EquosAmo

Age: 21 M/F: M Location when applying: Rolla, MO, USA Major(s) in undergrad: Mechanical Engineering B.S. Undergraduate institution: Univerisity of Missouri - Rolla Major(s) applying for: Mechanical Engineering PhD Area of specialization: Controls and Mechatronics Degree(s) earned: B.S. in May 2006 Degree(s) applying for: PhD Undergrad GPA (try to adjust to 4.0 system): 4.00 at UMR (Past two years) I transfered from Cedarville University in Ohio so my cumulative is 3.7 Class Rank (if applicable): Somewhere around 160 of 1200 or so GRE Verbal: 640 GRE Math: 720 GRE Writing: 4.0 How many months did you study for GRE general: 2 months GRE Subject (if applicable): N/A How many months did you study for GRE subject:N/A Researched as undergrad in University (y/n & years): 1 year in multiple areas (composite manufacturing, lazer deposition control, ane electrohydraulic control) Researched as undergrad in Industry (y/n & years): Internship with a foundry; it was work experience not really research Published (y/n & # of articles): none Other: Advice to those applying to grad school: Work hard on you SOP and have some good research background. If you notice my GRE scores weren't real good, but I am content with my admits. I think what helped me the most was one of my recommendations. It was from the department head who taught at two of the schools to which I was applying. Try and get recommendations from professors that are well known at the school to which you are applying. They don't even have to be professors that know you the best, as long as they know enough good things to write about you. Since I transfered between schools after my sophmore year, I didn't know any of my professors for over two years. Accepted Schools (aid: y/n and how much and what form; date notified and method of notification): Penn State - PhD - Tuition Remission + TA or RA $7222.5/semester - email on 1/30/2006 Purdue University - PhD - Tuition Remission + RA $24,600/year - email on 2/7/2006 University of Texas Austin - PhD - No aid initially offered - email on 3/22/2006 University of Michigan Ann Arbor - MS - No aid initially offered - email on 3/28/2006 Cornell University - MS - No aid - email on 4/3/2006 Rejected Schools (date notified and method of notification): None Waitlisted Schools: Ohio State Univeristy wanted me to retake the GRE by email on 4/6 and I told them heck no. Chosen School: Purdue University

I imagine it is all dependant on how much you are willing to live on. I think that it is quite possible, but you would probably have to watch the money. I am not married and don't have kids so I don't know for sure. However, I met a married couple with one kid at Penn State when I visited and I believe they were living on a Penn State stipend of $1400/month.

I am not from that area so I am probably not the best person to answer your questions, but I had a favorable impression of the area. It is a pretty part of the country. More than rolling hills, but not really mountains. State Colllege is a college town meaning if it weren't for the university there wouldn't be much of a town. From what I saw, the town had pretty much everything you need except maybe a big mall. The campus is really close to downtown where there are a lot of neat coffee shops, restraunts and bars. The grad students I talked to really liked the school and when I talked to them about housing they said is was reasonable. A couple miles from campus a grad said he was renting a house for $500/month. The city bus system is free to students so if you live on a bus route you can easily get a ride to school. Gota go to class; Hope that helps

11/8/2005

Penn State, Purdue, and UMich are all good schools. If you plan to pursue a terminal MS than the school is less critical. If you have plans of pursuing a PhD later than the school might be more important. I was accepted to all three of those schools for Mech Eng PhD. Personally I really liked the Penn State area, the faculty, but their were lacking research in my field and their reputation is not as good as UMich and Purdue. I did briefly see their Industrial Engineering and I think it was in a new building if I remember correctly or maybe that was Purdue. Purdue is highly ranked in Industrial Engineering and they have a lot of industry partners, but the area is flat and kind of blah. UMich ME is also highly ranked, the area is more interesting, but the cost of living is higher like you mentioned. I would choose between UMich and Purdue based on individual faculty, financial offers, and the amount of research in your specialization. As far as placement, I don't think you would have to much trouble finding a job after completing a degree at either school. I will be going to Purdue ME; even though West Lafayette and Indiana are boring, they gave me a better stipend.

I got a request from OSU Mech Eng this morning asking me to retake the GRE. They said: "Your application for admission to the ME Graduate Program at Ohio State is currently under review with our Graduate Admissions Committee. The committee would like you to retake GRE and submit the new scores before they finalize their decision." What kind of request is that this late in the year? I now I didn't have awsome GRE scores but they were decent. 640V 720Q 4.0. Other schools didn't seem to mind. I have been admitted to all the other schools I applied (Cornell, UMich, Purdue, Penn State, UT Austin). OSU was one of my saftey school so it doesn't really matter, but thought it was a strange request. I guess they really dig the GRE scores.

I doubt that a dept would change completely from a TA to fellowship. Fellowships don't require the student to work and TAs do. My understanding is that TAs are funded by the department, RAs are funded by individual prof's research funds, and fellowships are funded by endowments. I think that a TA means that the school wants a student, but no specific prof has either the funds or personally conected with the student. Full fellowships are very prestigeous and usually require a long application process and high qualifications and it helps to have a professor pulling for you behind the scenes. Good Luck!

Just wanted to let you know that it works. I emailed them last night and this morning Purdue added a 3.5k fellowship. Apparently they can't adjust your stipend but they can add additional fellowships. :)

Thanks all, I am going to try:hmm:, thanks for the encouragement [crosses fingers]

Has anyone here successfully negiated a higher aid package from any schools? If so how did you do it? Any recommendations on whether to call or email them. Do you just come straight out and say I was offered $$k from such and such school would you improve your offer?

I mainly see threads about CS and ECON, but I am interested in where people applying for Mech Eng have been admitted. *Applied to? *Admissions? * With or Without Funding * What you think affected your admission most? *Rejections? My History Interest: Mech Eng PhD (Controls and System Modeling) GRE: Math-720 Verbal-640 Quan-4.0 GPA: CUM = 3.7 Last two years CUM=4.0 Applied to: Cornell, Univ of Mich Ann Arbor, OSU, UT-Austin, Penn State University Park, Purdue Admitted to: * Purdue (Full tuition + 50% RA) * Penn State (Full tuition + 50% RA/TA) I think that my heavy research involvement and a good recommendation from my dept head who taught at both Penn State and Purdue really helped me. Rejected from: * Possibly Cornell (Unofficial) I am wondering if any Mech Engs have heard from UM-Ann Arbor. I haven't heard anything but one person told me that they are usually late about letting students know their status. I am also curious what kind of aid UM-Ann Arbor provides.