Engineering 2008

[canuck]

Hey I just wanted to start an area where people can share news about their engineering apps. I've applied to do a PhD in mechanical engineering at:

Berkeley

Cornell

UCSD

Imperial College London

University of Toronto

McGill

will keep you posted on the results, if people care to do the same that'd be great.

[nomad]

PhD Computer Science, applied to just 2 places, and just overseas. I figured if I did not get in I could apply to some US / Canadian schools next year.

Cambridge - rejected

University of Edinburgh - accepted (waiting for word on funding)

Good with your apps.

[crossedfingers]

when do engineering majors begin to hear back? Do PhD ppl hereback sooner?

[canuck]

For the American schools I applied to it seems like the acceptances are given out sometime in mid February and the rejections get mailed out late March. The Canadian acceptances generally are doled out rather late April-ish. Imperial College has some sort of rolling timeline, basically I think they respond 6 weeks after your application, not terribly sure.

[nomad]

For the American schools I applied to it seems like the acceptances are given out sometime in mid February and the rejections get mailed out late March. The Canadian acceptances generally are doled out rather late April-ish. Imperial College has some sort of rolling timeline, basically I think they respond 6 weeks after your application, not terribly sure.

From what I understand British schools do have a rolling timeline. Once your application is complete, all transcripts and LORs are in, they send it to the Lab that you applied to. The department or labs try to make a decision within 6 weeks of that. At least that is how it worked at Cambridge and Edinburgh, I am pretty sure that is how Imperial College works too.

[canuck]

Is it just me or is Mechanical Engineering the slowest department there is. A friend of mine has heard back from every single genetics school he applied to (even the rejection) and I have yet to to receive a single thing (officially, unofficial acceptance was given through contact with a professor). Its just stunning.

[Mariner]

For PhD applicants in Engineering is it mandatory to get an interview call before they are accepted ?

[Scratchawl]

Hello,

Fellow engineer here (Civil/environmental engineering, PhD). Things have been relatively slow in January but contacts have really picked up in Feb.

UIUC- Admitted, Fellowship + RA; unofficial email, Jan. 20

Carnegie Mellon- ????

Stanford- Phone interview on 2/11. Decision expected aroun 3/1

Johns Hopkins- Admitted, Fellowship + possible RA; official email, Feb. 4

Minnesota- Admitted, Fellowship + RA; official email, Jan 22

Michigan- ????

I'm pretty satisfied, so much so that I'm not really stressed about the Stanford situation. Wishing everyone good luck, cheers!

[canuck]

Scratchawl,

Congratulations on your admits so far, I seriously considered CMU, UIUC, UM and JHU, in the end I crossed them off because of the location.. but now I regret it!

Hopefully next week....

[canuck]

For PhD applicants in Engineering is it mandatory to get an interview call before they are accepted ?

I really don't think so... although its been the case for me so far. I think mainly the call is to gauge your interest in working with them and not really anything else.

[2008apply]

Hey guys,

I applied for Mechanical Eng. this year. Just got accepted in UBC but no words from other schools. This the list:

Cornell

UC Berkeley

UC Santa Barbara

UC San Diego

Brown (Engineering)

Brown (Applied Math)

Michigan Ann Arbor

Maryland College Park

McGill

Western Ontario

if anyone has any answers from any of these schools please let me know . Thx

[canuck]

if anyone has any answers from any of these schools please let me know . Thx

I've been in contact with a professor at UCSD who let me know that I will be accepted, I think funding decisions have been made as well but don't know for sure; I've not heard anything official yet. When I contacted the Cornell grad admin last week she made no mention of decisions having been made but I notice someone posted an acceptance on Friday... I've not heard anything yet. I also have a phone interview with a professor at McGill next week so I know they are looking at the applications now. I don't know anything about Berkeley.

[Scratchawl]

Scratchawl,

Congratulations on your admits so far, I seriously considered CMU, UIUC, UM and JHU, in the end I crossed them off because of the location.. but now I regret it!

Hopefully next week....

Thanks. JHU is one of my top (if not the top) choices, but the thought of living in Baltimore for four years... not so exciting. On the other hand, Pittsburgh is a lovely city by most accounts. Then again, after looking at your potential schools (London, Toronto, San Diego and Montreal!) I can see why Pittsburgh might not stack up.

[Scratchawl]

I really don't think so... although its been the case for me so far. I think mainly the call is to gauge your interest in working with them and not really anything else.

So what has everyone's interview experience been like? Most of mine have been long-ish (20-40 min) very casual conversations-- hardly an interview at all. The exception was Stanford, which was a 10-20 minute grilling, mainly on my research. This leads me to believe that the casual interviews were for schools in which I was already informally accepted and was just to test the waters for an RAship. The Stanford one was definitely part of the admissions process, I think.

Any similar experiences?

