yacobito

Hey there. Most likely by now you have decided, but I would go with BU. I am actually here at BU working on my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering. I think the person you are talking about at BU is Siddharth? I know him and he seems nice. I know a project that he is starting that sounds really cool. BU school of engineering is significantly larger which leads to more collaboration and if all goes poorly you have options to move to other advisers who do similar research. Drop me email if you want and we talk more if you have any questions. Good Luck -Jacob jtt23@bu.edu

Wow, this is great. I was working in industry for the past 6 years before coming back to grad school. I was shaving almost every day, at a minimum every other. Now that I am 2 semesters into grad school I have found myself going 3 to to 4 days without shaving. I think for me its a function of being really busy and not really spending a lot of time around people. I spend most of my time in a clean room suit or in a lab by myself. No one to shave for I guess. Also, I am riding my bike to school in Boston and the extra layer helps keep the cheeks warm in the winter! Cheers to my fellow scruffy/bearded academics.

Hey GoodGuy, I can't speak for the Terrace Highrise itself, but I do live right next to it in a condo. The area is fantastic. Trader Joe's and Whole Foods just steps away. You can be on the river in 2 seconds if you like to walk or run. You are pretty much equal distance from MIT, Harvard and BU so its a vibrant location. Let me know if you have any questions about Cambridgeport (the area of Cambridge we are talking about). Good Luck!

Eddie's New and Used furniture is next to Porter Sq and Elm St. It is ok, but sometimes over priced if you ask me. You could always jump on the Redline to Central, Harvard or Davis Sq where there are some reasonable places. On Mass Ave between Central and Harvard there are a number of furniture stores. Some of them are pricey, but you can usual shop around and find a decent deal. One of my favorite places to shop for things like lamps, bookcases, etc is Economy True Hardware in Central sq. You wouldn't think a hardware store would have such things, but it is great! Good Luck!

Check out Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. They have a robotics group that is usually well funded by NASA robotics programs. http://biorobots.cwru.edu/ Most of their work is in bio-robotics. I did my M.S. there in the E.E. department, but was not in robotics ( I did MEMS research). The group was housed down the hall and I know a couple of those guys ended up working at NASA. Good luck!

Hello Kashrus2008. I would check out Brookline in your case. The art scene there is pretty nice and they have some nice neighbor hoods. You could probably find a combination Green line and/or Bus that drops you off at the MFA. Another place people don't often mention, but I think you might like is the South End. I bit pricey, but I think worth it. I live in Cambridge and it is fantastic for arts. I would say live there, but your commute might have a few more connections.

Its not my style, but I feel like LL Bean makes cloths for the Northeast. http://www.llbean.com If you go to their site and browse around their jackets they tend to be warm enough for most NE winters if you are closer to the mid-Atlantic (PA, NJ, NY). When you get up into Maine and Vermont you would need things to be a little thicker. I would browse their clothing lines to get a good idea.

In general it depends on the schools and the departments. Some schools thrive on cross functional research almost to the point where the only thing that defines you as a Mechanical, Electrical...Engineering is your class work and qualifying exam. Aero and Mechanical are typically partners in crime at research universities and in some cases the same department. I would think your department wouldn't even blink if you worked in Aero. I did my Masters in Electrical Engineering at Case Western Reserve and my entire research group was in Materials Science Engineering. Now I am going to Boston University for my Ph.D. in Materials Science Engineering and the professor funding me is in the Physics department! This is just based on my experiences, maybe other people have direct knowledge of the school you are going to. Good luck!

I am actually pretty excited to play broomball. It looks hysterical and fun.

Same here. I've been out 4 years post master working in industry and am going back in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in Materials Science Engineering. I too thought I would start reading ahead and struggled make any headway. I then went to MIT's open course site and found an undergraduate course on a topic I need to brush up on. This one in particular had videos of the lecture. I found it was much easier for me to watch a video lecture than start cold reading a text book on Thermodynamics. After watching a couple lectures I picked up the textbook they used from a local library and started reading some of the chapters. I found I was able to go longer reading without falling asleep as I had more of an interest! It worked for me, maybe not for others. They also have homework and quizzes, sometimes with answers if you want to get back into problem sets. Good luck everyone!

Anyone else heading to BU this fall? Big win the Terriers Ice Hockey Team - National Champs!

ChrisC Here is the place he stays and the list of the tutors. It maybe a good place to start... http://mather.harvard.edu/tutors/2008-0 ... -08-09.php

ChrisC- I think it depends on the department you are in. He is in Physics and works/lives in a dorm that is predominately hard science majors. It may be something to ask your incoming advisor or something that gets advertised in school papers when available. Next time I see him I can ask how he figured it out.

ChrisC - Good call on staying in graduate student housing. I have a friend at Harvard right now and he has done it for the past 4 years. Actually he was able to get a position as a kind of resident assistant where he has tutor hours a couple times a week and gets his housing for free! I would look into that for sure. I officially got my assistantship (TA 1st semester and RA second) from BU Materials Science and Engineering. I already have a place in Cambridge so no moving for me. Anyone who is moving into town and is at Harvard, MIT or BU should look into Allston and Brookline. They are decent neighborhoods and reasonably priced (for Boston). Somervile is also nice if you are going to Harvard or MIT. Cambridge is very nice, just a bit pricey.

I would go to Stanford or Caltech. Princeton's name doesn't really carry as much weight in the Engineering industry. I work for a pretty big MEMS company in the US and as far as name recognition goes Stanford, MIT and Berkeley are above all the highest when it comes to recruiting. I don't necessarily agree with that methodology (you should pick the best candidate, not a name), but it is what it is. So my opinion... 1. Stanford 2. Caltech 3. Princeton It also depends on your research interests matching the groups at each university. You don't want to get stuck working on a project you have no interest on. Good luck with your decision and with your graduate work. P.S. California = much better weather

Boston is great city. I have been living in Cambridge, MA for a couple years now and love it. Always something to do. If you end up coming to BU and need housing advice let me know. I can help with where to and not to live, those kinds of things. Good luck with your decision!

Anyone headed to BU this year? Anyone going to the graduate open house for accepted engineering graduate students. Looks like they have some fun stuff planned.

Hey Boston Enthusiast! I will be at BU in the Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. program next fall. Anyone else going to this program? I already live and work in Boston, so if anyone has any questions on housing, city life, etc. then let me know.

Hello all, I got in Boston's Materials Science and Engineering post masters Ph.D. program yesterday. I am pretty sure I headed there next fall! Maybe I will see some of you around.

Anyone here from Harvard's Applied Physics?

freshprince, did you get in? How did they notify you? leogk, I also work in the Tech Square area! I work at Analog Devices on Osborne St. Bio-Tech rules Boston for sure.

Hello All, I am just curious if anyone applied to Boston area engineering programs. I am currently working in Cambridge and have applied to the following programs... MIT (EE) Harvard (Applied Physics) Boston University (Biomedical Eng and Materials Science Eng) I know I am all over the place by I have an interest in bio-nano-photonics and it falls into all kinds of departments. Can't wait to find out if I get in! Good luck to all! ----- B.S. Physics and Mathematics (3.7) M.S. Electrical Engineering (3.4) Professional work (5 years) - MEMS Engineer