Materials Science and Engineering Fall 2018 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

[agentlerose]

Hey fellow MSE gradcafe residents!

Based on @shur42's thread from last year, I thought it would be good to start a thread for MSE students applying for the Fall 2018 cycle, to get to know each other and learn about each other's application profiles. Would also be helpful for those from the Fall 2017 cycle to contribute their profiles and any tips 

This is the template that they used (from a biology thread) for application profiles:

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school, such as big state, lib arts, ivy, technical, foreign (what country?))
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA in Major:
Overall GPA:
Position in Class: (No numbers needed, but are you top? near top? average? struggling?)
Type of Student: (Domestic/International, male/female, minority?)

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q:
V:
W:


TOEFL Total: (if applicable, otherwise delete this)

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications (Mth author out of N?) or conference talks etc...)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...)

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest
School - Department - Research Interest

[agentlerose]

Here's my application profile, to get the ball rolling:

Undergrad Institution: Top 15 program for MSE, small private institution
Major(s): Materials Science and Engineering
GPA in Major: 3.58
Overall GPA: 3.29
Position in Class: Small class, not the competitive type, so I don't know. Probably somewhere around the middle.
Type of Student: Domestic, Indian male

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 163
V: 163
W: 4.5

Research Experience: 2+ years of focused research experience (on materials informatics) with the a well-known professor, and a summer internship with another well-known professor. One second-author publication and one third-author publication, hopefully one more second-author paper and a first author paper before admissions deadlines... we'll see though.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Poster presentation at MS&T.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research is my paid job. I have hobbies outside of research and school (might include my photography portfolio in my app, we'll see), but not much that helps an engineering application. I guess I volunteered for getting people to vote last year.

Special Bonus Points: 3 strong LoRs, one from a professor at a school I'm applying to (internship professor)

Applying to Where:

UCSB - Structural Materials and ICME
MIT - DMSE - Structural Materials 
Northwestern - MSE - Materials Informatics/Computational Materials
OSU - MSE - Structural/Computational Materials
SUNY Buffalo -  MSE - Materials Informatics
UPenn - MSE - Theoretical Materials Science
Carnegie Mellon - MSE - Computational Materials Science

Nervous about my GPA (I flunked my freshman year, especially second semester with some tough family news), but hoping that my research experiences help. I really just want to go to the school that I did my summer internship at, but it's a tough school to get into. 

[gordonkim]

Undergrad/Grad Institution: One of the top 10 universities in South Korea (both BS and MS)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s):
GPA in Major: BS: 3.88/4.00
Overall GPA: BS: 3.48/4.00 , MS: 4.00/4.00
Position in Class: Top in major courses
Type of Student: International student (Male)

GRE Scores (revised/old version): revised
Q: 153
V: 164
W: 4.0


TOEFL Total:  110 (R:30, L:28, S:27, W:25)

Research Experience: Research Assistant (2 years during Master's), Temporary Researcher (1 year at KANC), Researcher (currently in the group I belonged for my Master's)

5 First author SCI papers, 3 First author SCIE papers. 1 international conference poster presentation, 1 domestic conference poster

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honor student (1 time), Secondary Honor student (2 times)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help:

Special Bonus Points:

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Military Service (2 years at Korea), Internship as a process engineer (4 month at LG Display)

Applying to Where:
(ONLY MSE; Research Interest: Photovoltaic materials)

University of California-Los Angeles
University of Maryland
Stanford University
University of Florida
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Georgia Tech
University of Texas at Austin
University of California-Santa Barbara
University of Utah
University of Pennsylvania
Duke University
Cornell University
University of Washington
North Carolina State University
University of Minnesota
University of Colorado

 

 

I am nervous about my GPA too. It is all because I did not really study hard before completing the compulsory military service. I also hope my research experience could help.

Edited November 22, 2017 by gordonkim

[ATOMIC]

GRE: ( V-156, Q-164, AWA - 3.5)
TOEFL- 109

B.E: 9.45(MECHANICAL) from Ramaiah Institute of Technology, India, Private College, Not research intensive

Research experience - 2 summer internship - 1) Summer Research Fellowship @ Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

final year research project- Development of Supercapacitors- On the verge of being filed for Indian Patent

publication - 1 in an international journal

 

Applying for material science (COMPUTATIONAL)  PhD

Decent SOP

LORs: 3 academic LORs from professors in college.

Colleges intended: 

UIUC
UC BERKELEY

U MICHIGAN AB
NORTHWESTERN U
PURDUE U
U TEXAS at AUSTIN
TEXAS A&M
PENNSYLVANIA STATE U
UC Santa Barbara

Penn State U

Should I apply to some safe colleges or not apply to some of the above colleges? 

