profoundquiet

I'm a masters student working on a project under a PhD student. I'm concerned because it seems like she (the PhD student) gets frustrated with me very often and I don't know why. The project we're working on is running into a lot of problems. When I ask her opinion about it, she gets visibly annoyed or upset, and tells me to proceed with the experiments as planned. I'm not sure what to do, both in terms of the experiment and my relationship with her. Does she think I'm incompetent? Or is she actually upset that the project isn't going as smoothly as planned? Or maybe a bit of both? I should assume that she's frustrated about the research, but I can't help but feel like it's my fault. All I know is that every time she gets upset at me, I lose motivation and just want to quit the lab altogether sometimes. There's an undergrad working with us and it seems like she doesn't get irritated with the undergrad. Maybe it's because the undergrad is also a girl or maybe because the undergrad doesn't think much of it. I know this whole ordeal may sound juvenile, but any help would be appreciated.

I'm in grad school now, but I have an unfortunate undergrad GPA of 3.3. Is it not even worth applying? I heard most successful applicants have 3.7 or better...

LOL. I'm so glad it's not just me. I've been looking up where I'll be going to research and nearby buildings and everything.

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I agree with hasseye. I applied to 13 schools (PhD though) and only got into 2 with a "bad" GPA. If you're serious about doing a Masters degree, you need to apply to as many schools as you can (that you'd be willing to go to, of course). Since your GPA is so low, it's going to be very difficult to get into any of the top schools. You should definitely try applying to low ranked or non-ranked schools. It's your best shot right now if you don't want to stay at that company. Whatever you do, don't give up. There are always schools or other companies that will want to take you if you work hard from now on and show your determination.

erini, you didn't apply for the University Grad Housing?

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Tough choice. USC is stronger in Engineering overall, but their students have a reputation of being pretentious and thinking they're "better than they actually are". Brown is a wonderful school, but sadly their Engineering isn't that great. I'd go with USC and just try to dispel the stereotype!

I would definitely recommend Berkeley/UCSF! Their program in BME is the strongest of the three you listed and the names of both institutions are strong as well.

Although I don't know which field you're going into, I would highly recommend Cornell because of their exceptional engineering school as well as prestige. Industry would love the Cornell name over those other schools.

I am going to be entering the BME Masters program at Columbia this Fall. I really really wanted to be guaranteed for a PhD track, but my undergrad GPA was simply too low, so I am currently enrolled in the M.S. only track. I'm sure that it depends greatly on the school and major, but how difficult is it to continue on to a PhD program from a Masters? I know that you have to keep your GPA up during your Masters as well as get in a research lab where your PI would eventually be willing to fund you for a PhD. But is there anything else I should know about? I emailed the prof I want to work with and he said "Occasionally outstanding MS students go onto funded PhD programs, but this is not the normal path and not guaranteed in the MS admission." which made me Any advice?

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I am a little concerned with the upcoming summer. I really want to do something productive and useful towards my career goals, but unfortunately I will be on vacation with my family from mid-June to mid-July. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my family and all, but I am a bit worried about the rest of my time during summer. I will have a month during May/June and 1.5 months during July/August just sitting at home with absolutely nothing to do. I plan to do Masters research when I get to grad school, so I was thinking of reading up on papers in the lab I want to work in, but that doesn't seem very substantial. I want to do something like an internship that I can put on my resume (no industry experience whatsoever, just research) but the vacation time is right in the middle of summer and cuts a huge chunk out of that. The reasoning for wanting to "work" is that I've been hearing that the job market is really really tough these days, even for engineers, and I think that my lack of industry experience is really detrimental to my chances. By the way, the argument that "You should relax now cause you'll be working hard for the next 5 years" does not apply here because I am not sure if I will continue on to the Ph.D. program. I may very well be looking for a job in 1.5 to 2 years. Sorry for the rant. Any suggestions for constructive things to do this summer?

Is anyone interested in doing a campus tour with me in August after move-in but before instruction? I didn't go to the open house, but I really want to tour the campus and maybe the city too. I'm doing an MS in Biomedical Engineering.

