Chemical Engineering Fall 2014

[teerav42]

It's early compared to when last year's thread was started but I received my first admission today so I figured I'd get this going. I had all my applications in by mid November, and got a call from UT Austin today offering me admission even though one of my recommendations has not been turned in yet. Exciting, although I still am not completely sold on grad school--I have a few site interviews over winter break and am still considering going the job route. I am looking forward to visiting schools in the spring though, and will make my decision for my future after I done a few of those and met some grad students at these places.

 

What's everyone else's situation?

[itvforthewin]

Congrats!! I've applied to UTA Chemical too, though I finished applications on 4th December and had the LORs turned in only day before

 

Good luck with the admits  

[TexasGuy]

ou are the same person from the results section ,right? ur profile looks the same

 

another funny thing is i called UT austin and asked if its possible to get admitted without a third rec(my third rec hasnt been submitted yet) and they said they have admitted someone who had only 2 recs.

 

i now see they were talking about you haha. congrats..

 

We are applying to 4 of the same schools. And I actually had northwestern on my list but decided not to apply( It was mainly because not many oil companies attend their career fairs). I am now starting to think that was a stupid reason not to apply. Chicago would've been awesom

 

Good luck on your job search as well. Which industry are you interested in working in?

Edited December 20, 2013 by TexasGuy

[teerav42]

I am the same guy from the results section, and I actually was admitted before my third rec got in. They called me to let me know I was in and I said "Wow I don't even have all my recommendations in yet" and they told me they don't always need all three to admit someone.

 

As far as industries go I haven't narrowed in on any one thing. I had an interview in the oil and gas industry in Houston last week, and tomorrow I have an interview in California with a software company. We'll see where it goes!

[gus_fring]

Congrats teerav 42,

 

you have great stats! I applied to UT Austin too but for some reason my application is marked incomplete because my TOEFL score hasn't been received yet (even though ets says my order has already been processed). I called them up to find out if they forward the application to the department even if its incomplete and they said no - it has to be complete. So you're really lucky your application managed to get forwarded to the dept without that letter  . 

Edited December 23, 2013 by gus_fring

[spectastic]

I got rejected by UT Austin last year. My stats aren't very solid.

 

I'm applying there again to the materials program. I realized they are a much better match in terms or research interest, even though it appears to be a new program.

[spectastic]

fellow comrades, anyone applying to these schools?

 

GA tech, Amherst-Polymers, CU-Boulder, NC St, U of Houston

[gus_fring]

Hey spectastic,

 

Sorry mate, no I'm not applying to those schools. I'm applying to Princeton, MIT, Berkeley and UCSB. I'm having second thoughts about Caltech and Minnesota. The former doesn't seem to match and the latter just seems like I wont be able to bear the cold environment, as pathetic as that sounds!

[gus_fring]

and like I said UTAustin..which I'm not feeling too great about. I'm wondering if I uploaded the right SOP! It's beginning to sound like one disaster after another  

[spectastic]

I was looking at Kramer, Fredrickson and Leal at UCSB. But then decided the department was too small... idk, which professors were you wanting to work with?

[sjb3112]

spectastic,

 

I'm applying to GA tech as well (my #1 choice). Have you applied already? Since the official deadline isn't until Feb 1, I'm thinking we may not hear back from them until after most other schools... have you heard otherwise?

[gus_fring]

First off MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

@spectastic -  I was thinking of Doherty, Peters, Shell or Fredrickson but really, anyone in the simulations field. Their Dept is one of the top 4 in research according to their website.

 

@sjb3112 - Wow your stats are stellar mate! Congrats on your publication. That'll really set you apart. Even better if it's first author. I could only manage a 3rd author though.

 

You guys, Do you think that getting percentiles in the 80s range on the GRE is going to work significantly against my favor? I got a 163 Q and a 160 V and a 5.0 on AW.

Edited December 25, 2013 by gus_fring

[sjb3112]

Merry Christmas!!!

 

@gus_fring, I only got a 164Q but I don't think it really matters. I asked my PI about it, and she said that they looked at people with above 760Q on the old scale. Something like 165+ on the new scale corresponds to an 800 on the old scale, so we're fine. I don't think anybody cares about V or AW scores as long as they are not abysmal. Don't stress

 

Also, I don't think you posted stats, but based on the caliber of the schools you are applying to I'm sure you are a formidable applicant!

Edited December 25, 2013 by sjb3112

[TexasGuy]

gus your scores will definitely not be a problem. i know the average quant for princeton chemE admits last year was like 162. so there you go, you're better than the average admit.

Also your english scores are above average for admits.

 

good luck.. i'm applying to princeton as well.

[TexasGuy]

I am the same guy from the results section, and I actually was admitted before my third rec got in. They called me to let me know I was in and I said "Wow I don't even have all my recommendations in yet" and they told me they don't always need all three to admit someone.

 

As far as industries go I haven't narrowed in on any one thing. I had an interview in the oil and gas industry in Houston last week, and tomorrow I have an interview in California with a software company. We'll see where it goes!

