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bsteinma

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  1. hiili83, I am in a similar situation. I received one offer from a Masters program in addition to my undergraduate institution. Both of these are without funding. Over the past several months of reading these forums, I started to feel like everyone was receiving funding except me. At one point I posted something that mentioned my offer and not receiving funding, and some of the replier seemed to think it was odd that I didn't receive any sort of funding package. Anyway, just recently I've started to see more people saying that haven't received funding. I have been having a difficult time deciding if I should accept the offer I received (from my non-undergrad institution), but I really think it will be worth it in the end and I am planning on trying to negotiate some funding along the way. Loans are going to be a must to begin with, which is scary at first. However, if the field you are going into pays well and will allow you to pay loans off fairly quickly, I'd say go for it (especially if you think it is a good fit in many ways). In my case, I don't think my undergraduate college is any longer a good fit for me and the additional possible opportunities at the new school are a pretty big selling point for me. But to summarize, I totally agree with bluegrad although it is a tough decision. I guess not everyone can simply be given funding packages upon acceptance into a program.
  2. I will be visiting my prospective college campus later this week. I will hopefully be entering a mechanical engineering masters program and I did not receive any funding up front. I imagine I will be relying on loans, trying to find assistantships, seeking out possible fellowships, etc. I was hoping that everyone could help me to compile a list of questions that I should ask when I visit and possibly people that I should meet with and offices I should visit. Currently, I plan to meet with the department head, two other important departmental faculty members, a couple of current grad students, and probably the graduate student advisor. I plan to visit the financial aid office, possibly the fellowship office, and also any bulletin boards that might have assistantships posted. Thank You, bsteinma
  3. bsteinma

    LOANSSSS...

    Caffeinated, I am in a similar situation. I was planning on applying to about 5 or 6 schools and changed my mind at the last minute. I, however, did apply to one of the schools I wanted to do to in addition to my undergraduate institution. My GRE scores were sub-par for getting into most engineering programs and I wasn't able to improve much on a second GRE attempt (standardized tests are my enemy). From my understanding, GRE scores seemed to play a large role in graduate school decisions, so I couldn't afford to just gamble the 6 or 7 hundred dollars it would have taken to apply to the schools I had in mind. My GPA was pretty decent but definitely not close to a 4.0. While reading through posts on the forum, it seems like just about everyone has some sort of fellowship, stipend, schoarship, assistantship, or something. I, on the other hand, didn't receive any sort of assistance from the programs I got into. I'm glad (although it's unfortunate we didn't get anything up front) to see someone else who is wondering how they are going to pay for their graduate education. I am also curious about receiving funding after having been at the school for a little while. I don't know where to begin as far as seeking out fellowships, assistantships, and etc. What types of part time jobs are suitable for students like us? I have contacted several professors in the department to see if they have any GA's available but no luck. I suppose I will just have to go up there and begin school and talk to as many people as I can to help find some sort of funding. It has and still is a hard decision to leave my undergraduate institution because I still work there as a research assistant and I would probably be able to keep that money coming if I stayed here. I just think going to the new institution may be better for my career because I really don't know where things would lead me if I stayed put, while I have a good idea what my opportunities are at the new school. Keep me informed of what you find out and I hope people continue to respond to this post. -bsteinma
  4. I don't know if it was the big city that made me anxious or just being there in general. I didn't really get a chance to check the campus out that much because I was only there to attend a day of a conference that UMN hosts (i.e. spent 90% of my time at the conference). I grew up in Iowa so I'm used to the smaller town feel of Iowa City vs. a large city like Minneapolis. However, in terms of program strength, Minnesota has a huge advantage. I'm not expecting to receive a ton of funding from either place. I will likely get some financial aid assistance, but the outlook on graduate assistantships isn't great at either place. Every time I read posts on this forum about peoples options and decisions, they are usually based a lot on the type of funding package. Based on all of those, it seems like everyone is either a genious because they're receiving scholarships and fellowships or the universities just have enough money in their funding that they are able to help out. I wasn't totally aware of how all of this dispersal of funding works. The only possibility at Iowa is that I may be able to keep my current job and just turn it into a graduate research assistant position, but if I did decide to venture to a different research lab at Iowa, I would probably have a hard time finding another opportunity. I know that if I am able to acquire a graduate assistantship at Minnesota that during my period of assistantship I would be paying resident tution rates, which would make the estimated cost of attendance at Minnesota a few thousand more a year than at Iowa (i.e. not too much more expensive). Well, with all that said, I am planning on a UMN campus visit at the end of the month. Hopefully I will be able to make a decision sooner rather than later because I will still need to make living arrangements, which are always very stressful (especially at the beginning of summer when everything has already been picked over).
