jkred Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Hey guys! I wanted to start a thread for mechanical PHD candidates since I didn't see one. I'm applying to Texas A&M Fall 2014. Has anyone else received interview invitations or acceptances from their prospective schools?
babubot Posted January 28, 2014 Posted January 28, 2014 Copied from the CS thread since I'm applying to both: General Profile: -White Male US Citizen -UG: Top 50ish Public Research University -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -Minors: CS, Math -GPA: 3.92/4.0 -GRE: 167V / 170Q / 4WResearch Experience: -1.5 years of research in two different labs on campus -1 semester research in NASA internship, but in unrelated field -No pubs, but all the people writing letters are people I've done research for and I am fairly confident they will be strong lettersArea(s) of Interests: -Robotics -Human-Robot Interaction -AI Schools Applied (ME PhD program unless otherwise specified): -Stanford (PhD in CS) -CMU (PhD in Robotics) -UPenn -Cornell -Berkeley (PhD in CS) -UMich (interview offer) I realize that there is a good chance I don't get into any of these, so I am also applying for year long internships with the intention of applying to more schools next year. I also noted on my applications that I would also consider entering an MS program if they did not think I was prepared for PhD.
clandry Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 Copied from the CS thread since I'm applying to both: General Profile: -White Male US Citizen -UG: Princeton -Major: Mechanical&Aerospace Engineering (BS) -Minors: Math&Physics -GPA: 3.93/4.0 (4.0 major) -GRE: 168V / 168Q / 5,5WResearch Experience: Like 2+ years @ university, 2 REUs&Caltech SURF 1st author publication in Physics of Fluids Area(s) of Interests: -Turbulence&fluids, Schools Applied (ME PhD program unless otherwise specified): -Stanford (PhD in ME) -MIT (PhD in Aero) -Caltech (PhD in Aero) -Cambridge
michaelsch92 Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 General Profile: -Hispanic Male US Citizen -UG: Univ of Florida -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -GPA: 3.79/4.0 (4.0 major) -GRE: 164V / 164Q / 4.5WResearch Experience: 1 year at UF, Summer at the Univ of Michigan 1st publication Area(s) of Interests: -Robotics, Biomechanics, Dynamics Schools Applied: -Stanford (MS in ME) - Accepted for a MS, visiting Feb 12-14 -Berkeley (PhD in ME) -UMich (PhD in ME) -UCLA (Phd in ME) - UC Santa Barbara (PhD in ME) -UC San Diego (Phd in ME) Will edit as I find out about other schools. Good luck everyone
Jessengineer Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 General Profile: -White Female US Citizen -UG: Top 50ish Public University -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -GPA: 3.82/4.0 -GRE: 157V / 164Q / 5.5WResearch Experience: -One summer research program at NIST -1 year of research at current institution (with conference poster presented & a paper to be published by Spring) Industry Experience: -One summer at a top material science laboratory -One summer at a top 2 aerospace company, doing structural and thermal FEA Area(s) of Interests: -Material Science -Heat Transfer -Fluid Mechanics -Advanced Manufacturing Schools Applied (ME PhD program unless otherwise specified): -UPenn (Interview with professor this weekend) -Columbia (Interviewed with two professors over winter break) -UTexas at Austin -Cornell -Stevens Tech I have POI at each school, with all seemingly positive. Still haven't heard back anything formal, although UPenn had contacted me asking which professor (I had two POI) I would rather work with, because there was some confusion with the review committee.
MechE2014 Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 General Profile: -Hispanic Male -UG: Small Private Insititution -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -GPA: 3.93/4.0 (4.0 major) -GRE: 159V / 166Q / 4.5WResearch Experience: 2 Summer REUs 1 year at home institution Area(s) of Interests: -Fluid dynamics, heat transfer, combustion Schools Applied: -Stanford (MS in ME) - Accepted for an MS, visiting Feb 12-14 -Johns Hopkins (PhD in ME) -UMich (PhD in ME/PhD in Aero) - Invited to Interview Feb 20 -UCLA (Phd in ME) - UFlorida (PhD in ME) - Accepted, Interview Feb 26 -Northwestern (Phd in ME) - Accepted -Colorado State (PhD in ME) - Accepted -Columbia (PhD in ME) -UPenn (PhD in ME) -Cornell (PhD in ME) -USC (PhD in ME) -Duke (PhD in ME) -Texas A&M (PhD in ME)
clandry Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 (edited) General Profile: -Hispanic Male -UG: Small Private Insititution -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -GPA: 3.93/4.0 (4.0 major) -GRE: 159V / 166Q / 4.5WResearch Experience: 2 Summer REUs 1 year at home institution Area(s) of Interests: -Fluid dynamics, heat transfer, combustion Schools Applied: -Stanford (MS in ME) - Accepted for an MS, visiting Feb 12-14 -Johns Hopkins (PhD in ME) -UMich (PhD in ME/PhD in Aero) - Invited to Interview Feb 20 -UCLA (Phd in ME) - UFlorida (PhD in ME) - Accepted, Interview Feb 26 -Northwestern (Phd in ME) - Accepted -Colorado State (PhD in ME) - Accepted -Columbia (PhD in ME) -UPenn (PhD in ME) -Cornell (PhD in ME) -USC (PhD in ME) -Duke (PhD in ME) -Texas A&M (PhD in ME) Is your interview at UMich for the mech or aero department? My friend applied to the aero department and hasn't heard anything. It seems like they haven't sent out any offers as of yet. Also, I can't seem edit my previous post. The first line shouldn't be there (copy&paste fail). Edited January 30, 2014 by clandry
MechE2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 It's for the mech department. I just heard from aero saying that they didn't have my official transcript (after I sent it 2 months ago :/ ) I'm debating taking the march interview for Michigan rather than the Feb interview because I have Stanford the week before and Florida the week after and I'd be missing a once a week class for three weeks in a row.
