<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>Someone very close to me is thinking about doing a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering (in University of Waterloo). He has been out of school for 20 years, and I was wondering whether any of you could give any helpful advice. The program he’s looking into requires 75% average, but he had 87% when he got his Bachelor’s, and the professors he recently contacted still remembered him as the amazing student who cared a lot about his subject. So I think he can have great recommendations. Would he be at a great disadvantage because of the 20-year gap? If so, I was wondering what else he needed to do to increase his chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>Are there anyone who also know of similar situation? Any reply would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Your friend should contact the dean of graduate studies in his prospective department at Waterloo. His/her advice will be much more useful than ours.</p>
<p>I returned to grad school after ten years, and was by far a better student with the maturity I gained. After twenty years, it can only be better, no? As far as increasing chances of acceptance, if you mean into the program, just study for the standardized test necessary, and be honest on the application, same as for high school seniors. I would think his experience is a tremendous plus, if he can work that in on the app.</p>
<p>snowcapk, do you mean the dean of graduate studies of the faculty? (I see an associate chair for graduate studies, is that the right person?) Do they normally answer emails and such? He tried emailing the graduate studies secretary, but only got a copy-and-paste email about how to apply.</p>
<p>marnik, were there any difficulties in going back to studying after 10 years? For example, could you cope with the workload and tests? I’m thinking a lot of materials would be forgotten…</p>
<p>At every university, in each department with a graduate program, there is a faculty person who serves as the Director of Graduate Studies. </p>
<p>A departmental DGS is not a Dean. Look on the departmental website, not the Graduate School website. The Graduate School is an administrative unit. Graduate admission decisions are made at the departmental level, not by the Graduate School. You will send (at least part) of your application to the Graduate School (like an online application, standardized test scores, etc.), but it is a department you are applying to, not an administrative unit.</p>
<p>I hope that clarifies things a bit.</p>