  5. Hello, I graduated from U. Iowa's biomedical engineering program and have the opportunity to either continue grad school at Iowa in biomedical engineering or move to Minneapolis and enter U. Minnesota's mechanical engineering graduate program. In terms of cost, staying at Iowa is by far much cheaper than going just about anywhere else. Cost of attendance for Iowa resident is about $24K vs. about $34K for Minnesota non-resident. If I go to Minnesota it is likely I will not have a research assistantship. If I stay at Iowa it is likely I'd be able to continue my current research appointment as a graduate student and continue working on a project I recently began. I have been back-and-forth about whether I should stay at Iowa or go to Minnesota and thought I was set on going to Minnesota until I had a short campus visit this past weekend and became really anxious (not the good kind) about being there and so close to a bigger city. I will add more after someone replies to this post but want to get away from my habit of writing a story, which I think tends to scare people from reading and replying to my posts. Thank You, bsteinma
  6. I was admitted to Minnesota's mechanical engineering program and was unable to attend the recruiting weekend this past weekend. I am in the process now of trying to schedule a campus visit, but I'm not entirely sure what I should try to incorporate into my visit. I talked with an academic advisor and was informed the way they usually go about individual visits is by setting up meetings with individual faculty members. Since I will be driving 6 hours I feel it would probably be best to get as much accomplished there as possible. Could someone offer their input as far as what I should try to include in my visit. How many faculty members should I try to meet with? Should I at least try to meet with the department director? Should I try and find someone that could give me a tour of the University campus or at least the engineering campus? Should I try to also set up a meeting with a financial aid advisor? Any input at all will be greatly appreciated. Thank You, bsteinma
  7. I applied to only a couple of graduate schools for engineering. I applied to U. Minnesota for mechanical engineering and U. Iowa for biomedical engineering (my alma mater). I also applied to U. Minnesota's biomedical engineering program. Minnesota's mechanical engineering program has accepted me and I am waiting to find out from their biomedical program. I graduated with a biomedical engineering degree and want to pursue cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary devices. I am reluctant to only find a few areas of interest within Minnesota's ME program and a lot in their BME program (but I haven't received their decision yet). I have been working with a physician at Iowa on a few projects that I have recently become more interested in. Would it be better for me to go to Minnesota because of its reputation even if I can't pinpoint something right away that I am interested in. Or would it be better for me to stay at Iowa and work on what I have been working on for the past year and a half. Any advice or recommendations would be very helpful. Thank You, bsteinma
  8. At the last minute my application process resulted in my ditching all but one of my apps. I began worrying about the myriad of costs involved and started weighing other options (i.e. holding off until later, finding a job that may help with school, etc.). I also didn't do as well as I should have on the GRE and was concerned about not getting enough funding even if I did get in. I ended up only applying to the school I originally desired and still need to apply to my undergraduate instition (i.e. our application deadline is a bit later than most schools). Among the list of schools I was going to apply to are University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern, Washington University, University of Michigan, and University of Minnesota (I'm from the midwest if you haven't noticed by now). I graduated from the University of Iowa with my bachelor of science in engineering (Biomedical Engineering). I imagine I will get into Iowa, but there are always chances I won't as well. After ditching my apps and deciding I still sorta wanted to go right on to grad school I settled with the fact I probably would just end up back at my alma mater in the fall. The school I originally desired was the University of Minnesota, which is why it was the app I actually did go through with completing. I applied to their Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering programs (mechanical first, then biomedical about a month later). I received the Mechanical Engineering program's decision last week and they've accepted me. I imagine I will find out in a few weeks about the Biomedical program. I am not stuck trying to decide what I should do. I sort of know what to consider in making my decision, but don't know what factors should carry sufficiently more weight than others. I know this is getting lengthy but please read on. I was born and raised in Iowa so naturally I chose to go to the University of Iowa. For those that don't already know, Iowa is a fairly cheap University to attend in comparison to its counterparts. I am not really sure how to go about making my decision and would like advice on how to go about this. Is it safe to assume that my undergraduate advisor would help me make this decision or would he try to convince me to stay at Iowa? I already know that Minnesota will be more expensive. The estimated cost of attendance is approximately $10K more per year. I have never even been to Minneapolis but I am drawn to the area for several reasons. The Twin Cities host around 300 medical device companies (which is what I would like to go into). It's still in the midwest. It's closer to the Boundary Waters and other great outdoor activities I've been longing for. It's a good school overall (but so is Iowa although not ranked up there in engineering but is a good public research inst.). It is 6 hours from home vs. only 2 hours. Is it better to attend a different school for graduate work? I don't know how to go about weighing the pros and cons and would love any advice. I want to make the decision I'll still be happy with after a year. Thank You
