Thefish

Hi Sally, Congratulations! I am in the MS CEE department as well. I recommend living in either Escondido Village (I am in a highrise) or Rains. EV is the cost efficient way to live, and Rains is more of a party oriented place. All of the on campus living is great because of the price for the area and the ease of getting to class. I bike everywhere, can go home in the middle of the day to eat, study, change, etc. I would say most grads live on campus. Plus, it makes group collaboration a lot easier and when you get into the program, every minute of not commuting counts as time you can be getting work done. It is very easy to meet people, especially the first orientation week. Just try to be as outgoing as possible and you will make tons of friends. The people in the CEE department especially are very friendly. As far as recreation, It's up to you. There are exercise classes you can take for credit, or audit. My first quarter I was in intramural soccer, taking a yoga class, rock climbing on campus, and hiking the dish (a nearby walking trail) every week! This quarter I am taking tennis as a class and joining more IM teams. We also go out and play in the grass on sunny days. Feel free to ask more questions. You are going to love it

You probably should take it again. That score is good, but they are turning down people with nearly perfect scores. For engineering, your verbal section doesn't need to be too much better, but you should aim for a 790-800 for the quantitative part. The thing that will give you the best leg up at this point is to try and contact professors that you know you want to work with. There are so many perfect applicants, if you can show them who you are and give them something positive to remember, it will set you apart. good luck!

pretty sure you register for CEE300 and then the week before class starts you meet with an advisor to choose a real schedule. Then, you have about 2 weeks to change your schedule (add/drop). I hear that if you want a class, you get it, there's no filling up.

I'll be in SDC! send me a message I talked with the department. I'm moving onto campus on the 11th of September, and then i think Thursday of that week we will be assigned academic advisors. We will get the opportunity Thursday or Friday to sit down with them to decide on a class schedule. As far as "orientation" I'm not sure, but I get the feeling it's all happening that week.

EV 2 br double efficiency. Has anyone had experience with this? I'm happy about having my own room and the price, but slightly concerned about the lack of space... no living/dining area. It can't be that bad, right?

I'm pretty sure that it will be distributed over the Autumn/Winter/Spring terms. They don't require students to take Summer term classes.

I am in a similar situation. I am about to head off to my top choice in the fall, but my mom just got diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. I was planning on moving just about now to try and get a summer internship, but I want to be here for her during her treatment. It's crazy how fast things can change. I wish you the best of luck with your decision, and prayers for your loved one.

Assuming that you have completed all of the pre-recs, it should take 3 quarters of 15 units each. I got my funding decision from Stanford last week, post marked March 30th from the Admissions Coordinator for my major.

I just attended Stanford's CE visitation day (even though I hadn't yet been accepted). I was told that for the SDC major, they had already made their first rounds of acceptances and may still accept some more people. They may not decide much until Spring break is over though. Luckily I was able to speak with some professors and make a good impression... offered admission the next day. Good luck to everyone out there, this year has seen many more applications (around 160 for SDC) which as you know makes the whole process take longer.

undergrad GPA (great engineering uni) = 3.2 GRE: Q=790, V=510, writing=4.5 EIT lab experience

I haven't heard anything from Stanford yet, but I see that one person got accepted to the SDC program so far.

That would be sneaky, wouldn't it? I should also mention that there are many great reasons that I want to go to grad school, and having a boring job that was killing the spark within my soul is what caused me to look into grad school... to study and then DO exactly what I am passionate about. I want to grab ahold of my future and make it what I want it to be. So I am very excited about grad school, and I also want to be a professor someday. It's not just a filler until the economy turns around.

I agree with what was stated already. The economy in CA is terrible. I have been applying for civil jobs for a year and haven't gotten a one.... hence... grad school! Also, my undergraduate degree is supposedly from the top undergraduate engineering school in the US and I have my EIT. So that's going to be your biggest issue.

I sent in my application mid December, even though the ap date with aid was Jan 15th. I heard back from them on Jan 19th though, so I don't know why it was so fast.

I have. Stanford. I'm still waiting to hear back. I also applied to a similar program at Boulder - Building Systems Engineering

I got an email saying that I've been recommended for admission also. Now, I know for a fact that 1 out of 4 of my recommenders did not submit his letter of rec, I don't know why, he said he was on it, but I stopped worrying once I got the email about being "recommended for admission". Is it possible that the department could not accept me for only having 3 out of 4 letters of rec? That would be awful!

Undergrad Institution: Cal Poly, great Engineering reputation Major(s): Civil Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: 3.2 Length of Degree: 5 years Position in Class: top 25% Type of Student: Female GRE Scores: Q: 790 V: 510 W: 4.5 TOEFL Total: Research Experience: internship at a construction materials testing lab = great laboratory experience Awards/Honors/Recognitions: deans list Pertinent Activities or Jobs: climbing instructor (good for construction field), summer internship at #1 US ranked civil engineering company Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: EIT certification Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: Boulder - Civil and Env Eng - ACCEPTED / 1-19-10 / funding is not yet decided Carnegie Mellon - Civil and Env Eng - ACCEPTED / 2-19-10 / no funding Rensselaer - Civil and Env Eng - waiting / ??? / ??? Stanford - Civil and Env Eng - waiting / ??? / ???

I applied to Boulder, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford all MS. So far, I've been accepted to Boulder with the funding decision still to come, and Carnegie Mellon with no funding. I'm still waiting to hear from Stanford, but Boulder and Stanford were my top choices.