<p>I’m going to graduate in July '11 with a B.Eng in Electronic Engineering from a British university and intend to go to grad school in the US. I’m expecting to graduate with a 2.1(Upper second class honors; roughly equivalent to a 3.2-3.5 GPA), with not much work experience and not a lot of research credentials either, although that can be explained by the fact that undergraduate students in British universities don’t usually offer undergraduate students any opportunities to take up any research, on their own or with a professor. I’m interested primarily in doing a terminal MS with no intentions of doing a PhD. I have the option to work for a year in the US as I have a job offer(for a US senator, if that makes a difference) or I can apply straight to grad school. My first question is how do Columbia treat applicants who’re mainly interested in doing a coursework based degree without planning to continue on to a research based one? Also, what kind of applicant profile does Fu Foundation usually look for Engineering applicants? I’m talking GRE scores, college grades and anything else that may be relevant. Another thing I’d like some advice on is my other choices for grad school since it probably wouldn’t be a very good idea to apply to just one. I’m looking for a decent mix of good reputation and good social life. I’ll be a bit more blatant here and say that I’m looking for a school with ample opportunities to party since I don’t like being stuck with work 24/7.
PS. Just out of curiosity, how different is life in grad school from life in college? I realize that the work load must obviously be higher but is it still possible to enjoy what many would refer to as ‘typical college life’? I had the opportunity to go to Cornell for my undergrad degree but couldn’t because of ridiculous tuition fees for international students so while I’ve had a pretty amazing time in the UK, I’d still feel like I missed out on something good and would like to experience American college life.</p>
<p>All of Columbia’s engineering master programs are course-work only.</p>