collegebum1989

Just got an email from GW! Accepted! 

Just got an email from GW! Accepted! 

I just finished an MEng with the intention of doing a PhD after my program and here are some of my thoughts:

First, some will say that the MEng can be a "backdoor" entrance to the graduate program since you are already in the system and this is certainly true. But it depends on the school. At Cornell, they explicitly say that it is impossible because they don't want "cross-breeding" between programs, which means they don't want people thinking the MEng is the ticket to their more prestigious program. However, I have friends who've made the transition, and like the previous poster stated, the ticket in is (a) finding an internal adviser who agrees to be your adviser, and ( pursuing research which will lead to a publication after the program.

From my experience, it's definitely possible to cater your MEng to anything you want to do afterwards. We had people who wanted to go to medical school, dental school, industry, PhD, etc. But I think this is more dependent on the program than the degree itself since requirements are different at various schools. Also, since its mostly coursework, you will have the chance to do well in graduate classes if your undergraduate performance wasn't as well as you expected it to be. However, different schools will weigh graduate and undergraduate GPAs for admissions.

My Advise: Contact the schools and clarify everything before you choose to pursue an expensive degree (MEng is self-funded). Find out how lenient schools are with having people shift around in programs. It varies by size of specific departments within schools as well. Best of luck!