You have so many awesome options.

I'm sure making the choice to attend grad school will get quite difficult once that 70-90K salary offer from companies is in front of you.

[gus_fring]

Thank you sjb3112 and Texas Guy for your reassurance ! The nerves are certainly getting to me  !

 

Posted my stats - finally figured out where they go.

 

Best of Luck everyone - Hope we all make it into our dream schools 

[teerav42]

You have so many awesome options.

I'm sure making the choice to attend grad school will get quite difficult once that 70-90K salary offer from companies is in front of you.

 

@TexasGuy you are extremely correct. This is going to be an exciting final semester of undergrad, but I fully expect I will also be stressed and second guess myself multiple times. I talked to one of the PhDs at the company in Houston, and he told me that he did his PhD at Notre Dame, and when he finished the only job he could find was a crappy postddoc in Kentucky, and he only got the job in Houston because they found his dissertation and called him. He told me he understood why I was considering grad school but that if he had been in the same situation out of undergrad he would have taken the job because the company has a lot of awesome opportunities. That said, I don't have an offer yet (although I do think I will get one), but it still makes my decision harder to hear that from him.

 

Cheers everyone! Good luck to all in the upcoming weeks and months!

[spectastic]

You have so many awesome options.

I'm sure making the choice to attend grad school will get quite difficult once that 70-90K salary offer from companies is in front of you.

 

don't be so sure. I'm at one of those jobs right now. It's not very interesting imo. I feel like my brain is slowly rotting away doing rudimentary tasks that doesn't really require any college degree.

 

teerav, you're in Houston?? which company?

[spectastic]

also that GA tech essay section is pretty strange right? they weren't really essays, more like short answers.

[teerav42]

don't be so sure. I'm at one of those jobs right now. It's not very interesting imo. I feel like my brain is slowly rotting away doing rudimentary tasks that doesn't really require any college degree.

 

teerav, you're in Houston?? which company?

 

@spectastic I'm not in Houston now, but my interview there last week was with MSi Kenny. I've heard that grad school is more intellectually stimulating than industry, but in a lot of the advice I've seen people say grad school is a long and miserable slog, and that it's better to go for the money in industry immediately.

[sjb3112]

also that GA tech essay section is pretty strange right? they weren't really essays, more like short answers.

 

They were the worst! It was definitely a struggle to try to touch on the important points. The worst thing for me was that the prompt said there was a word count, which is how I prepared my responses. But then the form actually had a character limit that corresponded to fewer words than the listed word count! Ugh...

[spectastic]

@spectastic I'm not in Houston now, but my interview there last week was with MSi Kenny. I've heard that grad school is more intellectually stimulating than industry, but in a lot of the advice I've seen people say grad school is a long and miserable slog, and that it's better to go for the money in industry immediately.

I'm not going to lie. It's easy money. But what I do doesn't challenge me intellectually, and from my experience, I'm usually worse at things that don't challenge or interest me. It boils down to what motivates you.

[spectastic]

They were the worst! It was definitely a struggle to try to touch on the important points. The worst thing for me was that the prompt said there was a word count, which is how I prepared my responses. But then the form actually had a character limit that corresponded to fewer words than the listed word count! Ugh...

I didn't try to fit in everything. I just picked one and elaborated on it. The "tell me your weaknesses" question was pretty challenging though. I had trouble keeping it from turning into a sob story, which might very well have happened. oh well, out of my hands now.

[TexasGuy]

don't be so sure. I'm at one of those jobs right now. It's not very interesting imo. I feel like my brain is slowly rotting away doing rudimentary tasks that doesn't really require any college degree.

 

teerav, you're in Houston?? which company?

 yeah i know what you mean.Jobs out of undergrad can be boring and require little to no engineering background. I worked in industry for a year and had enough.

so that is one reason to get a MS or PhD. You can join an R&D group in industry. But still, the big salary is tempting.

[TexasGuy]

@TexasGuy you are extremely correct. This is going to be an exciting final semester of undergrad, but I fully expect I will also be stressed and second guess myself multiple times. I talked to one of the PhDs at the company in Houston, and he told me that he did his PhD at Notre Dame, and when he finished the only job he could find was a crappy postddoc in Kentucky, and he only got the job in Houston because they found his dissertation and called him. He told me he understood why I was considering grad school but that if he had been in the same situation out of undergrad he would have taken the job because the company has a lot of awesome opportunities. That said, I don't have an offer yet (although I do think I will get one), but it still makes my decision harder to hear that from him.

 

Cheers everyone! Good luck to all in the upcoming weeks and months!

 

dont mind him too much. That situation rarely happens.

 

The thing is, its usually only the top companies that have R&D divisions. So in that sense theres less opportunity/jobs than for an undergrad. But PhDs also get hired for managerial positions in engineering companies. But you need to go to a school with a great engineering recruitment program, coz it makes things easier. I do not think you will have problems finding a great job if you're admitted to any of the schools you are applying to. especially if you go to UT!

Edited December 27, 2013 by TexasGuy