  9. Please bear with me as I explain my issues and questions. I graduated a week ago with a B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering. I started a little bit later than I probably should have with the process of choosing an applying to graduate schools and won't put the blame on anyone but myself but wish I had been more informed about the process and what it entailed. Anyway, although I have foreseen myself pursuing graduate studies it also seems natural that it would be the right thing to do. I have taken the GRE twice - both times receiving scores that are far below the recommended scores for engineering graduate programs. No matter how much studying I've done and how well I do in my practice, I have received about the same scores. I believe I'd do better at a paper based test (i.e. I honestly hate the computer based test for the quantitative section because it takes away my ability to reason through problems on paper right next to the problem statement) and that most of my trouble was in time management. Both attempts at the test left me either guessing on a handful of problems at the end or not even finishing the test. I know this likely hurt my score quite a bit. After my second attempt there was not enough time to recover and take the test again in time to have my scores submitted to graduate schools. If I were, but I can't, to do this over again I'd probably take the GRE early in my undergraduate years so I'd have plenty of time to get the scores I need. I have submitted one application and plan to submit a couple more and take my chances. I had a 3.6 GPA, graduated on the Dean's list, and have had quite a bit of research experience in the past 4.5 years. I remain positive that my resume will at least take some of the focus away from my low GRE scores, but I am prepared to hear news that I don't get admitted to any of the programs. With that in mind, I am not really sure what I should do in the meantime. I have become more concerned about funding my graduate education and know that I will probably not receive as much help because of my low GRE scores. I have also become concerned about whether I should hold off and see if an employer will help pay. What are the chances that an employer would help pay for an advanced degree in engineering? I'm afraid that if an employer did send me back to school that they'd probably be sending me back for an MBA. Also raising concern is whether I should just pursue my masters or a PhD. I realize it'd possibly be cheaper to get a PhD because of the funding. Although I am already half a year behind my peers and didn't want to get farther behind by taking another year off before going to graduate school I am optimistic that a year off would give me the chance to research more schools and choose the school I want to go to (e.g. based on the qualities, area, etc.) rather than the school I can go to because they are the only one that accepted me. Should I take this extra year off to retake the GRE, research schools, and continue to prepare? If yes, what should I do in the next year to prepare myself? Also if I take this year off of school, what do I do about employment? I'm soon going to have to start paying off my loans and continue to pay bills on top of other expenses so I can't just not do anything. But I also don't know if finding a job in the engineering industry would be a good idea if I want to go to graduate school (i.e. I'm afraid I would get sucked in and lose sight of my goal for graduate school). I'm sure I am leaving some concerns and questions out of this discussion, but it is already a bit lengthy so I will add to the discussion as I get repsonses. I will be very appreciative of any advice because I am truly stuck in a situation where I am going "What now?" and have lacked the guidance I need from my academic advisor and other mentors alike. My parents have been a huge help but they can only do so much. Than You, bsteinma
  10. I am about to graduate from an accredited engineering program with a 3.6 cumulative GPA and want to continue my graduate studies at another institution. I have a list of schools that I am going to apply to but want some advice regarding my GRE scores. First off, I already know my GRE scores are lower than they should be so please don't point that out. I have taken the GRE twice and received a 410V/650Q on my first attempt and took it again last week and received a 480V/660Q. Although I studied a lot more for the verbal which is reflected in my increase in score I continued to study for the quantitative as well and I have good math skills but just can't perform on the exam. In practicing I'd typically get a 730-760 on the quantitative but like many of you realize its not exactly the real test. I tried to make my practice as real as possible. I really want to go to the University of Minnesota and their recommended scores are obviously higher than what I received. The underlying problem is with anxiety and not simply just normal text anxiety that most people have. I was also unable to let go of problems and move on to the next which led to my guessing on the last 5 problems for my first attempt and about the last 8 and not even finishing the exam on my second. Those were precious points lost but now I'm about a month away from the application deadline and don't know what I should do. I can't afford to throw more money away on the test if I don't know whether I'll improve. Am I capable of getting in with these scores if I have strengths everywhere else or should I bite the bullet and take the test again despite the many other stresses and deadlines overwhelming me right now? Any helpful advice will be appreciated. Thank You, bsteinma
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