2013 Applicant Profiles and Results

[wabisabi]

I always feel weird posting stuff like this online (as if anyone cares enough to figure out my top-secret identity), but I like to read others' profiles, so I guess I should contribute. I'm in kind of an interdisciplinary field, the specifics of which I will be coy about because, you know, top-secret identity.

 

Undergrad Institution: 1) Elite liberal arts college 2) Low-ranked state school (currently in MS program at UG Inst. #2) [long story about this whole journey]
Major(s): Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering (double-majored, as they're separate programs)
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: ?
Type of Student: Female Domestic

GRE Scores:
Q: 165 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5.5 (96%)

Research Experience:

Yes, both undergrad and grad

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: XE, two big undergrad scholarships, I feel like I’m forgetting something here but I kind of never want to see my CV again after obsessing over it for so long, so I'm not going to check 

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 terms of TA work, started a campus chapter of an engineering association, did freelance work requiring computer skills that evidently are useful to two POIs, tons of volunteer activities that probably don't count for much

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Well, I’m getting an MS right now, so I have that going for me. Very famous advisor. One conference presentation. Firm plans for thesis submission to journal. Have had good interactions with profs at seven of my eight schools . . . four in-person meetings, three phone interviews (not super-official interviews, more like discussions of research interests).

 

My undergrad GPA was hurt by some youthful nincompoopery, but was 3.87 in my last two years.

 

Decent amount of non-engineering work experience.

Applying to PhD programs:
UC Irvine: Mechanical Eng.

U Col. (Boulder): Mechanical Eng.

Colorado State (Ft Collins): Atmospheric Science [1/31: accepted with good funding]

Scripps: Climate, Ocean, & Atmosphere program

Harvard SEAS: Env. Eng.

MIT: Civil Eng.

UC Davis: Civil Eng. [1/25 email from POI offering to pay for me to visit 2/8]

Carnegie Mellon: Civil Eng. 

 

I think I ended up aiming higher than was wise, but the research at MIT and Harvard is ridiculously interesting to me and I think I would be somewhat well-equipped to jump in. 

[henryx]

Hi Guys, do you think this ranking website's information is reasonable? It is about PhD program rankings. http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings

[Radian]

Hi Guys, do you think this ranking website's information is reasonable? It is about PhD program rankings. http://graduate-school.phds.org/rankings

 

Cut the pain and use USNEWS. 

[wink_e]

Yep go USNEWS

[Wabisabi!]

Cut the pain and use USNEWS. 

 

Wait, what? My understanding was the the NRC data is way better for ranking grad schools, and the PhDs.org site uses some stuff from the big NRC report. I personally didn't find US News useful at all:

 

1) No way to choose "atmospheric science" as a specialty 

2) You can't figure out what schools have the best Civil Eng. PhD programs: choose "Civil Engineering" and the site tells you "These are the top schools for a master's in civil engineering." Uh, thanks. Don't care.

3) For chemical and mechanical engineering, US News lumps together Master's and PhD data. These tend to be different student populations, and somewhat different programs.

 

If you look at the US News ranking methodology, you can see they put a lot of weight on peer assessment and recruiter assessment scores. Peer assessment maybe, but 15% of the US News ranking comes from "corporate recruiters and company contacts who hire from previously ranked programs." They also factor in number of doctorates granted, and total research expenditures, which would seem to heavily favor large schools. 

 

I guess both sites have their niches. I would rely more on US News if you're looking to get a graduate degree and then get a job . . . I would use PhDs.org if you're interested in doing research. 

[Radian]

Wait, what? My understanding was the the NRC data is way better for ranking grad schools, and the PhDs.org site uses some stuff from the big NRC report. I personally didn't find US News useful at all:

 

1) No way to choose "atmospheric science" as a specialty 

2) You can't figure out what schools have the best Civil Eng. PhD programs: choose "Civil Engineering" and the site tells you "These are the top schools for a master's in civil engineering." Uh, thanks. Don't care.

3) For chemical and mechanical engineering, US News lumps together Master's and PhD data. These tend to be different student populations, and somewhat different programs.

