MIT Mechancial Engineering SM

[Maverick1]

22 minutes ago, Kingoflimbs said:

Does anyone know whether what one selects as final degree objective affect admissions decisions. My initial degree objective is the SM and final degree objective is the PhD

From all I have read on this forum, there are some who said MIT prefers SM as the final degree objective more, and of course some who said the opposite (I was researching on AeroAstro since that is one of my areas of interest). Guess we can only know if some actual MIT grad student shares his/her experience here.

But imho, if your final degree objective is PhD, then they have to really size you up and determine whether you have the significant research potential required of a MIT PhD student, more so than someone whose final objective is the SM. But ultimately, it is the PhD qualifying exam that decides whether you get to move into PhD from SM, if admitted.

So i guess stating PhD as the final objective probably works in your favor if you are one of the potential "star" grad student. 

But still, everything is a black box to us applicants ?

[Maverick1]

Btw @Kingoflimbs, is this the only program that you applied to? If your not comfortable with sharing, it is okay.

[Kingoflimbs]

56 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

From all I have read on this forum, there are some who said MIT prefers SM as the final degree objective more, and of course some who said the opposite (I was researching on AeroAstro since that is one of my areas of interest). Guess we can only know if some actual MIT grad student shares his/her experience here.

But imho, if your final degree objective is PhD, then they have to really size you up and determine whether you have the significant research potential required of a MIT PhD student, more so than someone whose final objective is the SM. But ultimately, it is the PhD qualifying exam that decides whether you get to move into PhD from SM, if admitted.

So i guess stating PhD as the final objective probably works in your favor if you are one of the potential "star" grad student. 

But still, everything is a black box to us applicants ?

Woah, I really hope they don't view me on the high standard of a Phd aspirant. I actually felt they would prefer final objective being Phd as they want students that want to stay and do research but like you said, it's a black box to us. A recent MIT PhD graduate actually told me to fill in PhD as final degree objective while i was still creeping up my application and I now regret not asking him then in detail why.. I can still change it in the application portal but I guess it'd be too late. I would try to ask some current students if possible.

54 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

Btw @Kingoflimbs, is this the only program that you applied to? If your not comfortable with sharing, it is okay.

I applied to MIT and Stanford only. MIT being preferred by a mile

Edited February 18, 2019 by Kingoflimbs
wording

[blahblah_girl]

7 hours ago, Kingoflimbs said:

Does anyone know whether what one selects as final degree objective affect admissions decisions. My initial degree objective is the SM and final degree objective is the PhD

My final degree objective is Masters, so I didn't think much about it. I feel like it's only really important if your final degree objective makes sense with the rest of your SOP? It's a good question and I wonder if there is any data that shows that a degree objective affects the admission outcome. One could argue, however, that PhD-oriented people might have a stronger profile in general thus skewing the statistic. 

[Kingoflimbs]

An admit has been posted on gradcafe. The poster got a notification yesterday. Fingers crossed

[Kingoflimbs]

3 hours ago, blahblah_girl said:

My final degree objective is Masters, so I didn't think much about it. I feel like it's only really important if your final degree objective makes sense with the rest of your SOP? It's a good question and I wonder if there is any data that shows that a degree objective affects the admission outcome. One could argue, however, that PhD-oriented people might have a stronger profile in general thus skewing the statistic. 

decision time is here already. A poster on gradcafe plus someone on reddit both got admits. A consolation should be the fact that it is done on a rolling basis. 

[blahblah_girl]

Just now, Kingoflimbs said:

decision time is here already. A poster on gradcafe plus someone on reddit both got admits. A consolation should be the fact that it is done on a rolling basis. 

Could you post the reddit link? 

[Kingoflimbs]

2 minutes ago, blahblah_girl said:

Could you post the reddit link? 

it was a through a PM

[Maverick1]

Hm... and i thought things would be delayed for one day since it is President's Day in the US. The gradcafe guy's GRE is below average, but not that GRE really matters in the admission process.

The SM is also my final degree objective for both MIT ME and AeroAstro. But really, i don't hold high hopes as well; just a normal guy trying his luck at the lottery. 

@Kingoflimbs maybe you would have better luck with Stanford since they seem more welcoming to the start-up kind of people, as well as diversity. 

@blahblah_girl you are from the US right? If that is the case, you certainly have better chances than us international applicants.

[Kingoflimbs]

2 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

Hm... and i thought things would be delayed for one day since it is President's Day in the US. The gradcafe guy's GRE is below average, but not that GRE really matters in the admission process.

The SM is also my final degree objective for both MIT ME and AeroAstro. But really, i don't hold high hopes as well; just a normal guy trying his luck at the lottery. 