They're douchebags. Them and UC Irvine are the only ones out of 13 that haven't replied with anything even though it's been almost a month past the deadline. If you're going to reject someone, send a god damn rejection letter.

Thanks for your replies! Turns out that my grad school has business card printing services, so I'll just stick with that to avoid copyright infringement. Although I'm a bit worried cause I'm only doing the M.S. (at this point) and I don't know if I'll be able to use up 250 cards in 2 years. haha.

Hey all, So my friend gave me her "business card" today, even though she's an undergraduate. I thought about it, and I think that it'd be very useful, especially if you're attending a lot of conferences and exchanging contact information with other students often. That said, what should I put on mine? I'm about to go to grad school, so am planning to put the grad school info and the school logo. But should I also include my undergrad school info/logo? I know that might seem a bit excessive, but I thought that it might be good since I am right about to finish undergrad. I'm only affiliated with universities, so right now I just have: Name, School, Major, Degree/Date, Research Interests, Phone, Email Any thoughts?

Yeah, standardized testing is always a pain. I would just say try practicing the areas in math you think you're weak in using a GRE practice book before taking it again. I think you have a pretty good shot at getting into at least one of these schools. Ann Arbor doesn't look like it'll be as hard as the rest. Plus Masters programs are less competitive than PhD programs. I think that although your GPA and GRE may be average, but your extensive research experience will count for a lot. Make sure your recommendation letter writers (like your PI) are influential people and that they'll write good, non-generic letters for you. Other than that, just stay on top of school and try to raise your GPA. Good luck!

Your research experience looks great. To be honest, people applying to the top schools get 780+ on the GRE Quant, so you may want to work on that. Verbal/AW don't matter. GPA looks alright. Many successful applicants have 3.3+. But 3.5+ would be top notch. Irvine, LA, SD, and WashU in particular are going to be pretty challenging. I think schools in the northwest and south are a bit less competitive. UCLA's a good name though. So with a 3.45 + research, you shouldn't have too much of a problem getting into multiple schools.

Hi therealwinster, I'm a senior undergrad in BME. I'm going to be doing a Masters at Columbia this Fall in BioMEMS/microfluidics. I have looked into this question for a long time: Should I get an M.S. or a Ph.D.? The answer is really up to you. What kind of work do you want to do in the end? Some things to consider: With an M.S. you learn about a broad range of topics within the field and research a bit into a certain problem. With a Ph.D. you research incredibly in-depth into a single problem and become an expert on it over a long time.The merit of having an M.S. is that you can finish and start working earlier. The merit of having a Ph.D. is that you have an incredibly rich background behind you when you finish and you will have a slightly higher salary.An M.S. is only 1-2 years whereas a Ph.D. is 5-6 years.A Ph.D. really requires you to be incredibly committed. It is generally looked down upon to leave halfway with a Masters.There are M.S. programs in the U.S. that are strictly professional (1 year) and are course-based, geared towards readying students to work in industry. Other (most) M.S. programs are 1.5 - 2 years and entail either coursework or Masters thesis research or both. Now having said that, top Ph.D. programs in BME in the U.S. are incredibly competitive. Most schools have a 3.5/4.0 minimum GPA requirement and extensive research experience. I had a lot of research experience but only a 3.2 GPA, so I only got into 1 Ph.D. program at a "safety school" while being rejected from 10 others. You will have a very hard time getting into any Ph.D. programs without prior research experience. You may want to consider applying to M.S. programs instead and then pursue research if you are interested. As my mentor has told me, just work hard and stay intellectually curious. Things will work out for the better.

It's definitely better to have an M.S. on your name than an M.Eng. You can do an M.S. and go either industry or PhD. If you decide to do a PhD during your M.S., there's usually an opportunity to do a Masters thesis. But the strictly course-based M.Eng will completely cut off the PhD option. Both are amazing schools. But M.S. is the wiser choice imo. I wouldn't be worried about job hunting conditions in NYC... there are plenty of opportunities outside of career fairs. Definitely contact people at Columbia about your concern. I'll be at Columbia for an M.S. as well this Fall