vialy

Hi everyone! I'll be going for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. NU wasn't at the top of my list before, but I talked with my future advisor and visited a few weeks ago - changed my life. I love NU already. Any other girls looking for roommates, please PM me! It's really daunting trying to find a place by myself without being certain about the roommate situation. I want to live closer to campus the first year (definitely won't be driving). I might be an engineer but it's great to see so many historians on here. In another life I would've gone into art history or something to do with languages. I'm trying to become trilingual in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

I accepted Northwestern's offer for a PhD! I am extremely satisfied with the school, surroundings and the advisor that interviewed me. I've already turned down Virginia Tech's offer and will be turning down GaTech, Purdue, and UW-Madison (good luck to everyone waitlisted at these schools). Already been rejected from Cornell and UCB (I applied for MS here and they asked if I would like to join the MEng in Product Design instead but I said no). Still waiting to hear back from UMD, UT Austin, and Carnegie Mellon.

I will be going to NU for a PhD in MechE starting fall (maybe even July). I'm looking to live in Evanston. Any other females looking for apartments/roommates?

GaTech invited me to their recruiting weekend on Jan 17, and then sent my official offer Jan 22. Had an interview with the grad school director of Northwestern last Friday, and she said they try to send offers by the end of Jan, so hopefully we'll hear from NW soon! I was also contacted by a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon about a skype interview but then she didn't confirm a time until yesterday (almost 3 weeks later) asking me to briefly answer a list of questions thru email "to save time". Not very promising...

No worries, I emailed them before I even started this thread. It was resolved pretty quickly. Thanks tho!

Thanks, guys. After my panicking/near breakdown, I talked to some of my friends already in grad school and that helped me calm down a lot. I think you're right about the deadlines and reviewing starting after the holidays. I've heard from two schools so far (nothing concrete yet, but it's good news), so I'm hopeful. Good luck to you all!

Finally! Thanks for making this thread. I'm applying to PhD programs in design and manufacturing. Undergrad Institution: Pretty good mid-tier state school (Just graduated in December)Major(s): MechEMinor(s): MathGPA in Major: 3.83Overall GPA: 3.76Type of Student: DomesticGRE Scores (revised/old version):Q: 167V: 161W: 4.5Research Experience: ~3 years undergrad research (2 individual projects), 1 conference paper, other projects related to my research interestsAwards/Honors/Recognitions: Tau Beta Pi, typical high GPA awards but nothing specialApplying to Where: 1. UC Berkeley 2. UT Austin 3. Carnegie Mellon 4. Cornell 5. Purdue 6. Northwestern 7. Georgia Tech 8. University of Maryland 9. Virginia Tech 10. University of Wisconsin-Madison So far, I had one professor contact me for an interview from Carnegie Mellon (haven't had the interview yet), and was just invited to GT's recruiting weekend.

A professor personally emailed me after seeing my application and asked for a Skype interview. I didn't expect getting a request from her at all since our research interests only have sustainability in common. I am actually interested in her research, but it's a lot of materials science stuff that I don't have experience in (whereas I have tons of experience with design and manufacturing, which is what I wrote about on my SoP). So basically my questions are: 1) If it all goes well and I am accepted, will I end up working in her lab? (Like I said, I wouldn't mind at all, but only if my first choice professors don't want me. Also, her lab is interdisciplinary, so there's a possibility she wants me to work on a different aspect. I will ask her during the interview.) 2) During the interview, how enthusiastic should I be? Like "I am 100% interested in your research", even though she's clearly seen my SoP, and I am hoping other professors take an interest in me? 3) What should I say about my lack of experience in her main area of research?

So I'm currently finishing up my applications for a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering for GT and UMD and I'm beginning to feel like I've made a huge mistake. I just graduated with my BS. Applied to UCB, UT Austin, Cornell, CMU, Purdue, and Northwestern so far, all of which I messed up in some way or another. I submitted all of my applications at the last minute due to me being a MESS this past semester (it was a hell of a semester). Some have late GRE scores, some have late LOR's, one had a CV with a typo. Northwestern was just plain late by a day for the priority deadline because I suddenly decided to apply to PhD and the deadline was earlier than planned. I wasn't prepared at all for my first apps, UCB and UT, even though those are my top choices. Also just realized today that some of the schools haven't classified my apps as complete because they were waiting for TOEFL scores even though I should have been exempt. With GT, UMD and my undergrad alma mater, that'll be a total of 9 schools......8 of which are big name schools. I really feel like I should have applied to more, but I missed a lot of deadlines and it's almost too late now to find more schools. I have 2+ years of research experience, 1 conference paper under review, great GRE scores and GPA. LOR's from research advisors I've worked with for 2+ years. The schools I chose all match my interests really, really well (probably the only thing on my side at this point). But I'm second guessing my stats and SoP, and generally losing hope. I really wish I had been better prepared for this onslaught of applications. Sigh. Anyway, I just needed to get these worries off my chest (and post a shameless plea for sympathy). There's nothing left but to finish all my apps and wait it out. Hope my fellow applicants are faring better.