Aerospace Engineering grad schools

[paho]

Hey all,

I am an aerospace engineering student from Germany and I am currently finishing the last semester of by bachelors. Upon that, I would like to apply for graduate schools in the US, however I find it rather difficult to estimate my chances. I would really appreciate it if you could help me with a few questions.

1) At which of the following colleges do you think I could have a chance?

- Penn State
- Purdue
- University of Illinois UC
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Georgia Institute of Technology

My GPA is 3.3, TOEFL 111. I have not taken the GRE yet. Which scores would you say I should aim for?

Alongside my studies, I have gained one year of work experience at a major aerospace company (also in research focused projects) and could get good recommendations (from the head of the aerospace engineering department of my university and from my employer).

2) Which other schools would you recommend for me?

Thanks a lot,
Patrick

 

Edited April 16, 2015 by paho

[landshark]

Iowa State University

[Mechanician2015]

Hey all,

I am an aerospace engineering student from Germany and I am currently finishing the last semester of by bachelors. Upon that, I would like to apply for graduate schools in the US, however I find it rather difficult to estimate my chances. I would really appreciate it if you could help me with a few questions.

1) At which of the following colleges do you think I could have a chance?

- Penn State

- Purdue

- University of Illinois UC

- University of Colorado Boulder

- Georgia Institute of Technology

My GPA is 3.3, TOEFL 111. I have not taken the GRE yet. Which scores would you say I should aim for?

Alongside my studies, I have gained one year of work experience at a major aerospace company (also in research focused projects) and could get good recommendations (from the head of the aerospace engineering department of my university and from my employer).

2) Which other schools would you recommend for me?

Thanks a lot,

Patrick

 

 

A good starting point is to check here on grad cafe the stats of those admitted in previous years(in the "Results search" feature).

 

It is a good idea to spend some time defining the research/study area you are interested in, and then look at the programs of different universities to see if they do research on that area. 

 

1- Try to get as high of a GRE as possible. I know a lot of people will tell you that GRE is just one parameter, but it helps with funding and giving a good first impression to some faculty members. Since you are still a student and the GRE is pretty basic( unlike me, that took the GRE 3 years after my last class) I would aim for a 90th percentile in quant and an 80th percentile in verbal( 166 quant, 160 verbal) at the least. I don't doubt you can score perfect on the quant(170).

 

2- The school you apply to should depend on your research interests. Your GPA looks a bit low(by USA standards... I wonder if they(Americans) have an inflated grading system or what). That might be a limit on top 10 programs.

 

I would recommend that you take one of those "top graduate schools in aerospace engineering" lists around the internet, take the first 50 or 100, and start looking at the focus/research track on each one. Beware of the top 15, since those have many applicants with nearly 4.0 GPA and 2-4 years of research experience, some with publications already on highly ranked journals. Some programs post on their website the average GRE/GPA of accepted applicants on previous years.

 

Try to focus on researching potential programs early. I didn't do this and ended up applying to 3 programs where my chances of admission were negligible.

 

Assuming you get the GRE score I suggest, I would suggest:

- Rensselaer polytechnic institute

- University of southern California

- University of california Los Angeles

- Virginia Tech

- University of Notre Dame