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Thinking of Applying to Engineering Graduate School?
Some responses by Professor Dwight Jaggard from the School of Engineering to questions from undergraduates at a fall 2002 workshop on graduate school Who pays and why M.S. or Ph.D.? It varies according to type of degree. Typically universities don't pay for masters students - that bill is either financed by the company you work for or by you yourself. By the way, if you submatriculate in the School of Engineering, you will be getting a great deal. If you have a 3.5 or above you will be admitted into the graduate school and the submatriculation program. You won't need to take the GRE. (To get into a regular master program you would need a 3.2 or above with supporting information.) If you are submatriculated, you may double-count three 500-level courses for both graduate and undergraduate degrees. You will also be able to use 500-level courses and up, towards your master of science degree if these are "extra" courses --- that is, courses not used toward your undergraduate degree. If you plan carefully, it is possible to graduate at the end of your fourth year, or one semester beyond, with both a B.S. and an M.S. Typically masters programs are for individuals who want to develop a slightly deeper level of expertise in the field, or who are trying to figure out whether they are interested in research. One note of caution, if you apply for a masters at a certain program, it will often be quite difficult to get into the school's Ph.D. program. Admittance to Ph.D. programs often requires a G.P.A. of 3.6 or 3.7 and up. Ph.D. programs are only for individuals who are really dedicated to serious research. You shouldn't even be thinking about a Ph.D. unless you absolutely want it and don't want to consider other options. So, a Ph.D. degree is for those who "can't not have it." A Ph.D. degree should be financed by the school that you attend. If you are deciding between programs, don't choose a school that doesn't give you money (these days the amount should be roughly $20,000 in living stipend plus tuition.) If you don't get money from a program then you are not their first-tier candidate. By the way, the cost to a university to educate a doctoral student in engineering for five years is roughly $250,000. Can you describe the application process? A successful application for a masters program depends upon transcript, reasonable G.P.A. and consistent letters of recommendation. GREs are required by some, but not all masters programs. When you contact a faculty member to write a letter for you, use the following phrasing: "Do you feel comfortable writing a letter of recommendation for me?" Nothing is worse than a neutral or unflattering letter, so you must be sure that you give your potential recommender a way out if s/he does not want to write it. Another thing to know is that if there is anything that will prevent an application from being considered seriously at some schools, it is a letter of recommendation that is late. Thus, be sure to follow up your request for a letter with asking permission to the professor to contact him after a certain period of time: "Would you mind if I contact you after a certain period of time as a reminder?" In order to get strong letters of recommendations you need two things: to have performed well in someone's class or lab; and to cultivate a relationship with that person. Make appointments with faculty and discuss your research or class work. Talk to them about schools to which to apply if you are considering graduate school. When you are requesting letters of recommendation, provide your recommender with a packet including your transcript, c.v. or resume, and a draft of your personal statement. (Another section of the application is your statement of purpose. In your essay, you should be able to articulate clearly what you bring to a graduate program, why you are applying to that program and how the training it provides you will enable you to achieve your goals. Michele Taillon Taylor) For Ph.D. programs, research will set you apart and make you a better candidate when you apply, but it is not fatal if you have not done any. (It is important to have clear ideas about the areas in which you want to do research, and that these follow logically from coursework, projects, internships, etc. You should be able to articulate these clearly to the admissions committee. Michele Taillon Taylor) When are the deadlines for graduate school? Applications are due from December 1 through February 15 for most schools. Be sure to line up your letters of recommendation well in advance and gently remind your recommenders about their letters until you are assured that they are sent... How does a higher degree help you with the job market? A masters degree typically enables you to get a job with a higher salary. It often allows you to go beyond entry-level pay and to have more control over what you do. In business, the master's confers the greatest advantage. The Ph.D. is not always an advantage in industry, because it is a research-intensive degree. Some companies prefer to hire individuals with a masters over Ph.D.s. The skills you gain with a Ph.D. are very specialized. They allow you to be creative and you certainly don't want to be in an environment in which your research is not supported. It is important to ask yourself what kind of environment you want to work in when you are finished with your graduate work. (If you want to be involved more exclusively in research, then a Ph.D. would be more desirable.) Ph.D.s can find work in industry labs, such as Bell Labs; at government labs, such as the NRL and JPL; and, of course, in academia. What kinds of graduate engineering degrees are there? There are numerous degrees that one can obtain in the field: The Master of Engineering, is also known as the professional master's degree. (It can usually be completed in just one year instead of two, unlike the research-driven Ph.D.-oriented, Master of Science degree. The Master of Engineering often includes on-the-job internships with companies who may hire students when they graduate. Some schools offer students preparation for technical managerial positions with a combined ME/MBA degree. Michele Taillon Taylor) The Doctor of Engineering is typically given to someone who has completed everything but his or her thesis. However, for some schools the Doctor of Engineering is equivalent to the Ph.D. So check this out in advance. A Doctor of Science often means an applied science/ practice oriented degree. The Ph.D. is the research-oriented degree. Does it matter where you get your Ph.D.? If you are talking about a master's degree, the school means less, especially at the one-year programs. For Ph.D. programs, the prestige of the program is important since academia is snobbish. However, the prestige of your faculty advisor can trump a program with a modest reputation. When is the best time to apply to a Ph.D. program? Most of the fellowship money is given out for the fall semester for the Ph.D. cycle, so typically you want to enter in the fall. However, occasionally, if you are applying to a group that gets grant money for the spring term, you may be attractive to the program applying for spring semester. What is important for potential Ph.D. students to know about? Ph.D. students MUST visit schools before they commit to programs. If you have done your homework (about the faculty you would work with), by the time you are accepted you will be choosing between two or three faculty members that you will want to work with. The worst thing for a potential graduate student is when you have only one person in a department in your area to work with, that person turns out to be a bad match and there is no one else in the program who could advise you…. What programs allow applications from BAS students? Most (although you cannot submatriculate at Penn.) Dr. Jaggard asks: "if you are going to get an MS. Degree, why BAS?" What is important for getting into graduate programs? GRE - look at the school's requirements. The personal statement is not as important for application to a masters program as it is for the Ph.D. - but recommendations are very important, as is your transcript. For a master's degree, recommendations will trump the rest of the application. But there must be consistency between the recommendations and the transcript in a candidate's application. How do you get into a Ph.D. program with a master's? A master's degree in a program in not an automatic pass into a Ph.D. program. Often you are expected to apply to other programs, or you can only get in if you have a 3.6 or 3.7 and above. It depends upon your research, and the graduate group to which you are applying. What are the steps to completing a Ph.D. and a Master degree? Successful completion of Ph.D. preliminary exams; qualifying exams; and the design, execution and defense of a thesis. For a master degree it will typically depend upon the quality of your coursework. Most schools do not require a master's degree thesis but do check this out in advance. A master's degree thesis can be very challenging and a great learning experience but will almost always take longer than a course-work only master's degree.
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