@Kingoflimbs maybe you would have better luck with Stanford since they seem more welcoming to the start-up kind of people, as well as diversity. 

@blahblah_girl you are from the US right? If that is the case, you certainly have better chances than us international applicants.

yh, I even thought of removing it for MIT as MIT's more of research. But I was told by a graduate student to leave it in. I have just seen admits roll in for Stanford and I haven't heard anything. Things not looking good atm

[Maverick1]

32 minutes ago, Kingoflimbs said:

yh, I even thought of removing it for MIT as MIT's more of research. But I was told by a graduate student to leave it in. I have just seen admits roll in for Stanford and I haven't heard anything. Things not looking good atm

I can't say anything for MIT but i think you might have a shot at Stanford. The reason I am saying this is that despite me having a shitty CV, I was miraculously accepted into Stanford AeroAstro Masters last year. But I couldn't go since I was not good enough to receive the few pieces of financial aid that they gave out and I couldn't justify the huge debt that I have to incur just to study there.

[blahblah_girl]

50 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

Hm... and i thought things would be delayed for one day since it is President's Day in the US. The gradcafe guy's GRE is below average, but not that GRE really matters in the admission process.

The SM is also my final degree objective for both MIT ME and AeroAstro. But really, i don't hold high hopes as well; just a normal guy trying his luck at the lottery. 

@Kingoflimbs maybe you would have better luck with Stanford since they seem more welcoming to the start-up kind of people, as well as diversity. 

@blahblah_girl you are from the US right? If that is the case, you certainly have better chances than us international applicants.

I am international too, actually. My undergrad is from the US, though.  So not sure if there is any advantage in that! 

[Kingoflimbs]

 

@Maverick1

@blahblah_girl

Here's the reply I got after asking a current grad student : 

no you did well, if you said your final objective is SM degree it puts you at a far disadvantage. The committee that reviews the applications are looking for students who will be doing research (whether that's true or not in your case). They rarely admit students who only want to stay for masters, since it's only a 2 year program so there's not a lot of professors who would want to work with them. The schedule for admission is pretty average this year, the early admittance have been sent out early this month, at this stage no news is good news. Visiting week happens middle of March so you'll find out by then. If you still don't hear anything by then, it means you're on a rolling wait list, there's chance you'll get an offer until someone declines their admission offer (which is also pretty rare).

 

[Kingoflimbs]

3 hours ago, Maverick1 said:

I can't say anything for MIT but i think you might have a shot at Stanford. The reason I am saying this is that despite me having a shitty CV, I was miraculously accepted into Stanford AeroAstro Masters last year. But I couldn't go since I was not good enough to receive the few pieces of financial aid that they gave out and I couldn't justify the huge debt that I have to incur just to study there.

Haha. Thanks for the encouragement, but shitty in yuur eyes could be wonderful to most people. I really hope it's viewed favourably by the MIT Adcoms. Yh, funding is a big issue, wouldn't you have the same problem if admitted to MIT? 

[Kingoflimbs]

3 minutes ago, Kingoflimbs said:

 

@Maverick1

@blahblah_girl

Here's the reply I got after asking a current grad student : 

no you did well, if you said your final objective is SM degree it puts you at a far disadvantage. The committee that reviews the applications are looking for students who will be doing research (whether that's true or not in your case). They rarely admit students who only want to stay for masters, since it's only a 2 year program so there's not a lot of professors who would want to work with them. The schedule for admission is pretty average this year, the early admittance have been sent out early this month, at this stage no news is good news. Visiting week happens middle of March so you'll find out by then. If you still don't hear anything by then, it means you're on a rolling wait list, there's chance you'll get an offer until someone declines their admission offer (which is also pretty rare).

 

For what it's worth, I also got an opposite response from a recent MIT graduate saying it doesn't matter. So still confusing 

[Kingoflimbs]

6 minutes ago, Kingoflimbs said:

 

@Maverick1

@blahblah_girl

Here's the reply I got after asking a current grad student : 

no you did well, if you said your final objective is SM degree it puts you at a far disadvantage. The committee that reviews the applications are looking for students who will be doing research (whether that's true or not in your case). They rarely admit students who only want to stay for masters, since it's only a 2 year program so there's not a lot of professors who would want to work with them. The schedule for admission is pretty average this year, the early admittance have been sent out early this month, at this stage no news is good news. Visiting week happens middle of March so you'll find out by then. If you still don't hear anything by then, it means you're on a rolling wait list, there's chance you'll get an offer until someone declines their admission offer (which is also pretty rare).