[Riccardo]

Undergrad Institution: University of Bologna, Italy
Major(s): Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Overall GPA: 25.5/30 (3.4/4)
Position in Class: First quarter
Type of Student: M, International

GRE Scores (revised/old version):
Q: 161
V: 155
W: 3.5


TOEFL Total: 107

Research Experience: Internship for final research thesis at Nanobiotechnology Department of a famous Orthopaedic Institute in town (5-6 months)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: -

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: -

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: Tutoring to high school students, Leadership in sports, Work experiences during summer

Special Bonus Points: 3 recommenders: 2 researchers from the Orthopaedic Institute and 1 professor

Research Interests: Biomedical Nanotechnology

Applying to Where:

Master of Science

UCSD - NanoEng. (Biomedical Nanotech.)

GaTech - MatSc (Nanotech. concentration)

UTexas - MatSc

UCR - MatSc

Northwestern - MatSc

SUNY, Albany - Nanoscale Eng.

Joint Program (NorthC A&T and UNC at Greensb.) - NanoEng.

 

[ChemFan]

There really are not that many MSE entries..are people hearing back?

[ahgfjhgf]

Undergrad Institution: Small state liberal arts school
Major(s): Chemistry
Minor(s): Mathematics, College Honors Program
GPA in Major: 3.42
Overall GPA: 3.62
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Scores (new):
Q: 161 (78%)
V: 160 (86%)
W: 4.0 (60%)

Research Experience: 2-year long project at my school in orgo chem, 2 summer REUs at bigger name schools (1 in photovoltaics, 1 in computational biomaterials)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Honors program, 2 prof greek honor societies 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Job in chemistry dept. stockroom, TA in pchem

Research interests: Materials processing, photovoltaics, thin films, nanomaterials

LOR: Supervisor at chem stockroom job, 2 research advisors from REUs

Applying to Where:
Northwestern- MSE
U Michigan- Ann Arbor - MSE
Cornell- MSE
Virginia Tech- MSE
UConn- MSE
U Delaware- MSE
RIT- Microsystems Engineering

I'm very nervous that I won't get in anywhere (except RIT which is kinda my safety, but that would be a last resort). I don't have any publications or experience specifically in MSE. I don't know if I'm out on a limb applying to PhD MSE instead of chemistry. MSE research is just so much cooler than pure chem, which can be pretty boring. My undergrad school is a SUNY and I don't know how that will be perceived. Freaking out just a little lol

Edited January 11, 2018 by ahgfjhgf

[sp3514]

Undergrad Institution: Imperial College London (UK), Master in University of Cambridge (UK)
Major: Materials Sci. and Eng.
Overall GPA: first-class, we do not do GPA in UK
Position in Class: top 5%, ranked no. 2 in my cohort of 44 people 
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 160
W: 3.5 

Research Experience: 4 full-time research experiences, in total 18 month. In Imperial (Electrochemistry and nano, 3 months), Cambridge (Steel and Hydrogen 12 months) and two other institutes in China (relatively useless since too short, nano and opto, 3 months), 1 paper, 2nd author, just submitted  

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's lists and 1 scholarship 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: N/A

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points:  I am quite lucky that two of my recommenders are quite big in the UK, my Imperial adviser is the dean of Engineering faculty, FREng, and my Cambridge adviser is a Knight, FREng, FRS. Both are famous researcher with really high h-index. 

Applying to Where

MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Northwestern, Berkeley, Stanford.

(I only apply to the top ones not because I am cocky, I already got accepted to Imperial and Cambridge, so I am only apply for the better ones and the ones provide more funding)   

[ahgfjhgf]

Best of luck to everyone... Just wondering, has anyone heard from anywhere yet??

[sp3514]

My friend got an offer last week from Chicago but it was for organic chemistry, not materials Science. 

[hectorlopez3100]

I received an offer on last Friday (12 January) and I know as a fact that decisions at Northwestern have been made but are just waiting to be uploaded in the near future. 

[sp3514]

6 hours ago, hectorlopez3100 said:

I received an offer on last Friday (12 January) and I know as a fact that decisions at Northwestern have been made but are just waiting to be uploaded in the near future. 

May I ask which Uni was that?

[hectorlopez3100]

10 hours ago, sp3514 said:

May I ask which Uni was that?

UChicago IME (sorry for not specifying beforehand) and I think we should receive a decision from MIT in the following days. 

