jmoon43

I am going to Caltech in the fall! I will be in mechanical engineering ph.d program.

I still can't believe I have these options to choose for my graduate studies and am very thankful that I got into those amazing schools. Now, I am not sure which one to choose...(For MIT and Stanford: MS with funding, for Caltech: ph.d with funding. ) For now, I'd like to become a professor in the future, but I am opened to pursue industrial or national lab positions. All the research projects from professors at these places are very intriguing to me, and I don't have a preference. That said, I am leaning towards Caltech for its small size (it seems that teaching and the interaction between professors and students are heavily emphasized.) and of course, its location and weather. However, I hear that mechanical engineering programs at Stanford and MIT have better prospects and people regard these places higher than Caltech. Is that true? Any info on these schools will be great!

It's great that you learned Matlab in your freshman year. The reason why the Matlab course is at the beginning of the engineering curriculum is that Matlab is a very useful tool for numerical studies and plots and that you are expected to use Matlab in many other courses in the future. I'd suggest you to understand and know how to utilize Matlab well. Although they know the theory and concepts, some students fail to produce results because they do not know the tool well. If you are interested in learning new languages, I'd recommend C or Java. The C language resembles Matlab such that it does not take too much time to understand it once you know Matlab (for loops, if statements, etc).

Sorry if my grammar is.wrong Its kindda hard to write long on my.phone.. haha

Hello there, First off, you are a junior and have some time to think about what you would really like to do after graduation. If you are pursuing ph.d or master's with thesis, I would suggest you have some research experience before thinking about going to graduate school. Because that's what you will be doing in grad school besides the courses. If you know that you want to pursue this path, I will tell you that GPA is quite important, but your research experience is also important if not more. Many applicants(from my personal experience) who get accepted to these schools usually have extensive research experiences. Having said that, it.is hard to determine anything only based on your GPA. (I am a student at one of these schools you mentioned.)

I found applicant profiles in previous years very useful, and I hope others find this year's helpful. Undergrad Institution: Top 3 in mechanical engineering, top 5 in engineering in US Major(s): Mechanical Engineering Minor(s): GPA in Major: 3.89 Overall GPA: 3.77 Length of Degree: 4.5 Position in Class: Not available Type of Student: International GRE Scores: Q: 167 V: 159 W: 4.0 TOEFL Total: 112 (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: 1.5 years in proton exchange membrane fuel cells 1.5 years in micro/nano heat transfer 0.5 years in microfluidics Awards/Honors/Recognitions: President's research award for 3 consecutive years Dean's list for all semesters and Faculty honors for 3 semesters Samsung Scholarship (fellowship) - $50,000 for 5 years for my future Master's and Ph.D programs. 3rd place for outstanding paper award at a renown conference my volunteer work was featured in a column of a local French paper Pertinent Activities or Jobs: co-founded a private learning center for academically challenged students (annual profit, 6 figures) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: 6 research publications [1 1st author journal paper (cited by 5 so far), 1 co-author journal paper, 4 conference papers) recommendation letters from the university president and 2 renown professors Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: MIT - ME Stanford - ME UC Berkeley - ME Georgia Tech - ME accepted with fellowship or RA position available University of Illinois, Urbana Champagne - ME, accepted with a fellowship University of Michigan - ME Caltech - ME School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding

Lets get 2013 underway Usual format for posts: Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Engineering?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores: Q: V: W: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding

Lets get 2013 underway Usual format for posts: Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?)... Overall Reputation in Engineering?) Major(s): Minor(s): GPA in Major: Overall GPA: Length of Degree: (Are you graduating after 3, 4, or 5 years?) Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?) Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?) GRE Scores: Q: V: W: TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this) Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, organization officer etc...) Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at: School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding School - Department - decision/date/funding