Pirates0301

Hi Everyone,

I have been thinking about Engineering Grad School. I never really thought about grad school when I was an undergraduate, so I kind of let my GPA go....

Major: Mechanical Engineering
GPA: 3.18
GRE: 163Q(780) 161V(620) Writing:4.0
Internships: 2 internships
Work Experience: Just finished my first year working as an engineer.

I am thinking about going back to grad school for engineering. If anyone has any thoughts or comments about any chances, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

g0ld3n

Your GPA isn't really that low for engineering unless you're shooting for top 5-10 national programs (ie MIT, Stanford etc), sure it could be higher, but above a 3.0 won't get you tossed out because of the GPA. Your GRE scores are low though.

Pirates0301

Thanks !

Should I retake the GREs ?

When I checked the average GRE scores for most engineering schools, mine seemed to be comparable or am I way off ?

GLOBALTRAVELER

You can retake the GRE's but there are some schools in the Top-30 that do not require GRE's and only ask for a 3.0 GPA. Those same schools will probably allow you to start off in "provisional" status which means that you can take up to 3 graduate engineering courses and if you get like a 3.5 GPA in them, the school will grant you full admission.

Here is the catch(s): 1)You probably have to choose the part-time/non-funded program. 2) Top-10 schools won't allow this due to having so many qualified candidates applying.

Pirates0301

Thanks !

Just to clarify, my GRE scores are lower than average admission GRE for most Engineering Grad Schools ?

zs3889

Wow 163Q and 161V are considered as low? isn't that like close to 80-85% percentile?!

Jenzep

I am exactly in the same condition as that of yours with exactly the same stats, barring the fact that I am an international which probably makes matters more worse for me.

@GLOBALTRAVELER

Is it possible that one can get some sort of funding in second year of MS? Spending for the entire 2-year program would almost be out of reach.

@OP
Sorry for hijacking your thread but I hope you will have the same query.

Thanks!

GLOBALTRAVELER

@Jenzep

I cannot help you with that answer because it is the first time I heard of that scenario. I don't know if funded programs are for full-time students starting their first class or if one can apply for scholarships after X amount of graduate credits. I am more familar with part-time/distance graduate programs using employer money.

Azarobi

@GLOBALTRAVELER
Can you please name a few of those schools. i'm currently in the phase of shortlisting colleges to apply to and this information will definitely come in handy. Thanks.

PCHope

1. Where did you have your BS? How strict was the grading? This will play a role in evaluating your application.

2. While your GREs are not outstanding, they are good enough for any school.

Jenzep

@Pirates,

I am an EE guy and I am not that sure about good Mechanical grad schools but some of schools you can search out include

ASU Arizona State University
NCSU North Carolina State University
University Of Minnesota Twin Cities

And do share admit stats with me if you find any.

Thanks!

GLOBALTRAVELER

Here is a couple of schools...

University of Maryland (no GRE required): Office of Advanced Engineering Education, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland

University of Wisconsin, says GRE is not weighed heavily plus states that average GRE is 1200 which Pirates301 is clearly above and ranked 13th in Mechanical.

Jenzep

But @GlobalTraveler,

Isn't Wisconsin a far cry with 3.11 GPA?

GLOBALTRAVELER

Schools usually post 3.0+ GPA...I would say try and see.

xraymancs

Hi @Pirates0301. I just finished a three year term as Associate Dean for Graduate Admissions at Illinois Institute of Technology and while your GPA is not as high as our departments would like, your GRE is fine. They just changed the scoring this year and now the scores for the Quantitative part have been spread out because there was no differentiation at the top. You have 88% in quantitative and 89% in verbal and that is actually very unusual for an engineer or physics major (the verbal that is!).

What kind of graduate program are you interested in? If it is for a masters of the professional kind (no thesis) you will get into quite good programs. If you are interested in a Ph.D. you might have to prove yourself in a M.S. program first. In general engineering programs appreciate the work experience in their graduate students, unlike physics, for example. Depending on your undergraduate program, you would have a good chance of getting into IIT.