Getting Into Grad School

[The Operator]

Was wondering if I could pick your brains about this.

Here's my story:

I'm an Electrical Engineering student at Wright State, and I'll most likely graduate in March of 2011. I want to start working after I get my Bachelor's degree because I'm 22 and I'm ready to start making money, but I do still want to pursue a Master's Degree.

I'm hoping I can get into UD for grad school. On the surface, I should meet the requirements. UD requires a BSEE to get into their MSEE program and atleast a 3.0. I currently have a 3.441 at Wright State and I will have my BS.

The only thing I'm concerned about on admissions requirements is that before I went to Wright State, I attended Miami for 3 years and I was a bit of a slacker there. My GPA at Miami was around 2.7-2.8ish if I remember correctly. Long story short, I just went through the motions and I eventually had a wake up call, and then I transferred to Wright State and I'm loving my major there, and it shows.

So, would a school like UD see my lower GPA at Miami and not take me because of that, or do they only care about the GPA of the degree-granting insitution? If I remember correctly, OU and UC only care about the GPA from your degree-granting institution. But I know UD is a private school, so they can be a little stricter about that stuff.

I also plan to take the GRE, even though I'm sure it will be a pain to study for since I also want to take the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering exam) at the time of my graduation.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

[Hoosier Red]

My guess is you'll be fine. In my experience schools like to talk tough about their admissions standards, but will let anyone in who is motivated enough to pay them.

Take the GRE and the FE and get good scores and you'll be fine.

Good luck!

[joshnky]

I also plan to take the GRE, even though I'm sure it will be a pain to study for since I also want to take the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering exam) at the time of my graduation.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Why do you need to take the GRE to take the FE? I took the FE before I finished my Bachelor's and although it wasn't too bad I've heard that the EE section is a terror. My roommate struggled to pass it and spent a couple months studying and preparing.

Also, I doubt grad schools consider FE scores for admittance because a lot of students don't take the exam.

[The Operator]

Why do you need to take the GRE to take the FE? I took the FE before I finished my Bachelor's and although it wasn't too bad I've heard that the EE section is a terror. My roommate struggled to pass it and spent a couple months studying and preparing.

Also, I doubt grad schools consider FE scores for admittance because a lot of students don't take the exam.

I don't really need both, or one before the other, but I want to take both.

I want to take the FE because I want to be a PE sometime down the road, and they say it's best to take the FE while a lot of the theory is still fresh in your head.

I'm thinking the GRE would just be for good measure. UD's website says they don't require it, but they encourage it.

[rdiersin]

I don't really need both, or one before the other, but I want to take both.

I want to take the FE because I want to be a PE sometime down the road, and they say it's best to take the FE while a lot of the theory is still fresh in your head.

I'm thinking the GRE would just be for good measure. UD's website says they don't require it, but they encourage it.

Definitely take the FE while it is fresh in your head. I would also take the GRE, simply because it gives you another thing to take notice of, especially because you are worried about your Miami time. What I would say in Engineering matters is probably your GPA in the classes that are in your area. That is if you are into communications, how did you do in signals and systems, DSP, control maybe, and communications as well as math.

FYI, if you are going into grad school for communications, DSP, or control make sure to look at taking some more math as a senior. An undergraduate math course in Analysis would be really nice, as grad school is going to involve a lot more math in those areas.

[Spazzrico]

In my opinion you should also try to build a connection with a professor that you would like to work with. Make them know you are motivated. Your GRE's will also be important, but having a faculty member in your corner to represent you is invaluable. So make sure you've toured the program, met the faculty and connected with one or more of them in a meaningful way. Otherwise you only have your paper self to represent you.

[Reds4Life]

If they ask about the low gpa, just tell them you were a young kid and didn't take your studies as seriously as you should have. Now you've grown up. It happens a lot.

Work expierence is also important, so if you are employed that will work in your favor.

[Stewie]

If they ask about the low gpa, just tell them you were a young kid and didn't take your studies as seriously as you should have. Now you've grown up. It happens a lot.

Work expierence is also important, so if you are employed that will work in your favor.

I agree with this. I went to UD for grad school for business after getting my undergrad degree at Miami. And similarly, my first year or so at Miami was a bit rough grade-wise (I had a stellar 1.75 GPA after the first semester that put me in a hole that took some work to dig out of). By the time I graduated, my overall GPA still wasn't above a 3.0, but I did well enough my last two years, and in all my courses towards my majors, that they helped make up for it. Admittedly, I also had about two years of work experience between undergrad and grad school, and did well enough on my GMAT.

