dungheap

Thanks for your replies, I guess I just hear all these horror stories about getting a C and then you should consider leaving...I'd love to not get any Cs but I probably will. I don't want a career in academia, so I'm wondering if this is as bad a thing as people make it out to be. I'd also like to add that I haven't been in school for many years now and coming back was definitely a challenge in itself. Anyways, I'm trying to keep all my options open - and just curious if people have had a similar experience and what the outcome was.

So, I got my wish, got into a nice engineering PhD program. My adivsor has turned out to be one of the biggest asses I've met, there's no way I'm going to continue working with this person, especially for 4-5 years. I have some other things going on in my life which make the decision to continue with another advisor not as appealing. I'm considering just switching to an MS program in the same or different department. I don't want to blame anyone but myself, but my energy, drive and focus were essentially sapped by having such a bad experience, wasn't paid for the first two months, still haven't gotten an office, have no other people to work with, and a negative advisor...long story short, my grades will not be that great at the end of this semester. Probably getting Cs and Bs. I wonder how much this will really hurt me down the line, not that now is a good time to ask, but I'm curious from people's experiences if this will have much an adverse effect on my academic career. I plan to also take my MS if/when I get it, and from whatever dept. I choose from (thinking CS), use it for my own business, perhaps get a job, or go to another PhD program.

I'm wondering how many people get time to travel during school? I have a friend in math who seems to take at least 3 big trips a year, is this realistic? I'm going to be doing eng work so I'll probably be stuck in a lab more. I just don't get how he gets away with it.

is this possible? (no the answer is not present in their online materials) any knowledge of this happening? it'd be in the college of engineering. i guess it's all dependent on many factors but i'm just wondering if people have pulled it off. i got into a nice private school, then got myself a prof who is willing to fund me with an RA there, but i also really want to be on the west coast, the program there is smaller but similarly ranked. and it's close to silicon valley so there would be plenty of good prospects. was thinking of deferring to spend a year at the private school to see how it goes (i know it'll be more academically rigorous), if it sucks, take my admission at uc...

Thanks for all the replies, so here's what I've done: Since this was the College of Engineering, and the fact that my interests don't seem to mesh with the majority of people in the Mech E dept., I've asked to change my admission to another department EE where there are profs doing the exact kind of work I'm interested in. I reached out to the profs directly and have garnered some interest and am now speaking with them. The transfer of departments isn't even an issue luckily! So now I have to find someone with funds who finds me attractive. Never give up! This may also be unique to my situation because I applied cold to the program without a POI, giving me the freedom to shop around like this. Hopefully something nice happens, you never know!

yeah i'm puzzled by this, why do schools honestly offer this option of accepting a student without giving them funding, especially in a sci/eng phd program? isn't that completely useless? i mean i guess it gives me a chance to pay my way for the first year....it doesn't necessarily mean the entire program will go unfunded does it!? insane!

the better school is private, and probably 30-40k a year. the other is a UC school, fully covered they're different EE vs ME, but rank in each depending on what you think rank means i guess, NRC rankings place the UC school in top 15, usnews makes it like 70 or something, the private school has good NRC and usnews rankings (like 30th), so not sure how much that really matters. i can't imagine a phd program would go unfunded the whole time, that's crazy, isn't an offer with no funding a way of saying you need to prove yourself? ugh

The age old question... PhD in engineering programs are in question. Better school: in home town, friends and family, cheap housing/could buy a house, cold not great weather, better ranked, but no funding Other schools: in great locales, sunny, beautiful, far away from everyone, housing costs are expensive/can't buy a house, slightly lower ranked, different program all together (EE here vs ME back home, I wanted to do ME also) I'm older (30), wouldn't mind buying a place to fix up and flip when i graduate, but honestly, if they offer no funding is that because of the strength (or lack thereof) of your package? how likely are you to find funding in your first year or subsequent years?

Anyone attend open house? Anyone still waiting to hear back? I've seen both PhD and Masters posting to the results board but I still haven't heard, wondering if they've put me on some wait list while others decide. Please decide!

I've noticed a strange phenomena where more physics majors who switch to engineering get accepted to EE rather than ME programs, any thoughts?

so i just contacted a department which is my top choice, i've discovered i'm probably not on their short list and their open house is a week from now. i'm thinking of sending a love letter of sorts. my only problem is i guess i have to send it directly to the professor and the chair who i spoke to. i need to make it NOT awkward. anyways, it couldn't hurt that much, plus i'd toss in a line about learning what my shortcomings are so i could reapply

**Note: Not that this matters, but the school is in my city, I could just walk over literally. it's not as if I'd be buying a plane ticket out.

So, what if you've heard nothing yet, know that decisions haven't been sent out yet, and have a POI. Would it look bad to ask the POI if an impromptu visit was alright for a brief introduction?

Is it really unprofessional or whiney? I feel like it's some part this weird academic-machoness, or masochistic stoicism. Wouldn't you think that something you plan on spending the rest of your life doing is something worth it?

I guess it was more for show, but I am thinking of writing. I'm just curious what peoples experiences have been like. I saw this earlier and kind of didn't believe it.

Has this ever happened to anyone? I'm so curious. I'm also curious if sending in additional emails to the department begging, or offering up an addendum of sorts to your personal statement via email has ever worked out to your advantage? Please do share! I'm about 10 seconds away from hitting send on this tear-jerking masterpiece I want to lay on the graduate coordinator of an engineering program :/

Sure of course, and most of the programs I applied to had a masters option to slip into if you didn't make the PhD cut. I'm curious what happens to the people that get PhDs from lower ranking schools? If they want to stay in academia they're basically stuck at their school forever, otherwise where do they all go? Industry? Rarely do you ever see or hear about someone from a state school that's being recognized for their work - I mean it does happen sure. Also, a great deal of the people in these lower ranking programs are international so maybe they just peace out. I feel like this particular brand of nepotism is exactly why there are so many unemployed scientists in the US. Keep a circle of people from top-tier (mostly) universities employed, writing papers, and so forth because they must be the best and most motivated, surely.

Ok so, here we go...get rejected from top tier schools and probably all mid-range targets, get into all safetys, what to do? The overwhelming feelings of dread well up inside of you as you realize you'll never get into these top-tier schools, you fret, act like rank doesn't really mean much, it's only the program content that you're after, right? You convince yourself the locales of the safety schools aren't so bad, and you can probably get by with your sub-standard PhD. What are your goals in life anyways? Academia? Professorship? Industry? Save the world with your own non-profit? Do you want to make money? Does the fact that my school was ranked #84 really matter to anyone outside this esoteric plane of existence? This is sort of my situation as of now, I've worked at one of the best companies in the world, have scattered research all over the place, zero publications or journals, just a work history like a champ. So I'm applying because I'd like to actually learn more than I could teach myself in a garage. I'm almost 30. I'm interested in becoming specialized, I have no real interest in staying in academia. I want to be in the field, directly having impact on people's lives. I have connections to make my dreams come true, I just need to develop myself. So I know the selection process isn't over yet, but I know this is coming pretty much, I will be relegated to a scholarly life of shame at this inadequate university. I thought going to grad school meant going to the top, not for me I guess... Thoughts? I'm considering taking one of these offers. I have the wherewithal and passion to complete the degree, I probably won't pursue a post-doc though.