[whitemud]

So what has everyone's interview experience been like? Most of mine have been long-ish (20-40 min) very casual conversations-- hardly an interview at all. The exception was Stanford, which was a 10-20 minute grilling, mainly on my research. This leads me to believe that the casual interviews were for schools in which I was already informally accepted and was just to test the waters for an RAship. The Stanford one was definitely part of the admissions process, I think.

Any similar experiences?

I managed to get accepted at Stanford (with a fellowship) without a phone interview. Though, two professors did contact me through e-mail about research. This may just be because I had a connection through my current adviser, or that they were specifically interviewing for the RAship. In fact, all of my contact with schools has been through e-mails.

Here's hoping no one tries to call me this week, as I've lost my voice with a nasty bug. Now, *that* would be an awkward interview.

[canuck]

My contact with professors so far has been very casual. Both essentially just wanted to let me know that I would be accepted and wanted to discuss my research interests. It would be terrifying to get grilled over the phone unless they gave you some advance warning.

[partisan5]

Hey, I'd really appreciate some advice

Here's some information about me:

GPA: 3.2/4.0 (3.3 including fall 07)

GRE: 760v, 790q, 5.0

Publications: none at time of application, (1 now)

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Undergraduate Focus: signal processing & communications

Schools:

UCSD: reject

Yale: accept

Columbia: accept

Penn State: fellowship

Upenn:

Rutgers:

Princeton:

RPI:

Stony Brook:

if anyone has any suggestions about where I should go. or any comments on the above schools I would really appreciate it!

thanks

[canuck]

If you are looking to do a PhD, you really have to weigh three things really carefully, 1. how good a fit you would be there, 2. the prestige of the department 3. Funding. Really I wish only 1. mattered, but the fact of the matter is that it is tremendously competitive process to get faculty positions so you have to seriously consider how the department is thought of. On that front I don't really know much about the Columbia or Yale engineering programs tho they are both fantastic schools in general. Out of the schools left Princeton is obviously great.

[xenon]

I am getting a bit frustrated with no news from 6 of the universities.

GPA: 3.8/4.0 (for B.Eng) 4.0/4.0 (for M.Eng)

GRE: 580v, 790q, 5.0

4 years of working experience (1 year industry and 3 years in research institute)

2 publications (1 in journal)

1 patent filed

Nationality: International

Schools:

UCB:

UCSD:

UCLA:

Purdue:

UMN: Accepted with no funding

University of Florida:

Texas A&M:

What are my chances?

Thanks

[canuck]

good.

[orgirl]

Accepted: Cornell

Waiting: MIT, Columbia

I got a call on a Saturday morning from a Stanford professor, who just called out of the blue. There was no email about scheduling a phone interview. I was confused as to what the call was all about since the conversation was casual and he was saying how impressed they were with my credentials. He was also asking about my research interests, and saying if I wanted to get in touch with a professor, I should tell him. So since he was saying good things about me, I asked him whether this means I am accepted. He mentioned it wasn't yet, since my application had to go through other channels. I'm just really confused, is that what a phone interview is? Or do they usually schedule it? I hope I didn't jeopardize my chances. :oops:

[Scratchawl]

Accepted: Cornell

Waiting: MIT, Columbia

I got a call on a Saturday morning from a Stanford professor, who just called out of the blue. There was no email about scheduling a phone interview. I was confused as to what the call was all about since the conversation was casual and he was saying how impressed they were with my credentials. He was also asking about my research interests, and saying if I wanted to get in touch with a professor, I should tell him. So since he was saying good things about me, I asked him whether this means I am accepted. He mentioned it wasn't yet, since my application had to go through other channels. I'm just really confused, is that what a phone interview is? Or do they usually schedule it? I hope I didn't jeopardize my chances. :oops:

I had a nearly identical experience with a Stanford professor. Who do these guys think they are, calling out of blue like that (kidding, slightly)!? The way I see it, almost all of the Stanford engineering programs get 100's of applicants. So if a very busy prof pulls out my (or your) app for a 30 minute interview, it has to be a great sign. I guess I took it as a positive, but I'm not going to get too happy until the letter arrives.

[orgirl]

I'm so ecstatic! I just got an email from MIT saying they're accepting me! Yay! And I'll be working under these two really amazing profs. So now, it's

Accepted: MIT, Cornell

Waiting: Stanford, Columbia

I am actually just going to accept MIT regardless of the outcome of the rest.

[crossedfingers]

congratulations! That must have def been such a HUGE relief!

[melancholypenguin]

So what has everyone's interview experience been like? Most of mine have been long-ish (20-40 min) very casual conversations-- hardly an interview at all. The exception was Stanford, which was a 10-20 minute grilling, mainly on my research. This leads me to believe that the casual interviews were for schools in which I was already informally accepted and was just to test the waters for an RAship. The Stanford one was definitely part of the admissions process, I think.

Any similar experiences?

I got an phone call from Yale out of the blue. We had a casual 15-20 minute conversation, mostly about my research and the admissions process, but then I got a rejection .