 

If you look at the US News ranking methodology, you can see they put a lot of weight on peer assessment and recruiter assessment scores. Peer assessment maybe, but 15% of the US News ranking comes from "corporate recruiters and company contacts who hire from previously ranked programs." They also factor in number of doctorates granted, and total research expenditures, which would seem to heavily favor large schools. 

 

I guess both sites have their niches. I would rely more on US News if you're looking to get a graduate degree and then get a job . . . I would use PhDs.org if you're interested in doing research. 

 

Yes I do agree that for some majors USNEWS doesn't provide much of a data. Though for the common ones that pretty suffice.

 

In terms of masters and phd, as far as I am concerned there is not much difference between the programs and I myself don't see any meaning in seperating them in US educational system except for schools where professional degrees are offered.

 

But the most importnat point that you are missing here is that USNEWS is not just designed for you and me as students. What makes USNEWS useful is that fact that it's 

 

being referred by employers and even school heads. It's the MEDIA thing. even if wrong or whatsoever you'd better stick with the ranking which is better accepted through society.

[henryx]

Dear All, Thanks so much for your comments. The reason I asked for the ranking problems is that I was admitted by Princeton University PhD program with a very great funding. The direction is in risk management, disaster research (e.g. effects of climate change, mitigation measures) and insurance. I have to take lots of courses in engineering and financial engineering at Bueheim Center for Finance. I know Princeton's finance is very reputational in Wall Streets but when I looked at the ranking by USNEWS they give a low rank to Princeton's engineering. But NRC ranks Princeton's PhD program in my area as a top 5 positions.

 

Could you give me some suggestions if you know more about Princeton's engineering reputation? Thanks.

[oolay]

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts college

Major(s): Physics

Overall GPA: B.S. 3.91
Length of Degree: B.S. 4 years
Position in Class: Unknown (not available)
Type of Student: International studying in US

GRE Scores:
Q: 170
V: 158
W: 4.0

Research Experience: Involved in research within campus for last 2 years, one summer research away from campus

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics TA

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Dean's List, college scholarship, minor recognition from the department

Applying for Materials PhD (unless stated otherwise) at:

 

JHU

Cornell

Northwestern

UIUC

Penn State

Dartmouth
Rice

.....

(around 13 in total; I feel I applied little too many)

 

Good luck everyone! 
 

Edited February 12, 2013 by oolay

[DStory247]

Undergrad Institution: Graduated May 2011 from LeTourneau University; small, private liberal arts school in Tx. Mostly known for aeronautical engineering

Major(s): Physics, Chemistry
Minor(s): Education
GPA in Major: 3.4
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 4yrs

Position in Class: Idk, top half for sure

Type of Student: Domestic, white, male

GRE Scores:
Q: 164
V: 162
W: 4.0

Research Experience: None- not proud of this, but wasn't required in my program and I had no desire for grad school at the time.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Student Teacher of the Year, various scholarships

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Physics and Physical Sciences Lab Assistant/TA

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Intern for 1 year in Env. Lab at Eastman Chemical Company. Was hired upon graduation and now have 2 years experience in Analytical Laboratory at Eastman.

Applying for PhD at:

Washington University in St. Louis - Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering - Accepted 1/27 $27k
Univ. California Riverside - Chemical and Environmental Engineering - Accepted 1/10 $26k
Univ. Texas - Chemical Engineering - Rejected 1/10

Louisiana State University - Chemical Engineering - Accpeted (provisionally) 2/9

University of Houston - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

University of Michigan - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

Vanderbilt University - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

Yale University - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

North Carolina State University - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

Univ. Connecticut - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

Univ. Oklahoma - Chemical Engineering - Waiting

[aero9]

Dear All, Thanks so much for your comments. The reason I asked for the ranking problems is that I was admitted by Princeton University PhD program with a very great funding. The direction is in risk management, disaster research (e.g. effects of climate change, mitigation measures) and insurance. I have to take lots of courses in engineering and financial engineering at Bueheim Center for Finance. I know Princeton's finance is very reputational in Wall Streets but when I looked at the ranking by USNEWS they give a low rank to Princeton's engineering. But NRC ranks Princeton's PhD program in my area as a top 5 positions.

 

Could you give me some suggestions if you know more about Princeton's engineering reputation? Thanks.

