Considering Grad School, Tons of Questions!

[JLay87]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum; I didn't see a place for prospective grad students to post. Anyways, I guess I'll give a short history of myself and then post some questions.

I received my BS in Civil Engineering in 4 years. I was on the Dean's Honor Roll for some time, was in the Honors' program for a couple semesters, and managed to get through with a 3.0 GPA. I also passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and so am a certified EIT. I am a dues paying member of American Society of Civil Engineers and Engineers Without borders. I have held two internships, one in the private sector and another at a public sector job working for the company that manages the sewers here.

The economy kind of messed up my plans to get an engineering job right out of college (applied daily for a year straight with two interviews and zero offers), so I ended up getting a job in finance and getting an Economics major. But I'm not satisfied with my job.

I know that I'd like to have a job making a decent amount of money (doesn't have to be too much). I like helping people. I like traveling (but not too much), I enjoy using my hands (but I don't want to come home tired every day). I want to be able to set my own hours, or at least not be a slave to the clock. I don't want to have a boss looking over my shoulder or micromanaging me.

Anyways, I'm considering going back to graduate school for aerospace engineering. I have a friend that's going for a physics degree that's interested in doing research on electric propulsion, and that actually sounds like along the lines of what I'd be interested in doing.

Obviously, this field of work would require a PhD from a well-respected institution in physics/aerospace engineering, and I'm not really sure where to go from here. I'm arranging a meeting with the advisors in the physics department at my college to pick their brains, but I know they won't have all the answers.

Where do I find information about schools to research?Should I find a professor to research under? If so, how? Also, what are my prospects for getting into a good school? My BSCE was in geotechnical engineering, not aerospace, so I'm not sure how well that transfers. Also, I didn't participate in any research for my undergraduate degree. Should I contact them to see if I can get involved in research as a non-student? Is that even possible? Would my senior design project suffice in terms of research as something to present to graduate schools? Finally, while my GPA wasn't bad it wasn't great either. What are my chances of getting into a renowned school with the experience I've had? What can I do to improve those chances? I have a year or two until I actually decide to follow through with this, as I'd like to have my undergraduate degree paid off, as well as a decent amount of savings, before pursuing graduate school. What can I do in the mean time to increase my chances? Also, would a BS in Physics help? Would it be worth it?

[victor.s.andrei]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum; I didn't see a place for prospective grad students to post. Anyways, I guess I'll give a short history of myself and then post some questions.

I received my BS in Civil Engineering in 4 years. I was on the Dean's Honor Roll for some time, was in the Honors' program for a couple semesters, and managed to get through with a 3.0 GPA. I also passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and so am a certified EIT. I am a dues paying member of American Society of Civil Engineers and Engineers Without borders. I have held two internships, one in the private sector and another at a public sector job working for the company that manages the sewers here.

The economy kind of messed up my plans to get an engineering job right out of college (applied daily for a year straight with two interviews and zero offers), so I ended up getting a job in finance and getting an Economics major. But I'm not satisfied with my job.

I know that I'd like to have a job making a decent amount of money (doesn't have to be too much). I like helping people. I like traveling (but not too much), I enjoy using my hands (but I don't want to come home tired every day). I want to be able to set my own hours, or at least not be a slave to the clock. I don't want to have a boss looking over my shoulder or micromanaging me.

Anyways, I'm considering going back to graduate school for aerospace engineering. I have a friend that's going for a physics degree that's interested in doing research on electric propulsion, and that actually sounds like along the lines of what I'd be interested in doing.

Obviously, this field of work would require a PhD from a well-respected institution in physics/aerospace engineering, and I'm not really sure where to go from here. I'm arranging a meeting with the advisors in the physics department at my college to pick their brains, but I know they won't have all the answers.

Where do I find information about schools to research?Should I find a professor to research under? If so, how? Also, what are my prospects for getting into a good school? My BSCE was in geotechnical engineering, not aerospace, so I'm not sure how well that transfers. Also, I didn't participate in any research for my undergraduate degree. Should I contact them to see if I can get involved in research as a non-student? Is that even possible? Would my senior design project suffice in terms of research as something to present to graduate schools? Finally, while my GPA wasn't bad it wasn't great either. What are my chances of getting into a renowned school with the experience I've had? What can I do to improve those chances? I have a year or two until I actually decide to follow through with this, as I'd like to have my undergraduate degree paid off, as well as a decent amount of savings, before pursuing graduate school. What can I do in the mean time to increase my chances? Also, would a BS in Physics help? Would it be worth it?

Look at the fundamental courses in a physics or mechanical/aerospace engineering undergraduate degree. I'd say that, with a civil engineering background, you probably took some of them. Then, go take some non-degree graduate courses in physics or aerospace engineering at a local school. Bonus points if you take a few applied mathematics classes.

As for research, you can certainly try to get involved, but if you're going to approach a professor to supervise your research, you might want to start reading papers in your intended field of study first. That way, you can come in with some research ideas and questions -- even if they're no good, they show initiative. The only problem for you is that the two fields you seem interested in are enormous, so you might want to narrow your interests down a bit to limit the number of research papers you will have on your desk.

Also, instead of shifting straight into physics or aerospace engineering, why not try to figure out a way to leverage your background (engineering with finance) along with your new-found interest? Did you try picking up a financial position working for an aerospace company or a defense contractor?