Good luck on your cocky selection.

[sp3514]

2 minutes ago, hectorlopez3100 said:

UChicago IME (sorry for not specifying beforehand) and I think we should receive a decision from MIT in the following days. 

Good luck on your cocky selection.

Congratulations! Haha, thanks, hope I do not get only rejections. That would be really sad. I just got rejected from MIT chemistry. 

[hectorlopez3100]

3 minutes ago, sp3514 said:

Congratulations! Haha, thanks, hope I do not get only rejections. That would be really sad. I just got rejected from MIT chemistry. 

Thank you! 

Yikes, sorry for not being admitted but who knows how the admission process is. I'm pretty sure you will get an invite from Caltech, they usually admit high achieving people. 

I will continue posting my results in this discussion. I hope you will too. By the way, who would you like to with in Northwestern? 

[sp3514]

6 minutes ago, hectorlopez3100 said:

Thank you! 

Yikes, sorry for not being admitted but who knows how the admission process is. I'm pretty sure you will get an invite from Caltech, they usually admit high achieving people. 

I will continue posting my results in this discussion. I hope you will too. By the way, who would you like to with in Northwestern? 

Chad Mirkin if possible, he is a legend, if not, I will go with Jiaxing Huang, but neither of them replied my emails

 

[hectorlopez3100]

6 minutes ago, sp3514 said:

Chad Mirkin if possible, he is a legend, if not, I will go with Jiaxing Huang, but neither of them replied my emails

 

Hmmm... from what I've heard (I'm currently working with one of their collaborators on campus) both are extremely busy and usually don't respond to prospective student email's so don't worry about it. Greatest of luck!   

[knows_nothing_gen]

On 1/12/2018 at 6:02 AM, sp3514 said:

Undergrad Institution: Imperial College London (UK), Master in University of Cambridge (UK)
Major: Materials Sci. and Eng.
Overall GPA: first-class, we do not do GPA in UK
Position in Class: top 5%, ranked no. 2 in my cohort of 44 people 
Type of Student: International, male

GRE Scores :
Q: 170
V: 160
W: 3.5 

Research Experience: 4 full-time research experiences, in total 18 month. In Imperial (Electrochemistry and nano, 3 months), Cambridge (Steel and Hydrogen 12 months) and two other institutes in China (relatively useless since too short, nano and opto, 3 months), 1 paper, 2nd author, just submitted  

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's lists and 1 scholarship 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: N/A

Any Miscellaneous Accomplishments that Might Help: N/A

Special Bonus Points:  I am quite lucky that two of my recommenders are quite big in the UK, my Imperial adviser is the dean of Engineering faculty, FREng, and my Cambridge adviser is a Knight, FREng, FRS. Both are famous researcher with really high h-index. 

Applying to Where

MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Northwestern, Berkeley, Stanford.

(I only apply to the top ones not because I am cocky, I already got accepted to Imperial and Cambridge, so I am only apply for the better ones and the ones provide more funding)   

6

Hi

Have you heard from Berkeley materials?

[sp3514]

6 minutes ago, knows_nothing_gen said:

Hi

Have you heard from Berkeley materials?

Nope, but my Imperial course-mate just got her offer which is really worrying hahahaha, I am expecting a rejection I guess. 

[knows_nothing_gen]

Is the recent post in admission results hers?

[sp3514]

3 minutes ago, knows_nothing_gen said:

Is the recent post in admission results hers?

I don't think so, I think they give out most of the offers today, we still got a chance, just not high 

[ahgfjhgf]

My friend just got accepted to RPI for materials and my other friend got rejected from UMich for chemistry (inorganic) last week. I still haven't heard from anyone. Fingers crossed!!

[knows_nothing_gen]

22 hours ago, sp3514 said:

I don't think so, I think they give out most of the offers today, we still got a chance, just not high 

Done and dusted!

I sent a mail to the admissions committee, I got this reply.

"Our admissions committee has made the majority of offers. If there are additional offers, they will be released in March."

 

[sp3514]

3 minutes ago, knows_nothing_gen said:

Done and dusted!

I sent a mail to the admissions committee, I got this reply.

"Our admissions committee has made the majority of offers. If there are additional offers, they will be released in March."

 

That's too bad..... I was hoping they would give out more offers today and tomorrow. 

[knows_nothing_gen]

8 minutes ago, sp3514 said:

That's too bad..... I was hoping they would give out more offers today and tomorrow. 

It feels so weird though given there are so few admission results posted on Gradcafe compared to last year. Guess it is not our time!