But I'd think that if you continue to do well at Wright State you shouldn't have a problem. I'd assume they'd look at your transcripts from Miami, but I'd have to think that they'd take much more consideration in how you're doing in your engineering courses, as opposed to what grade you got in some random art course you took 3-4 years ago at a different school.

[paintmered]

I'm working part time on my MSEE at Wright State (wrong University). For UD, I'd imagine that having an accredited BSEE with a good GRE score should be enough. But to be quite honest, I'm not sure how competitive it is. Your FE experience shouldn't play into the admissions process.

Out of curiosity, what do you want to specialize in for your MS studies?

[The Operator]

I'm working part time on my MSEE at Wright State (wrong University). For UD, I'd imagine that having an accredited BSEE with a good GRE score should be enough. But to be quite honest, I'm not sure how competitive it is. Your FE experience shouldn't play into the admissions process.

Out of curiosity, what do you want to specialize in for your MS studies?

Heh, no kidding? Small world.

If you don't mind my asking, where did you get your undergrad from? And how do you think WSU compares to other engineering schools? I know I've been impressed so far but as always, ya hear different opinions all the time.

As for my MS studies, as of now, I plan to do Electromagnetics / Optics... I've always been pretty decent with Calculus, and I just took vector Calc this summer, and did pretty good so I'm confident that I can handle those classes.

As an aside, I accidentally took Linear Systems I without having Diff Eq. as a pre-req, somehow it still let me register for it. I was glad to have a C in that class... and I had to study so much more for it than my other classes, all of which were A's and B's.

[paintmered]

Heh, no kidding? Small world.

If you don't mind my asking, where did you get your undergrad from? And how do you think WSU compares to other engineering schools? I know I've been impressed so far but as always, ya hear different opinions all the time.

As for my MS studies, as of now, I plan to do Electromagnetics / Optics... I've always been pretty decent with Calculus, and I just took vector Calc this summer, and did pretty good so I'm confident that I can handle those classes.

As an aside, I accidentally took Linear System I without having Diff Eq. as a pre-req, somehow it still let me register for it. I was glad to have a C in that class... and I had to study so much more for it than my other classes, all of which were A's and B's.

I went to UC for my undergrad. They're quite good at devices. I thought my undergrad experience was pretty good, but overall it varied by professor. There are a few tenured profs that don't put their heart into teaching anymore, and others are at the very forefront of their field and were excellent instructors.

I was looking for a much more broad set of classes with my MS and that's why Wright State's expansive class offerings appealed to me more. A few of my undergrad friends also started their Master's at UD, didn't particularly care for it and switched to Wright State. But if EO is your thing, then UD is the place to be.

[The Operator]

That seems to be what I'm finding out.

I took a look at UD's graduate course offerings, all kinds of stuff involving antennas, lasers, optics, microwave, etc. Looks awesome. Plus, as much as I'm loving Wright State, UD is so much closer to where I live. Commuting up 675 gets old after a while.

I better get my BS done first though.

[The Operator]

I have a similar inquiry and figured I'd bump this thread instead of starting a new one.

Recently, my area of interest has shifted a little bit toward the power systems / power generation area. Most schools around here offer very little in that field, the closest one I can find that has a decent number of courses in it is Ohio State.

My question is pretty much the same as when I started the thread, just sub Ohio State in place of UD. I gotta say, I'm pretty pessimistic about my prospects of getting into Ohio State even though my Wright State gpa is 3.4 and on the rise, including a 3.6 in my EE classes.

OSU wants a 3.2 for ALL undergrad work - would be almost impossible for me to attain given my gpa when I was at MUM. Which really bums me out.

They do, however, say you can still apply if you take the GRE but it doesn't say anything about chances of admission.

Have any of you had a similar experience to this or know of anyone who has? How is OSU when it comes to getting into grad school, specifically in The College of Engineering?

[SunDeck]

My guess is the Miami years won't be a problem. What you can show is that you did much better upon switching from one place to another...you don't need to mention the slacking part .

That said, if you think it will be a problem you could go into the work force for a few years and apply later. I don't know what Wright's admission goals are, but it's not uncommon for schools to like getting people who are stepping out of the professional world for a while because they tend to bring a good work and study ethic with them.

[Kingspoint]

If you're interested,

Kings Point has a Graduate program that's among the very best in the world in Power Generation:

http://www.usmma.edu/gradcourse/

And, it's on-line.

Their instructors are no less than elite.