MSnoPhd

Are you doing a thesis? If not, UCLA's masters in ME is very doable in a year(3 quarters) if you're diligent, and four quarters should be a good amount of time to finish 9 courses without it being too stressful.

Thanks for the advice! I definitely agree with following my interests. I'm actually interested in both controls and fluids! Since I'm interested in both has made choosing 1, if I end up needing to, a little bit harder. I know there are jobs that will apply fluids or controls to the industry, but its hard to figure out how many jobs. It seems to me like control engineers are in much higher demand and perhaps the only people looking for experts in fluids are out of the norm and the ones trying to achieve especially precise analyses. I'm curious if that is true in these industries, but even for engineering jobs in general. Are control engineers more sought after than "flow specialists?" Maybe one is less sought after and hence you need a Phd to be sought after in one of the fields as a specialist but a masters is good enough for the other? Thanks!

Hey all, So I posted this in another sub forum but noticed this one is much more active. I'm going to be an incoming Mechanical Engineering master's student in the Fall interested in energy(sustainable design, efficiency improvement, renewable energy integration, smart grid) and biomedical devices. I think I will have a chance to take a few graduate courses in both dynamics/control and fluids, but just in case I have to choose one(conflicting classes, desire to be a master of one of these fields instead of just good at both), I was wondering if I could get advice on which would provide me with better job prospects in these fields, and maybe which subsets to take courses on(ie nonlinear control, compressible flow). Thank you for the advice!

Hi all, I'll be an incoming MechE grad student in the Fall at UCLA after doing my undergrad at Cal. As I plan out my time at UCLA and decide how I should balance my courseload, I was wondering if anyone has any comments on the relative difficulty of Cal's upper division engineering courses to UCLA's. I'll be taking both upper division and graduate MAE courses while at UCLA, so any comparison of Cal upper division courses to UCLA upper division or grad courses would be nice. I've taken four upper division ME courses in a semester before while at Cal and was able to handle it pretty well, I think, I am specifically interested in fluids and dynamics/control, so if anyone has any insight on those that would be great. And as of now I am only planning on taking courses, and not planning to be doing any research. Thanks for the advice!

Hey all, I'm going to be an incoming Mechanical Engineering master's student in the Fall interested in energy(sustainable design, efficiency improvement, renewable energy integration, smart grid) and biomedical devices. I think I will have a chance to take a few graduate courses in both dynamics/control and fluids, but just in case I have to choose one(conflicting classes, desire to be a master of one of these fields instead of just good at both), I was wondering if I could get advice on which would provide me with better job prospects in these fields, and maybe which subsets to take courses on(ie nonlinear control, compressible flow). Thank you for the advice!

Sorry about taking so long to get back to this, Scott. I've talked to a few people and your advice was by far the best I have gotten. I had already been accepted and knew which university I am attending at that time, so the only decision left to be made was going thesis route or coursework route, and you provided me a lot of info to help me consider that. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!

Hey everyone, Recently admitted into my Top choice for a master's program in ME, and trying to figure out if I should go coursework only or thesis route. I already know a lot of the pros and cons so I'm really just trying to figure out what the thesis would require of me. I didn't do much research as an undergrad, and will be going into the master's program straight out of undergrad, so I am kind of clueless on what research is like. Would I have to come up with my own topic? Would one be suggested to me? How long would the thesis have to be? Would it take me a long time to finish when I really will be doing legitimate research for the first time, creating a very long settlement and adjustment period? Are most master's students who get a faculty member to take them on to do a thesis with usually funded, or would I have to be exceptional to not only get a faculty adviser but also funding on top of that? I ask all of these questions because I would not only want to know what I am getting myself into, but I also don't want to waste the funds of someone willing to give me an opportunity if it turns out I actually wouldn't do a very good job of it. Thank you for reading my thread and taking the time to give me any advice as well!

Hey everyone, Recently admitted into my Top choice for a master's program in ME, and trying to figure out if I should go coursework only or thesis route. I already know a lot of the pros and cons so I'm really just trying to figure out what the thesis would require of me. I didn't do much research as an undergrad, and will be going into the master's program straight out of undergrad, so I am kind of clueless on what research is like. Would I have to come up with my own topic? Would one be suggested to me? How long would the thesis have to be? Would it take me a long time to finish when I really will be doing legitimate research for the first time, creating a very long settlement and adjustment period? Are most master's students who get a faculty member to take them on to do a thesis with usually funded, or would I have to be exceptional to not only get a faculty adviser but also funding on top of that? I ask all of these questions because I would not only want to know what I am getting myself into, but I also don't want to waste the funds of someone willing to give me an opportunity if it turns out I actually wouldn't do a very good job of it. Thank you for reading my thread and taking the time to give me any advice as well!

I saw this thread a while ago and I was in the same situation. One of the MS programs in Mechanical Engineering I applied to had a December 15 deadline to submit your application, and said "Official transcripts and LOR need be in our office no later than January 1 as the admission committee starts making decisions." TWO out of my three rec letters got turned in 4-5 days after that January 1 deadline. I figured I was screwed since they had not only missed the hard deadline but also the deadline to the grace period! I emailed the admissions office right away, and again a couple of weeks later, and did not get any response to either email. What was the next email I got from them? An email on February 12 telling me I had been admitted, and from looking at gradcafe I was one of the first ones to receive that email from that department. TL;DR You do have hope!

Hello everybody, I was wondering if admissions criteria is different at all for non-thesis MS programs versus traditional MS programs/Phd programs. Is GPA a bigger factor while research experience isn't as important? Do Top 20 Mechanical Engineering schools generally admit around as many non-thesis MS students as they do traditional MS students? Anyone's experience applying to these programs or even participating in these programs would be greatly appreciated. Do I have a solid chance for top 20 schools like UCLA or USC? I am currently a senior at a Top 5 Mechanical Engineering program. My GPA is ~3.6. My GRE scores are: 161 V (87 %ile) 165 Q (91 %ile) 5.0 AW (93 %ile) I have some research experience, but nothing spectacular. Thanks again, really appreciate the input.