 

I'm afraid to answer that you need to give us more information. What department did you apply to at Princeton? Simply looking at the graduate engineering rankings on US News is not helpful because it's more important to look at your specific department like mechanical, civil, aerospace, etc.

 

In any event, I would strongly encourage you not to place the institution's ranking as the most important factor in your decision (I apologize if that wasn't your intention in the first place). Funding is very important as is your 'fit' with the program itself. Hopefully you'll have a chance to visit the schools where you were accepted and meet faculty to gauge where you truly want to go. Congratulations on your Princeton acceptance.

 

Congrats to all others who have received offers!

[yaydonicus]

Undergrad Institution: Graduated May 2011 from Virginia Tech

Major(s): Mechanical Engineering
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.18
Overall GPA: 3.24
Length of Degree: 4yrs

Position in Class: 60%

Type of Student: Domestic, white, male

GRE Scores:
Q: 165
V: 165
W: 4.0

Research Experience: Not much, senior research with extremely un-invested professor 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing better than Dean's List and some minor language competition I won in HS

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I worked a software job for a year

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: no

 

Applying for MS at:

UW Nuclear Eng. and Eng Physics - accepted 2/1

UCLA Mech and Aerospace - accepted 2/12

WHEN DO WE HEAR ABOUT MONEY? - is it bad if they didn't mention it in the acceptance email?

[DStory247]

Yaydonicus-

Congrats on your acceptances! Is that U Wisconsin? Washington?

 

My acceptances mentioned the stipends in the acceptance letter, both of which are coming from chemical engineering departments.

I assumed your fields would be similar. Did they make any mention of a recruiting visit? Maybe they'll send you a supplementary letter later detailing the stipends, but I would think you would have heard that from UW by now.

[codejunkie]

yaydonicus: as you applied for MS, it's likely that you will not receive any funding.

[wabisabi]

Got my MIT rejection this morning. Not surprised, but still super-disappointed. Updated stuff below.

 

 

Undergrad Institution: 1) Elite liberal arts college 2) Low-ranked state school (currently in MS program at UG Inst. #2) [long story about this whole journey]
Major(s): Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering (double-majored, as they're separate programs)
Minor(s): 
GPA in Major: 3.8
Overall GPA: 3.4
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: ?
Type of Student: Female Domestic

GRE Scores:
Q: 165 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 5.5 (96%)

Research Experience:

Yes, both undergrad and grad

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: XE, two big undergrad scholarships, I feel like I’m forgetting something here but I kind of never want to see my CV again after obsessing over it for so long, so I'm not going to check 

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 terms of TA work, started a campus chapter of an engineering association, did freelance work requiring computer skills that evidently are useful to two POIs, tons of volunteer activities that probably don't count for much

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Well, I’m getting an MS right now, so I have that going for me. Very famous advisor. One conference presentation. Firm plans for thesis submission to journal. Have had good interactions with profs at seven of my eight schools . . . four in-person meetings, three phone interviews (not super-official interviews, more like discussions of research interests).

 

My undergrad GPA was hurt by some youthful nincompoopery, but was 3.87 in my last two years.

 

Decent amount of non-engineering work experience.

Applying to PhD programs:
UC Irvine: Mechanical Eng.

U Col. (Boulder): Mechanical Eng. [2/15: accepted, told that they'll decide funding based on visits in March. Probably won't bother.]

Colorado State (Ft Collins): Atmospheric Science [1/31: accepted with good funding; 2/15: visited, loved it, great people, nice facilities]

Scripps: Climate, Ocean, & Atmosphere program [2/15: unofficial email from POI]

Harvard SEAS: Env. Eng.

MIT: Civil Eng. [2/28: sad, sad day. Didn't realize how much hope I was holding out for this.]

UC Davis: Civil Eng. [1/25 email from POI offering to pay for me to visit 2/8]

Carnegie Mellon: Civil Eng. [2/22: accepted, full funding plus nominated for an additional $5,000/yr university fellowship. Visit days are end of March and beginning of April]

Edited February 28, 2013 by wabisabi

[henryx]

@wabisabi Did you apply for MIT's master or PhD?  I am still waiting for the MIT's result.