clandry Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 It's for the mech department. I just heard from aero saying that they didn't have my official transcript (after I sent it 2 months ago :/ ) I'm debating taking the march interview for Michigan rather than the Feb interview because I have Stanford the week before and Florida the week after and I'd be missing a once a week class for three weeks in a row. Hmmm interesting. Didn't know UMich did interviews for either of those departments.
MechE2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 Not sure that they interview for Aero, but I have heard they do so for Mechanical. I saw an aero acceptance in the results page and there was no mention of an interview.
Mordekaiser Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Well I just got rejected from almost all the schools I applied to. So atleast you are not me. Some of you have amazing profiles so I can see why I got cut out so quickly from the batch of applicants. Oh well, guess I need publications and connections with professors before I apply. Good luck to everyone... guess there is always next year or me.
Mordekaiser Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Also, is there a big advantage of going to a private school or ivy league when you apply? I come from a large state school and I think its reputation is not as good as the schools listed here such as Princeton. Idk what I should do to prepare for next year. Should I just try to get a job and reapply for PhD? Or should I try to work in a lab as a researcher (not grad program) in a top private school or Ivy for a year and try to move in as a grad student? Idk what to do with my life anymore
drift Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 if you want to increase your chances for PhD, the best thing you can do is to do research work in an academic lab so that you can build strong letters of recommendation. that is what will allow you to be competitive if you come from a lower-ranked UG school.
MechE2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 I come from a small private school not necessarily highest ranked. I believe research is probably the best way to go in order to reach these PhD programs. I did two REUs which I believe helped me out significantly.
clandry Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Also, is there a big advantage of going to a private school or ivy league when you apply? I come from a large state school and I think its reputation is not as good as the schools listed here such as Princeton. Idk what I should do to prepare for next year. Should I just try to get a job and reapply for PhD? Or should I try to work in a lab as a researcher (not grad program) in a top private school or Ivy for a year and try to move in as a grad student? Idk what to do with my life anymore I don't think you can do the latter. These labs typically don't hire outsiders unless it's for a post-doc/research scientist position, but those require a PhD. Try finding a job at a national lab or a job in industry that does research. Then reopp
Jessengineer Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Any updates from other schools folks? Accepted into University of Texas at Austin with full funding and stipend. No word on any other schools yet. Anyone else?
MechE2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Posted February 5, 2014 Columbia updated results Where's the info at? Didn't notice anything on the website. Also got into UPenn today!
x13LadeZx Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 General Profile: -Asian Male US Citizen -UG: Top 15 Private Uni -Major: Mechanical Engineering (BS) -GPA: 3.86/4.0 -GRE: 154V / 170Q / 4WResearch Experience: -1 year of research -2 internships in industry -No pubsArea(s) of Interests: -Fluids, CFD, Computational Science Schools Applied (ME PhD program unless otherwise specified): I applied to a lot of west coast schools, don't judge me UCSD (PhD) UCLA (PhD) USC (PhD): Accepted on 2/4/14, no word on funding yet Caltech (PhD) UCSB (PhD) Stanford (MS in Aero): No word but I see that a lot of people already got notified from them UC Berkeley(PhD): Was recommended for admission by ME dept but no official acceptance yet on 12/20/14, visited on 1/23/14 U Washington (PhD in Aero) Cornell (PhD)
pyroknife Posted February 7, 2014 Posted February 7, 2014 Friend just got into Cornell (MechE) and Michigan (Aero) PhD with full funding.
MechE2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 How did they hear from both of those programs? Email? Call? Web portal?
x13LadeZx Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 I also just heard from Cornell via email (accepted wooo) and to check status on website
pyroknife Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) Email. I am the friend (posting on this account). Cornell sent out mass acceptance emails today. UMich's Aero program is a little different it seems. They seem to send out offers one by one (not by mass) when your POI agrees to advise you. Visit days are 3/7 for Cornell and 3/13-3-15 for UMich. All paid for. 31k stipend at Cornell, 30K at UMich. Both with tuition, health insurance and all that good stuff covered (Comes to be 80k ish UMich and 66k ish Cornell per year). . I think I am funded by a university fellowship the first year for both schools. I know Cornell does that so students can experience different areas before they find an adviser. Edited February 8, 2014 by pyroknife
MechE2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Congrats on both schools! Cornell is one of my top choices so I don't think it bodes well for me that I didn't hear back today. Who knows maybe I'll get some good news next week.
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