 

Does anyone know what he meant by no news is good news? Aren't we supposed to hear back before visiting week? 

[blahblah_girl]

1 hour ago, Kingoflimbs said:

 

@Maverick1

@blahblah_girl

Here's the reply I got after asking a current grad student : 

no you did well, if you said your final objective is SM degree it puts you at a far disadvantage. The committee that reviews the applications are looking for students who will be doing research (whether that's true or not in your case). They rarely admit students who only want to stay for masters, since it's only a 2 year program so there's not a lot of professors who would want to work with them. The schedule for admission is pretty average this year, the early admittance have been sent out early this month, at this stage no news is good news. Visiting week happens middle of March so you'll find out by then. If you still don't hear anything by then, it means you're on a rolling wait list, there's chance you'll get an offer until someone declines their admission offer (which is also pretty rare).

 

Haha I will quote you if I don't get in - "I wasn't admitted because they rarely admit students with SM as a terminal degree objective" is a good excuse that won't hurt my self-esteem too much. 

1 hour ago, Kingoflimbs said:

Does anyone know what he meant by no news is good news? Aren't we supposed to hear back before visiting week? 

I guess it means we weren't outright rejected? Or he just wants to make you feel better

[Maverick1]

1 hour ago, Kingoflimbs said:

Haha. Thanks for the encouragement, but shitty in yuur eyes could be wonderful to most people. I really hope it's viewed favourably by the MIT Adcoms. Yh, funding is a big issue, wouldn't you have the same problem if admitted to MIT? 

Nah, trust me, my CV is more of someone who has dropped out of society for a long time and probably condemned. The only redeeming characteristic was that my academics were really good compared to my peers but i ain't a genius that is for sure.

Yea, funding still is a concern but luckily, MIT is generous with funding by giving out research assistantships to even Masters students. Thus, if one can get admitted, one would hardly face funding issues. At least this is true for ME and AeroAstro, which I am looking at. Among the top tier US universities that I have looked at, only truly a handful are so kind to Masters students.

1 hour ago, Kingoflimbs said:

Does anyone know what he meant by no news is good news? Aren't we supposed to hear back before visiting week? 

I think one of the accepted guys mentioned the visit day is on 13th March or so? Hence I would think that if we don't get any response by the end of 1st week of March, it is pretty much a rejection.

[blahblah_girl]

1 minute ago, Maverick1 said:

I think one of the accepted guys mentioned the visit day is on 13th March or so? Hence I would think that if we don't get any response by the end of 1st week of March, it is pretty much a rejection.

I wish these weeks go by fast (even though a lot to do in the meantime)! 

[Maverick1]

22 minutes ago, blahblah_girl said:

Haha I will quote you if I don't get in - "I wasn't admitted because they rarely admit students with SM as a terminal degree objective" is a good excuse that won't hurt my self-esteem too much. 

I guess it means we weren't outright rejected? Or he just wants to make you feel better

That would be quite funny and ridiculous haha. After all each year, there should be quite a number of terminal SM students graduating i.e. there is a demand for them by the department.

[Kingoflimbs]

2 minutes ago, Maverick1 said:

That would be quite funny and ridiculous haha. After all each year, there should be quite a number of terminal SM students graduating i.e. there is a demand for them by the department.

Yh, exactly. I still feel it's two sided and they have a reason for availing both options. They would also need terminal students that want to go to the industry immediately after the SM.

[Kingoflimbs]

4 minutes ago, blahblah_girl said:

I wish these weeks go by fast (even though a lot to do in the meantime)! 

me too. I think it's safe to say if we haven't heard anything within 2 weeks, then it's a rejection

[blahblah_girl]

Just now, Kingoflimbs said:

Yh, exactly. I still feel it's two sided and they have a reason for availing both options. They would also need terminal students that want to go to the industry immediately after the SM.

Yeah...I feel like in ME especially there're a lot of students who want to go into industry (e.g. me)

[Kingoflimbs]

3 minutes ago, blahblah_girl said:

Yeah...I feel like in ME especially there're a lot of students who want to go into industry (e.g. me)

yeah, me too! But I feel in an environment like MITs, I might change my mind. That was my reasoning behind putting the PhD as final degree objective. But for admissions sake, I really don't know which would have been the best option

[Maverick1]

13 minutes ago, blahblah_girl said:

Yeah...I feel like in ME especially there're a lot of students who want to go into industry (e.g. me)

Yeah, me three! Though like what @Kingoflimbs said, I might be tempted to continue onto a PhD.

In fact, I stated SM as the final objective in the application form, but in my statement of objectives, I mentioned I will be actively considering continuing onto a PhD in MIT if i do find the right opportunity there.