Civil Engineering 2009

[lightyears]

moommoombaba, are you staying at the stanford guest house?

[H-A]

Finally... after all these waiting, I finally got accepted into stanford cee program! Now gotta decide which school i want to go to and start to worry about fundings... grad school is not cheap!!! :evil:

those who have not yet heard from berkeley or stanford means that are not accepted? moommoombaba can you tell about your GPA,GRE, TOEFL and papers.

[moommoombaba]

Stanford have a guest house?? didn't know that

i just stayed at my friend's

how did you like the visitation day?

Those who have not heard back from the program doesn't mean they are not accepted. it just means the school is still reviewing your package. most likely you are on the waiting list and whoever declines the offer will hopefully give you a spot

[lightyears]

Stanford have a guest house?? didn't know that

i just stayed at my friend's

how did you like the visitation day?

Those who have not heard back from the program doesn't mean they are not accepted. it just means the school is still reviewing your package. most likely you are on the waiting list and whoever declines the offer will hopefully give you a spot

Yeah, it's by the linear accelerator.

I thought visitation day went pretty well. There were a lot more people there than I thought there would be. The Y2E2 building was really impressive...

Where are you from? I wonder if I met you...

Did the visit help you make up your mind? Were you able to secure any funding?

[moommoombaba]

Yeah, it's by the linear accelerator.

I thought visitation day went pretty well. There were a lot more people there than I thought there would be. The Y2E2 building was really impressive...

Where are you from? I wonder if I met you...

Did the visit help you make up your mind? Were you able to secure any funding?

i like the visitation day too because a lot of my questions were answered. overall it's better than the berkeley one.

I am from Davis but I don't think I met you because I only met a few ppl from structural.

it did help me make up my mind. I am pretty much set with stanford over berkeley. Now i just need to figure out the money part. they say the financial package is coming 3/31 so we will see much i get. it sucks that all their fellowships are merit based not need based... i wonder if other schools are like that. and for some fellowships we need to compete with all other majors too

[lightyears]

i like the visitation day too because a lot of my questions were answered. overall it's better than the berkeley one.

I am from Davis but I don't think I met you because I only met a few ppl from structural.

it did help me make up my mind. I am pretty much set with stanford over berkeley. Now i just need to figure out the money part. they say the financial package is coming 3/31 so we will see much i get. it sucks that all their fellowships are merit based not need based... i wonder if other schools are like that. and for some fellowships we need to compete with all other majors too

Oh, so there's still a chance you'll get funding? It sounds pretty hopeless for our group. I heard they only had 2 fellowships to give to the 40 admitted students. It didn't sound like there were a lot of research opportunities either. A lot of people said they wouldn't attend if they don't receive funding, but we'll see...

I hope I get some financial help. It would make my decision a lot easier.

[moommoombaba]

Oh, so there's still a chance you'll get funding? It sounds pretty hopeless for our group. I heard they only had 2 fellowships to give to the 40 admitted students. It didn't sound like there were a lot of research opportunities either. A lot of people said they wouldn't attend if they don't receive funding, but we'll see...

I hope I get some financial help. It would make my decision a lot easier.

I am not sure how much fellowship they can get for civil, but from what i remember, they have fellowship that is for civil students only, and fellowship that everyone is competing to get. plus they are merit based not need based so basically we have to fight with all other top students in other majors. I forgot it was berkeley or stanford, but one of them said this year fellowship got cut half. that is not good. i really don't know how much MS is going to get, if there is any at all. the speaker for structural group also mentioned that they sent out two types of admission letter (other than the rejection ones), one states financial aid is pending (which is due 3/31ish), the other states no aid at this point. however even those with no aid will hopefully get a chance to get TA or RA if someone else doesn't want it.. but the chance is slim i think. Nevertheless i think right now there are not that many PhD student got admitted compared to MS, which like 7 for structural. from what i saw there are a lot of MS who are also interested in phd too but they were told to go through MS first. so i really hope there is fundings for MS after giving them to the phd guys.

[watereverywhere]

The only Env. Eng program I applied to was MIT (all the other programs I applied to are non-engineering related)

I heard of my acceptance on 3/17/2009. No funding. :cry: I'm trying not to let it bother me too much, they have very few applicants that get $$ and I'm lucky to be admitted as it is (especially coming from a non-engineering school).

Anyone else attending visit day next week? I'm probably going to end up going to MIT.

[the_einherjer]

I wrote to Berkeley, Civil engg acad. affairs and this is what they had to say:

We are in the process of finalizing the admissions decisions for the Fall 2009 semester. By now, most of the acceptance letters have been sent out. We will inform all applicants of their decision by the end of April.

If your inquiry concerns the completeness of your application, please note that if all your letters of recommendation, transcripts, GRE, and if applicable, TOEFL scores have been uploaded into the online file, then your application is complete.

Due to the high volume of email, phone calls, and packages we receive daily during the admissions cycle, we cannot guarantee a response if your email inquiry can be addressed by our application web page. If you have a general question regarding the graduate application, please visit our application web page at http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/admissions/g ... cation.php. We strongly urge that you visit this page and read

I applied to the SEMM program for a PhD position.... Has anyone been accepted already (International)? Looks like chances are getting slim.. if they are there at all ... This was my only app!