[wabisabi]

@wabisabi Did you apply for MIT's master or PhD?  I am still waiting for the MIT's result.

 

PhD. Good luck to you, you're clearly doing something right judging from where you've gotten in so far!

[henryx]

_{@wabisabi Thanks. But its just weird I haven't heard from MIT for so long. anyways, good luck to you with Harvard applications. In fact, CMU is not a bad option esp with full funding.}

[SydTheKyd]

I don't really like giving out details about my life, but this may help someone so...

 

Undergrad Institution: U Pittsburgh

Major(s): Bioengineering
Minor(s): None
GPA in Major: Not sure
Overall GPA: 3.33
Length of Degree: 4 yr program + 1 yr co-op rotation = 5 years total
Position in Class: No idea - probably average?
Type of Student: African American female

 

GRE Scores:
Q: 156
V: 153
W: 4


Research Experience: 

- In total, >1.5 years lab experience with tissue engineering research, which includes biomaterials research for a summer in Germany

- In total, 1 year industry experience, which includes 2 semesters co-oping with a highly regarded medical device company in R&D and 1 semester co-oping at research equipment company in R&D

- no publications, no big poster talks, etc

 

 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Tau Beta Pi, two corporate scholarships from NSBE, university scholarships (that I had upon entering), Dean's List

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

- Heavily involved with National Society of Black Engineers university chapter, including regional level position

- Mentored freshmen engineering students as part of diversity program

- Engineering school tour guide for 4 yrs (I talk a lot at student recruitment days)

- 1 yr volunteer work with mentoring high school students about bioengineering/tissue engineering, and other outreach activities

 

 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

I think I had pretty good letters - I never saw them, but I trust my letter writers!  One was from a professor I have a good relationship with, one is from a current PI, and one is from an R&D manager at my previous co-op

 

Applying for [ MS ] or [ PhD ] at:

Applying for PhD in Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering (regenerative medicine/tissue engineering focus) at:

 

Vanderbilt - Rejected, 1/??/13

U Washington - Rejected, 1/??/13

Carnegie Mellon - Accepted, 2/7/13, full tuition + stipend

Rice University - Accepted, 2/26/13, full tuition + stipend

U Pittsburgh - in cahoots with high level dean/professor who is "very sure" I'll get in...so I'll take that as an eventual yes?  o_O

U Michigan - Still waiting

Northwestern - Still waiting

 

 

Regardless of Michigan and Northwestern decisions, probably will end up going to Rice - I'm ready to escape the cold!  

[wabisabi]

I don't really like giving out details about my life, but this may help someone so...

 

I had to get over the same issue! Thanks for sharing, it's always interesting to see other people's profiles.

 

Regardless of Michigan and Northwestern decisions, probably will end up going to Rice - I'm ready to escape the cold!  

 

Uh-oh, is Pittsburgh really that bad? I'm leaning towards Carnegie Mellon myself!

[tarrman]

I'm pretty surprised at how few people are actually replying to this topic. Where are all the engineers?!!!

 

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 public university
Major(s): Electrical Engineering, Physics
GPA in Major: Both 4.0
Overall GPA: 3.96
Length of Degree: 5 years
Position in Class: Top 1-2%
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Scores:

I hate standardized tests, but it doesn't seem like the big-name schools take them very seriously

Q: 162 (86%)
V: 157(73%)
W: 5.0 (92%)

Research Experience:

- 2 summers at Lincoln Lab
- 1 year working on a digital signal processing project

- 1 year in soft condensed matter

- NO PUBLICATIONS!

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

- Several departmental scholarships in Physics

- University research grant in soft condensed matter

- Eta Kappa Nu

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

- Undergraduate math TA for 2 years

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Strong LOR's all from Ph.D.'s I've done research with. I've also taken four graduate courses (three in DSP, one in quantum mechanics). Spent over a month writing my SoP, but I don't think it was exceptionally good.

