impulse_nerve

I'm in the uncomfortable position of having accepted an a PhD track at a large public institution (finishing my first year) and not having it live up to my expectations. Of all the choices, (leaving, finishing PhD here, staying the PhD track and then leaving once I've been given a Masters along the way, etc.) the best idea I've come up with is to ask to be switched into a Master track. The problem here is that I still want to earn a PhD. It's just becoming more clear after the year here that I don't want it to be here. The institution is a strong public university (I'm getting my degree in Mechanical Engineering). However, my undergraduate institution was also a strong public university and a similar style college town to boot. It feels like I've traded one location/school for an equivalent one and am not overly enthused with my research adviser. If I switch to a Masters Program, what are everyone's thoughts on my outlook for reapplying to schools PhD program at the end of that Masters (assuming that transition goes well)? Will I be shooting myself in the foot for leaving a PhD program in the first place if I'm not content with the University setting? My primary motives for leaving are unfortunately grounded in emotional turmoil than actual quality of the program. My undergraduate degree is from 2012 BSME, GRE scores strong 800/630 and my grades thus far are very strong in the graduate program. My main concern here is that I've received funding for this first year and will basically be telling the department here that they've wasted there time/money for me to become a terminal Masters student. How much should weigh the feelings of the department (and the subsequent effect on LOR) vs my own happiness in a program? Thanks!

I'm going to be attending a PhD program this coming fall at the University of Maryland - College Park and was curious about the commuting scene... I know the green line will get me to and from campus but was probably thinking of buying a parking decal anyway. that being said, I hadn't considered living outside the city of College Park. Anyone have any insight on places to live that would be still be a reasonable daily commute to the UMCP campus? How close to DC would be a mistake with regard to traffic? Is there traffic in that direction? I'm from Florida so I haven't the slightest clue as to the traffic trends/suburbs/cities up there. General information appreciated =]

Hello out there! I'm pretty much locked into Maryland's Mechanical Engineering PhD track and was wondering if anyone else accepted out there is thinking of accepting that offer. I'll be joining Fall 2012 and hopefully getting in good with some of the cool vibrations/controls/robotics research by the end of the year! I'm from Miami, Fl and attended the University of Florida for a B.S.M.E. with a minor in Mathematics. Anyone else coming up to college park?

I got a rejection from UPenn about a week ago. No rejection yet for you sounds hopeful =]

Ms. Marcia Sawyer from Cornell. Still no response from Penn. Aba, that columbia thing is weird... what's your specialty/ who do you want to work with in Columbia?

@Darkmattertek I sent an email out to Upenn, JHU, and Cornell asking about status updates. Nothing from UPenn, but I just called Ms. Sawyer and she said while I was not rejected that I did not receive an admission for the PhD program. Instead, they offered me acceptance to the Masters of Engineering program (unfunded). She said she picked out 33 people for that. Bummer, I would've gone for it if it was funded possibly. In any event, Johns Hopkins said they are sending out mass stuff 3/21. For any others waiting on Cornell, Ms. Sawyer indicated that she was still sending rejections out (on the letter S or F, I couldn't tell what she said but I'm leaning toward S) throughout the remainder of the week. I'll let you know if I hear anything back from UPenn. Anyone hear from Columbia? I saw a few people got a letter in the mail/fedex and someone got admission to their masters program even though they applied for the phd.

By the way, I signed up for that Us-News report compass about a year ago and they recently updated the ranking for pretty much everything. Here's the list for Graduate Mechanical Engineering Programs: 1. Stanford 2. MIT 3. Cal Tech 3. UC Berkeley 5. U Michigan -Ann Arbor 6. Georgia Tech 7. U Illinois Urbana Champagne 8. Princeton 9. Cornell 9. Purdue 11. Carnegie Mellon 12. Northwestern 13. Johns Hopkins 13. UT Austin 15. Penn State 15. Texas A&M 15. U Minnesota- Twin cities 18. Ohio State 18. UCLA 18. U Maryland 18. U Wisconsin 18. Virginia Tech 23. UC San Diego 24. Harvard 24. Rice 24. U Washington 27. Duke 27. RPI 27. UC Santa Barbara 27. UPenn 27. U Southern California

So if we haven't received a rejection from Cornell it implies that we are waitlisted? I've been freaked out by the piles of rejections posted in the results section here but have not received one myself. Who did you contact at Cornell?

Hello fellow MechEs! I'm tired of not seeing any of us witha dedicated thread. I figure this could be explicitly to say if and when we hear back from institutions, good and bad. I received an acceptance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute earlier this month. Rather suprising since it's so early, I had expected all results to come in around early March or something. Anyway, maybe you guys have also heard from other places? I'm also applied to columbia university cornell university university of michigan university of maryland johns hopkins university princeton university university of pennsylvania Good luck everyone!

Hey, MCS_aspirant, ...nothing to do with this thread really but I see you already heard back from U Mich for the Aero PhD. Congrats! I was wondering how you heard from them/how you found out. Thanks

Undergrad Institution: Big State School, solid/ top 30 ranked engineering, US Major(s): Mechanical Engineering Minor(s): Mathematics Overall GPA: 3.45/4.0 Length of Degree: 4 years Type of Student: Hispanic Male American Citizen GRE Scores (old version): Q:800 (94%) V: 630 (91%) W: 4 (45%) Research Experience: Year long honors thesis in deployment dynamics of a small satellite. Worked with professor at university and afrl Awards/Honors/Recognitions: several scholarships/recognitions within university, no national awards Pertinent Activities or Jobs: honor society stuff Applying to Where: Columbia Johns Hopkins Princeton U. Penn RPI U. Maryland U. Michigan Cornell All Mechanical Engineering PhD except Michigan which is Aerospace Engineering PhD