ShortLong

Supposedly one of the guys that visited Georgia Tech with me said he had already been admitted to MIT. But I heard this through another prospective, so it is possible he was accepted to Mechanical and not aerospace

I loved Georgia Tech! The some of the campus buildings were kinda old, but all the facilities inside were nice. There are three aerospace buildings, and it seems like the department and professors really care about the grad students, their progress and making sure they had funding. It was a lot of fun. All the grad students I met seemed really happy too.

I have been told by grad school friends that the environment is very important, and to go to a school with happy grad students. If the current grad students aren't happy, what makes you think you will be? That said, will you be happy at a school with a "little depressing" environment? You will be there for a long time. The environment is as important as the research. If you are happy you are more likely to finish.

Thanks! That does help. I actually visited today and all my questions were answered.

It has been an awesome day at GA Tech! The campus is really pretty, the facilities are really nice (even if most of the buildings are old on the outside, there are a lot of nice equipment) and it seems like they really care about their grad students.

I just received notification yesterday that I was awarded a departmental fellowship, so funding information might be coming your way soon.

jam_sister, what do you mean by "full-funding"? Is it definite for all the years of your degree or just for your first year? I have been accepted to Purdue with no word on funding, Georgia Tech with funding for my first year through a TA, and Illinois with funding for my first year through a fellowship. Is it pretty standard for funding packages to only be for the first year and have subsequent years be paid for by your adviser?

I applied for Masters with intention to continue on for PhD. It is nerve wracking, but I am not going to think about it. I am going to visit Georgia Tech today.

Two acceptances posted.

I just received an email from a department I applied to with a fellowship offer when they accepted me a few weeks ago.

I think it also has to do with what department and how much money they have. As an engineer, there is a lot more money available so it is pretty standard to have travel reimbursement.

Nope, but their website says we should know by March 1st.

I am going to three recruiting events in the next month, the first one is this week. I have the same questions.

I was invited to two recruitment weekends before I was officially accepted, but both acceptances came in before the visits. But, I was accepted at one school before I was invited to the weekend. It depends on the department. I haven't gone on any visits yet, but I am going to put a lot of emphasis on those visits to help me determined my final decision. Especially as a girl in engineering, I do not want to be in a "bro" environment. Also, I want to make sure the current grad students are happy, as well as enjoy the campus and department in general.

Are you interested in doing a PhD? I was told that they do not accept people directly into the PhD program unless they have a Masters, but if you have over a 3.75 in undergrad and a professor willing to sponsor you, you can apply for the direct PhD program and skip the Masters. If you indicate your interest in doing that, it might increase your chances of finding a professor to fund you.

I don't know, but Ioannis Chasiotis contacted me and said he had funding. But it depends on if you want to do materials research. Do you not care what you are doing?

I was accepted to UIUC today in aerospace engineering. The email just said that I was accepted to get a Masters, nothing about M.S. or M.Eng. But I had a phone conversation with a POI last week, and he mentioned writing a thesis, so I am assuming it is an MS. But then again, this is a different department. I hope this helps.

One things that has not been mentioned, but I am pretty sure that one of the factors that is looked at when determining if an assistant professor gets tenure is how many PhDs they have graduated as well as how many papers. This would mean that they would want their first few to graduate pretty quickly to reflect well on them.

I am currently attending UT Austin as an undergrad in the aerospace engineering department. At least in my department, the prospective student weekend is for already admitted students so they can woo you into coming. So since you have such a unique situation, I bet it won't be a big deal not to come.

I have two programs that are paying for a plane ticket, two nights in a hotel, and most of my meals (i think). But then again, I am in engineering where programs have a bit more money, and this is standard procedure for the students they want (aka not the second choice to fill in spots after first choices declined).

I agree with this sentiment. I have scheduled two visiting weekends so far, and am hoping to get a visit for every school I'm accepted to. When I was scheduling the second visit, I mentioned my first visit to my POI and he thought nothing of it.

My boyfriend and I are planning on doing a road trip around the country to visit our widespread extended family to celebrate graduating from undergrad.

It was not a Purdue POI. To make it worse, when he did call me, I explained I couldn't talk for very long because of a time zone miscommunication. His response, "Aren't we in the same time zone?" If he realized that from the start he should have just disregarded my inclusion of time zones.

Purdue just likes to send emails. They sent a bunch while I was applying, and a bunch now I have been accepted. Come on! just let me make my decision in peace. Also, I was contacted by a POI to have a phone interview. I specifically told him my time zone because I wasn't sure which one he was in. Then he told me a time zone one hour ahead and I planned according. He was supposed to call me 45 minutes ago, and I googled that his school is in my time zone. Really? Is it that hard to get your time zone correct?