What activities can I do during my MechEng undergrad

boneh3ad
Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:28:56 +0000

Harvard isn’t exactly an elite mechanical engineering program. I wouldn’t get so hung up on the “name brand” of the school and instead look at who is producing high-quality research in the area you intend to study in graduate school (as in the specific research area, not just “mechanical engineering”). The best way to measure that is by looking in the relevant journals and looking at what sorts of programs are publishing (preferably often) in the top journals in that field. It’s much more important that your graduate advisor is good than the name brand of the school.

Otherwise, @Bioenchilada is correct. The name of the game for graduate admissions at top schools is research, research, research. Even if it isn’t top level research, it is still very helpful and the strong recommendation letter you should get form that faculty member will carry you a long way in the admissions process, especially if that person has a good reputation in the field and/or strong connections at a given school.