Married Students in PhD Programs and Schools

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello,

I am interested in going back to school for a PhD in either Mechanical Engineering or Nuclear engineering for Fall 2016. I am on the fence and the schools I get accepted and research into will determine which I will ultimately choose. I consider myself a non-traditional students for many reasons:

  1. Soon to be married - My soon to be wife goes to USC for SW and is set to finish Spring 2016. Being married in school seems to make things odd. My wife has a much different experience vs. her peers being engaged to me.
  2. National Guard experience (in IRR) - military experience was useful for toughing out my college. I have no benefits left however.
  3. Master's degree with research experience and contributions to publications in fuel cell manufacturing diagnostics at NREL.
  4. Field Engineering experience
  5. Desire a family friendly community and college

Degrees: BS, MS in Mechanical Engineering
College: Colorado School of Mines
GPAs: 3.8 (both degrees)
GRE: V157
Q157
AW 4.5
Research experience was at NREL in Golden, Colorado.
Work Experience: 7 months in field in North Dakota doing cement casing engineering
5 months in office doing piping engineering
Currently Residing: California

I am most interested in the types of schools I can definitely get in AND be fully funded. I am interested in top-tier, but I am comfortable with going somewhere mid-tier if the research is interesting and the location is healthy for my wife to find employment.I also want to be able to afford a home some day (California is sort of ruled out for that reason).

What types of schools can I get into?

2

As a point of clarification, I am looking at the following schools, but I would like to know what schools in general match my needs:

University of Tennessee (Nuclear)
University of Colorado - Boulder (Mechanical)
Oregon State University (Nuclear)
University of Washington (Mechanical)
Brown University (Mechanical)
Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (Nuclear)

Thoughts?

3

First- re post this query on the Graduate School Forum.
You’ll get a lot more knowledgeable responses there.

Most U’s will fully fund PhD students. If they dont offer to do that then it is is not worth going.
why arent you applying to USC? or do you want to move out of Calif?
When did you take your GRE’s?

4

I reposted in the Graduate School Forum