Applying for PhD at:

UT Austin - Accepted, 1/29/13, $2k/month RA + $9k/yr fellowship (Guaranteed for 4 years)
Georgia Tech - Accepted, 2/1/13, $1.3k/month TA ( so low!!!)
Princeton - Accepted, 2/21/13, $32k 1st year fellowship
UIUC - Accepted, 3/5/13, $1.9k/month TA

UMich - Currently on "waitlist" w/ POI for RA. Received email earlier this week indicating I'm on a short list of applicants strongly being considered for admission. Hopefully will hear by the end of March

Rice - Went to recruitment weekend. 70% attendees accepted. Hoping to hear within the next week or so

MIT - Rejected

 

Good luck everyone!

[SydTheKyd]

I had to get over the same issue! Thanks for sharing, it's always interesting to see other people's profiles.

 

 

Uh-oh, is Pittsburgh really that bad? I'm leaning towards Carnegie Mellon myself!

 

 

wabisabi - The cold isn't awful, in my opinion, but I guess it depends on who you ask!  I'm originally from MD, so PIttsburgh is about 10 deg colder on average and a lot more snow.  If you ask people who are, for example, from California or Florida... they'll give a much different answer!  However, I got pretty used to it.  I still love the city!

[wabisabi]

I'm pretty surprised at how few people are actually replying to this topic. Where are all the engineers?!!!

 

I know! It looks like specific disciplines ended up starting their own threads, so I guess a lot of people got channeled there.

Princeton - Accepted, 2/21/13, $32k 1st year fellowship

 

One of my schools also only specified a first-year fellowship. Do you know what the deal with that is? The last time I searched the forums I didn't really see anything about this. 

[tarrman]

One of my schools also only specified a first-year fellowship. Do you know what the deal with that is? The last time I searched the forums I didn't really see anything about this. 

 

Depends on the school. Princeton has a ton of endowment (highest endowment per student in the country; something like $2.2 million, but all endowment doesn't go to students), so every grad student regardless of discipline is guaranteed full funding for the duration of the Ph.D. (correct me if I'm wrong, somebody). The fellowship is provided for the first year to free you up from any research/teaching duties. The next four years, you're funded via TA, research, or a combination (but I think the stipend is the same all 5 years). The reason they only tell you one year is that you don't know the source of funding for the next 4 years. All you know is that you are guaranteed funding.

Rice ECE is the same way. First year fellowship frees up teaching/research responsibilities for the first year. You will be funded for the following years, but the deatails are worked out during the first year of school. My guess is it's the same for your school. Is it a private school? (I think this is more common among private schools).

 

It might also have to due with the fact that you don't pick an advisor at these schools until second semester. At UT, my RA comes in the form of a first year fellowship and then 4 years of actual RA (again, to free me from TA/RA responsibilities my first year) since I've already got my advisor.

[wabisabi]

Thanks, tarrman! It's Carnegie Mellon, so yeah, I think the setup is similar to what you described at Princeton. 

 

Hey, does anyone following this thread know where UC Davis fell for Civil Eng. in the 2013-14 US News rankings? I found last year's rankings online here, but I'm obsessive and want to know the number for this year.

 

EDIT: 2014 civil rankings

Edited March 18, 2013 by wabisabi

[Cyrone]

My statistics are garbage... I'm really not optimistic about my chances of admission to Berkeley, which is the only domestic institution I applied to.

 

Undergrad Institution: UIUC (#1 for Civil/Environmental, my main selling point)
Major(s): Civil/Environmental, with a focus on Environmental
GPA in Major: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.22
Length of Degree: 4 years
Position in Class: Average
Type of Student: Out-of-State citizen, middle eastern ethnicity

GRE Scores:

Q: 160
V: 158
W: 5.0

Research Experience:

- practically none, other than at my current company which is in-line with my major

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

- Undergraduate differential equations TA for 2 semesters

- Lectured engineering topics at a university level upon graduation (Vietnam)

- Currently a research associate for remediation firm, and tutoring in Calculus/Physics/SAT

 

Misc note:

 

Strangely, the admissions lady at UCB told me that "I did not have to take the GRE again" when she looked at my application when I enquired whether UCB would receive a 2nd GRE score in time if I re-took it in December. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean.

Applying for MS at:

UC-Berkeley only. I have a couple other opportunities abroad, but I stayed in Berkeley 1 month over the winter and loved it.

 

 

Will let you know my result in April...

Edited March 19, 2013 by Cyrone