Automobile Engineering from the US. I already am preparing for giving my GRE. However due to finance & salaries provided here, I am sure I would have to work for approximately 2 years at least before having the money to pursue a masters degree in the US.</p>

<p>My base GRE score is 315 (q- 165 v- 150). If I manage to get a good GRE score after my prep and If I work in the industry as a Sales Engineer for 2-3 years and then apply for MS to schools in the US, how much will my job role & the work experience have an affect on my admissions when my profile is being reviewed?</p>

<p>The career counselor at the training center I am preparing for GRE has suggested me to give a GMAT test too after my GRE and try to get a good score as an added incentive.</p>

<p>Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>So it sounds like you want to go to grad school. I faced what you faced after undergrad, a few offers but not very design oriented. That’s where grad school helps. But getting a couple years of work experience before returning to grad school wouldn’t hurt either. That’s where I’m personally at, working but with intention to take the GRE and return back to school. You mentioned your GRE score is 315, that’s a very good score, you shouldn’t have trouble getting into grad school if your GPA is up to snuff. Do what you can do financially. For admissions, your work experience doesn’t play much role. They look more at research experience, academics, and test scores along with your letters of recommendation. Hope that helps.</p>

3

<p>In the UK system of education, I have a second-upper class(2:1) degree classification. The UK universities do not use the GPA system. However, while there is no standard conversion, from what I could gather it is ~3.0-3.4 GPA. </p>

<p>It also varies university to university and how they convert it to how much GPA I have. But again in the end I am worried about the Work Experience part as I do not have much choice with me on finding the ‘right’ kind of design oriented jobs. And yes, the sales engineer is only because I want to gather the finance to fund my MS.</p>