Materials Science and Engineering Grad School Admissions Chances

RacinReaver
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:55:08 +0000

I think only one or two of the other people admitted my year had an undergrad in MSE. Most of them were physics, chemistry, or ChemE, though I’m sure you’d be able to get in with a MechE degree (one of my labmates was MechE, actually). MSE is a really interdisciplinary science and there’s tons of different subfields you can work in, so they encourage people from all sorts of backgrounds to apply. Also, it’s pretty well known that MSE is still a somewhat uncommon major in undergrad, so they have to deal with that. I imagine it’s similar in NukeE and Aero.

Caltech certainly prepares you for research and academia; you’ll be doing plenty of learning on your own (classes are generally mediocre at best). You’ll definitely struggle a bit with some of the classes, but so does everyone else.

CA is very different depending on if you’re living in SF, LA, or SD. I’m from Pennsylvania and not really that huge a fan of LA since people tend to just be very aloof and traffic is the worst thing ever, but there are a few nice things. I get fresh fruit and veggies for really cheap (and they’re generally delicious) and the weather’s pretty much always nice. There are lots of things to do no matter what you’re into, too. If you like the beach, it’s “only” 45 minutes away (that’s without traffic…), there’s also mountains just a short ride away from Pasadena. I have a number of friends that go skiing, snowboarding, and hiking depending on which season it is. There’s a few different ski towns within two hours; I know of Big Bear, Mammoth, and Mt Baldy off the top of my head. If you’re more into music/theater you can take the train downtown, or drive over to Hollywood.

My biggest complaint is Pasadena is a pretty crappy college town. It’s mostly upscale, there aren’t many places open after 10 PM, and once you step off of Caltech’s property there’s a 50/50 chance people don’t even know there’s a college nearby.