Gregg30

Absolutely it helps. Any kind of experience is always a good thing. If you had any internships too, that will be a plus. I know that colleges, like (https://purdueonlineengineering.com/), recommend that you do some sort of internship, especially for networking reasons.

Does Purdue have a PhD program? I would assume that they do, I have only know of their online school: https://purdueonlineengineering.com/ - one of my friends goes to the school.

Don't overlook Purdue's program. They have a good program as well. Check out their websites: https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr and https://purdueonlineengineering.com/

I think your chances are pretty good you will get in to those schools but have you looked at any online schools? There are a lot of them out there like Purdue's online engineering school. Here is their website: https://purdueonlineengineering.com/ I wouldn't discount some of the other schools out there for your MS. Gregg

I would graduate and try to find a job and then have them pay for the graduate school. If you can find someone to do that, then that is the way I would go. If not, look to see what kind of online engineering schools there are out there. Then the cost would be less too!