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At this point, that is, four years later, you probably don't care for a response. But just in case, an Engineer's degree is more advanced than a Master's, i.e. you need a Master's degree to pursue an Engineer's degree, which affords students the opportunity to pursue more rigorous coursework, presumably at the PhD level, and receive a credential/degree without having to do any research/dissertation as would be required for a PhD.

Honestly, an MBA from Cornell would probably not be worth the money, seeing as it is not at the very top. When you go to a school like Ohio State or Arizona State, you somewhat offset the lower rankings with much cheaper (in-state) tuition. Schools worth the ridiculous tuition probably include Harvard, Stanford, Penn, MIT, Kellogg; maybe Chicago, Columbia and Berkeley but probably not unless you are going into Finance or Consulting. Regarding your question, I imagine it would be much easier to first do engineering then go to MBA. They like students with strong quantitative backgrounds. Now the MIT LGO program is incredible, assuming you want a career with an operations focus. But of course, to do it you must pursue both degrees simultaneously. They do provide generous fellowships, and MIT is usually considered top 5 in both business and engineering. Of course, the competition is pretty stiff. Quick question: do you have any full-time work experience? If not, you won't be able to get into any top MBA program.

Sure, right now I am between OR/PSL and Industrial Statistics. Most likely, though, I will end up doing OR/PSL, since I am most fascinated by topics in Transportation, Healthcare Operations, Logistics and SCM.

You are correct in that funding is generally reserved for PhD students. However, I did my MS at UCF, which was ranked #35 in IE this year by US News, and was fortunate enough to get funding, albeit by TAing for the business school. Yes, I am going for my PhD at ASU. We also have to take an IS course as part of the core, but ours (IEE 605 Foundations of Information Systems Engineering) really focuses on data mining and algorithms, so the course name is somewhat misleading. If you have any deficiencies, which would be indicated on your acceptance letter, then you will need to take those before taking any grad courses that require those prereqs. Have you ever taken even just like an intro to programming or intro to CS kind of course? If you are really worried, maybe you could look into a free course on Udacity/Coursera/EdX. All three have courses in CS at the beginner level.

ASU has a dual masters program in EE and MBA. Something to consider, though, is the quality of the school REALLY matters in business... see http://qz.com/42233/if-you-cant-get-into-a-top-five-mba-program-dont-even-bother/

First question: do you have funding at any school? I will assume no funding... I might be somewhat biased considering I am going there for my PhD, but I would say ASU would be your best bet. They are definitely the best of the IE programs and are top notch in applied OR (e.g. in logistics, SCM, & healthcare). Additionally, I think an MS in IE might hold more weight, especially for technical positions, than a master's in SCM. ASU also has one of the best SCM departments of any business school where you can get a dual degree in IE and an MBA. See http://wpcarey.asu.edu/mba/online/academics/mba-mse-ie.cfm for more details. That might be an option for you as well. Or you could probably at least take a few MBA level SCM courses while doing your MS in IE.

It's all around on the low side. You would need to do better if you wanted to get into a top program.

Seeing as I have no experience or friends with experience, I can only encourage you to check this out... http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2498/is-transferring-an-option-for-an-unhappy-grad-student If you do a search on Urch and Grad Cafe, you will likely find many threads discussing this. Hope it helps!

Thanks!

Two things stand out to me: 1. while you do have an MS in the field, it's going to be tough to get into a decent PhD program with a grad GPA under 3.5; 2. your GRE score is all around pretty low, and even your quant score, while good, is relatively low for engineering. I suppose there is nothing you can do about your GPA, but I would recommend trying to improve your GRE, since it is likely low enough that you would not make it past the first round at most places. Additionally, I would not include your chemistry subject score, because it is not all that high; that is, the average score you have will not help you in gaining admission anywhere. Usually, an impressive score would be somewhere in the 90th-100th percentile, with the exception being the AWA section where you can usually get away with anything that is at least a 4.0 (47th percentile). Other VERY important aspects of the application that are often not given nearly enough attention include the SOP and LORs. Considering you made no mention of them, it may be the case that you fell into that same trap. Reevaluate both of these if you choose to apply again next year.

No big deal for MS with no funding...

Take the math classes you mentioned plus a physics 3 if it is offered. Also, take at least one intro level CS class and learn Matlab (perhaps on your own?). You'll need to beef up on programming skills for sure. Then, I believe, for most MS programs you can take "articulation" courses that would fill in gaps for your specific field from not having an engineering undergrad. This is required by ABET, the leading engineering accreditation. Personally, I have a statistics BS and did my MS in industrial engineering without any issues; note, however, that IE is fairly different from other engineering fields in that it is primarily applied statistics and optimization rather than applied physics.

Just graduated today with my MS. Feels so good to be moving up and on in life. Can't wait to begin my PhD in the Fall!

My 2 cents: go to ASU for the MS, do everything you can to get research experience while there, and then apply to PhD programs in your second year.

There could be any number of reasons for the rejections. As you mentioned, even with a stellar GPA and high GRE scores, a poorly written SOP and/or weak letters could really hurt. Assuming academic qualification (i.e. appropriate background, good GPA, & good GRE scores), seemingly the most important thing to do for gaining admission is to convince the schools that you you are (i) capable of conducting high quality research and (ii) interested in the same topics that their faculty are interested in, i.e. having a good research fit with at least 1 faculty member. Part (i) is usually done by having relevant research experience and getting a professor with whom you did research to write you a LOR. Then, of course, (ii) is done primarily through the SOP. Honestly, I doubt age had anything to do with it. Maybe if you were in your 30's...

Keep in mind I mean this in a general sense. The reputation of your advisor may in fact be more important than the school itself. So having a top, tenured advisor at #15 may be better than a young, inexperienced advisor at #1. In any case, I think the NRC rankings give a clearer picture of where Ph.D. programs rank overall.

This site has the US News rankings for free. And they were 17th in 2011 as well. http://www.university-list.net/us/rank/univ-0000.htm

Not to burst anyone's bubble here, but schools like Penn State, Virginia Tech, NC State, and Texas A&M are probably less reputable than may be suggested by the US News rankings. That is to say, for example, Virginia Tech should not be considered as good as Northwestern. Nonetheless, they are all great programs.

Out of respect for other applicants I have already done so... Everyone else please do the same! All those waitlisted will greatly appreciate it!

Great! NCSU has a great program. When I was applying, it was a tough choice between applying to UF or NCSU, but I chose UF mostly because I am from Florida.

Thanks! Hopefully! Do you have any clue at this point where you will attend?

My decision was posted on buzzport. I think the info about receiving postal mail is outdated.

Hey, no I did not hear from them about funding. After contacting them without a response for weeks, I decided to move forward with ASU. As it turns out, though, given the two areas I am inclined to pursue, which are applied OR and/or Industrial Stats, ASU is probably second only to Georgia Tech in terms of quantity and quality of faculty in both areas. Anyway, I hope you are able to secure funding from one of them! Best of luck!

I have heard from all programs and have decided to go to ASU! With full funding!

I am curious as well... Any thoughts?