[the_einherjer]

oh btw.. that was an automated reply :|

[apetusk]

I applied to the DCI program (little bit of construction, mostly structural) and received a fellowship.

How would you rate the overall structures program between Stanford and Berkeley. Would an MS from either be as marketable to firms?

Has anyone heard back from MIT Structural?

[moommoombaba]

I applied to the DCI program (little bit of construction, mostly structural) and received a fellowship.

How would you rate the overall structures program between Stanford and Berkeley. Would an MS from either be as marketable to firms?

Has anyone heard back from MIT Structural?

I am also wondering about the quality of the structural program between those 2 schools as well. I know overall civil wise they are both very good school but when it comes down to structural i don't know which school has a better edge. I went to both school's visiting day and of cuz both school said they are very good at it.. especially in seismic design.

I think they are both very marketable to firms, at least they will give you very good networks

DCI program is part of civil deparment right?? I am still waiting on the fundings for structural... when did you get your financial package from them?

[apetusk]

I am also wondering about the quality of the structural program between those 2 schools as well. I know overall civil wise they are both very good school but when it comes down to structural i don't know which school has a better edge. I went to both school's visiting day and of cuz both school said they are very good at it.. especially in seismic design.

I think they are both very marketable to firms, at least they will give you very good networks

DCI program is part of civil deparment right?? I am still waiting on the fundings for structural... when did you get your financial package from them?

Well from what I gathered, the material covered at either will be quite similar. I think the main difference between the two is if you were looking to get a PhD. definitely go to Berkeley hands down. For simply the MS, I think Stanford is generally smaller class sizes and a little more one-on-one attention in terms of teaching. That is the impression I got. Since I was in the CEM visitation program (DCI is in the civil department - it basically allows ppl to take some of the structural classes and construction classes from either program), I did not see what was going on for the actual structural program. How did it look?

I heard about financial aid at Stanford about two days before the visitation day.

I am also thinking about University of Washington. They seem to have a decent program. It all seemed like a good program but not many people could tell me much about it in relation to Berkeley, etc. Anyone have advice about Udub?

[gavyas]

Hi,

I have been received an offer for MS from Stanford in Environmental Fluid Mechanics field but the funding decision is still pending, When i talked to them, they told me that 1st round of offers has been sent and i will be given funding when someone rejects their offer from 1st round. Is it happens for such a big univ like stanford that offers are rejected? Do they really send 2nd round of offers??

[moommoombaba]

Well from what I gathered, the material covered at either will be quite similar. I think the main difference between the two is if you were looking to get a PhD. definitely go to Berkeley hands down. For simply the MS, I think Stanford is generally smaller class sizes and a little more one-on-one attention in terms of teaching. That is the impression I got. Since I was in the CEM visitation program (DCI is in the civil department - it basically allows ppl to take some of the structural classes and construction classes from either program), I did not see what was going on for the actual structural program. How did it look?

I heard about financial aid at Stanford about two days before the visitation day.

I am also thinking about University of Washington. They seem to have a decent program. It all seemed like a good program but not many people could tell me much about it in relation to Berkeley, etc. Anyone have advice about Udub?

Yeah I am donig MS only.. I know that if you don't get MS from berkeley you can't go for their phd there. not sure if that's the case for stanford

Structural was fine. It was much more helpful than the berkeley's visitation day. They talked about funding and course works. We got a class syllabus of last year which highlights all the classes and requirement. Basically they said whatever structural area you are interested in they will have someone sharing that similar interest so you don't have to work alone. For funding, they said they sent out two types of admission letters earlier, one said funding pending, the other one said no funding. So i don't know if anyone in structural actually got fundings before the visitation day. we are talking about MS here. So they said package will be sent out 3/31ish that's why i asked when you got yours. My guess is they sent out first round of aid and i am on the waitlist if anyone decline it. I just hope i can get at least some money to help out.

Are you MS? May I ask you roughly how much funding did you get? is it TA/RA and/or fellowship?

[chabos4]

Hey, I am admitted for the MEng in Civil Engineering at MIT for the fall 2009. (high performance structures)

Are there any future classmates here?

[watereverywhere]

chabos4 - yup! I'm Environmental, not structures, but I'm officially going

(sent in my letter yesterday)

[lightyears]

I'm starting to feel a little sick after looking more closely at all the expenses I will incur at Stanford. I know it's not a charity, but I find it hard to believe they don't have the resources for a couple extra assistantships or fellowships. I wish there was something I could do. A part time job won't even begin to scratch the surface of all the bills I'll be paying...

[moommoombaba]

I'm starting to feel a little sick after looking more closely at all the expenses I will incur at Stanford. I know it's not a charity, but I find it hard to believe they don't have the resources for a couple extra assistantships or fellowships. I wish there was something I could do. A part time job won't even begin to scratch the surface of all the bills I'll be paying...

