How do I stack up with other engineering graduate school applicants?

[Transcending]

Hi everyone, 

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I'm wondering how I stack up against other applicants to an engineering grad school program. 

Current programs I'm looking at include petroleum engineering masters at Penn State or University of Texas at Austin (or other relevant schools in Texas). Other engineering programs I am looking to consider, such as nuclear engineering, but I am unsure of what schools to apply to yet. 

I am a senior graduating from a top public state university in New York with a 3.3 GPA. I am studying BS Mathematical Sciences with a minor in Education. I plan on taking the GRE sometime within this Spring 2017 semester. I am hoping to receive a 165 (hopefully higher) out of 170 on the quantitative section. My verbal wont be nearly as good but I will strive to get a 155 or higher. My writing is good so I'm hoping to receive a 5+. 

My resume includes 4 years of retail experience, an internship at an insurance company, and plenty extracurricular clubs at my university.

Please give me any feedback, suggestions on schools/programs to consider, or any other relevant information regarding what schools I can get into (or how I stack up to the applicant pool for other prospective graduate engineering students).

Thank you,

Transcending

[Fischie22]

First question is: Masters or PhD? Typically a masters program will have *slightly* lower admission standards from what I understand, which will influence your chances. A 3.3 GPA might be about average (or only slightly below) for many masters programs, but will be fairly far below for PhD programs from what I understand. 

As for GRE scores, if you get your predicted scores, the Quant should be pretty good, but the Verbal will be a bit low - should shoot for at least 157-160. Although a low Verbal won't ruin your chances, it can't hurt to improve it. 

Unfortunately your lack of research and/or technical experience won't help. Will have to ensure that you are able to demonstrate your ability to perform research with your LORs, etc.

As for programs, make sure you look at school websites, etc. to see if you will meet their GPA and test score requirements (or recommended requirements). Not super familiar with Petro or nuclear programs. There are some really good resources for finding GPA, test scores, etc. of students that apply/are accepted to programs (Magoosh has a lot of articles on related topics). I would suggest looking into this to narrow down the band of schools that you should look into. 

Hopefully this helps a bit.

[Transcending]

Hey FIschie22,

Thank you for your response. I definitely want to apply to a masters degree, not a PhD. Yes, unfortunately I never had a chance to do relevant research or have field experience. But I'm hoping with a strong personal statement I'll be able to convince the grad schools of my transition. By the way, will being a math major hurt or favor my chances in entering an MS/MA engineering program?

Thanks for your help!

[The Dark knight]

Hey, 

      I am glad to see others like me trying to get into Petroleum Engineering. Like you, I am also a "non-engineering" student applying to PET programs. I am an Astrophysics student from Arizona State, and I am applying for the Fall 2017 season. However, I also have a minor in mechanical engineering, so, I am in a slightly better position with many pre-requisite courses already under my belt. 

[The Dark knight]

https://gradschool.utexas.edu/admissions/where-to-begin/admissions-and-enrollment-statistics

 

This page is very useful to get an insight into the application and admission patterns. You are a math major, I am sure you can interpret this data better than I did. 

[Fischie22]

Masters degree is definitely more manageable in terms of admission requirements/averages. 

As for research/engineering experience, you should work with your recommenders and tailor your personal statement to reflect the fact that you understand that you lack the background in engineering, but are passionate about becoming involved. Also, try to show that you have an ability, passion, and aptitude to conduct research - that is a big aspect of what grad schools look for in many cases. 

I come from an engineering background, so have only looked briefly into requirements of non-engineering majors. As I understand though, all STEM majors are treated about the same in the admissions process. 

[The Dark knight]

Yes,

       I agree with Fischie22; All STE (not M) majors are treated about the same regarding their GPA, preparedness, etc. However, the number of pre-requisite courses you will take in your first semester/year depends on the particular major and all the courses you completed as an undergraduate.