That's exactly what i felt when I looked at the cost yesterday after finding out I am merely on the wait list for fellowships which means i have high chance not getting anything. I will have a part time job working professionally but even working 20hrs per week i still couldn't net up half the tuition that i need to pay. I came from a public university and received very nice financial aid so I didn't have to worry about money. I could never see myself going to a private school. but here i am looking at the numbers. kind of thinking private school is not for the poor like me who is also not competitive enough to get fellowship. I keep wondering how impressive the other guys are to receive funding

[TuftsGuy]

Officially Tufts University Class of 2011! I'm in the M.S. Civil & Environmental Engineering program with a focus on Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. Probably going to advance to the Ph.D program, but I'll worry about that when I get there. I received a large scholarship, will probably cost me about $2500/semester for tuition, but Boston is expensive, so I'll definitely be working on the side during school (maybe local design firm? any connections anyone?). Will also be working on research on off shore wind turbines at the school with a great guy (Professor Edgers, who originally interested me in the program) that will probably end up leading to my thesis. So glad to be in the Boston area after spending four years in upstate New York (Troy) going to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Anyone else going to grad school in the Boston area? If so, any info. on local work while in school or apartments?

[lightyears]

That's exactly what i felt when I looked at the cost yesterday after finding out I am merely on the wait list for fellowships which means i have high chance not getting anything. I will have a part time job working professionally but even working 20hrs per week i still couldn't net up half the tuition that i need to pay. I came from a public university and received very nice financial aid so I didn't have to worry about money. I could never see myself going to a private school. but here i am looking at the numbers. kind of thinking private school is not for the poor like me who is also not competitive enough to get fellowship. I keep wondering how impressive the other guys are to receive funding

Do you already have a job lined up? Have you made your decision between schools yet?

It's going to be rough, but since I'll probably continue for a PhD, I think going to Stanford is probably the right decision.

[watereverywhere]

I'm with ya, lightyears.

I ended up choosing MIT not just because of the quality of the program (which I think is quite fantastic and really looking forward to it), but also because it's a 9month program. All my other programs were 2 years (and not in engineering), also at $50k/yr. I don't know how I'm going to pay off the loans, but I do know that having this degree will boost my credentials for future jobs and hopefully land me something decent where I can pay off my education in a few years. I'm also coming from a public university where I didn't have to pay for much due to scholarship. I'm getting nothing from MIT, but that's expected. I see it as an investment, and I'm holding off on buying a car/house, etc until my loans are paid.

[moommoombaba]

Do you already have a job lined up? Have you made your decision between schools yet?

It's going to be rough, but since I'll probably continue for a PhD, I think going to Stanford is probably the right decision.

My boss at my current job let me work part time from home when i go back to grad school.

I made my decision to go to stanford but i still haven't officially accepted the admission yet. i will probably do it over the weekend

yeah that's definitely a right decision. I just can't see myself passing up the opportunity to go to a very good program at a very prestige school.

btw from visitation day i heard that there are always very few numbers of phd applicants got accepted into each program, at least structural one is like that.. If i heard it correctly they say there is open spot only when a current phd student graduates. so this year there are like 7 new phd students or something?? not a lot.. it is definitely very competitive. I am not going to pursue a phd tho so i didn't confirm what he said. does that sound right?

[lightyears]

My boss at my current job let me work part time from home when i go back to grad school.

I made my decision to go to stanford but i still haven't officially accepted the admission yet. i will probably do it over the weekend

yeah that's definitely a right decision. I just can't see myself passing up the opportunity to go to a very good program at a very prestige school.

btw from visitation day i heard that there are always very few numbers of phd applicants got accepted into each program, at least structural one is like that.. If i heard it correctly they say there is open spot only when a current phd student graduates. so this year there are like 7 new phd students or something?? not a lot.. it is definitely very competitive. I am not going to pursue a phd tho so i didn't confirm what he said. does that sound right?

Yeah, that sounds about right. But your odds of getting accepted to the PhD program as a Stanford master's student are much, much higher than from outside the school. The A/E director said they'll soon be hiring a new professor, so that will open up space for about 6 new PhD students.

I'm probably going to accept the offer this weekend too. I just filled out FAFSA, and since I worked full time last year, I don't know if I'll be eligible for any of the subsidized loans..

[moommoombaba]

Yeah, that sounds about right. But your odds of getting accepted to the PhD program as a Stanford master's student are much, much higher than from outside the school. The A/E director said they'll soon be hiring a new professor, so that will open up space for about 6 new PhD students.

I'm probably going to accept the offer this weekend too. I just filled out FAFSA, and since I worked full time last year, I don't know if I'll be eligible for any of the subsidized loans..

well good luck to you!!

You should be able to get loans, unless your estimated contribution is really high.

I filled out my FAFSA too but my student contribution is way lower than the cost of living, so even i worked full time last year I am sure I will be eligible for some loans.. or they think just cuz we worked full time the previous year we would have enough money to afford grad school full time? i couldn't afford it even with my full yearly salary!! i dun know if they really look at the student contribution, i mean, it's not like we are getting free money, we just want loans which we are going to pay back eventually, so why does it matter if they THINK we COULD have high student contribution??