<p>EE/Physics double major, Graduate May 2013
GPA-3.6 expect to rise to a 3.66 by the time I graduate
Freshman + Sophomore summer research experience on gyroscopes
Junior Summer to present- intern at a large scale reputable engineering company building power systems
GRE have a good feeling I will get a high score
Want to go to MIT for grad in Aeronautics. Problem is don’t have relevant research or intern experience in that field but that has always been my passion.
Im planning to spend summer after graduation doing aeronautics research.</p>
<p>My school is not a top school but is very reputable in Philly area and is listed under best engineering schools (U.S. news).</p>
<p>No one can tell you chances, unless it’s like your profile is on the negative extremes. I.E someone asking if they can get into MIT with a 1.2 GPA and other things…</p>
<p>I can tell you tho, your GPA is a bit on the lower end for MIT, but not for other very well known schools. Unless your university is known for it’s grade deflation or you’re at the top of your class or you got a pretty good upper trend with a not so good freshman year or something, that might be something you might mention in your SOP. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about direct research experience, grad schools like to see that you made the best of your undergrad experience so any research experience is good.</p>
<p>Having said that, we don’t know the contents of your LORs or your SOP, so it’s impossible to chance you. </p>
<p>Why MIT? There are plenty of “top” schools that are not as selective as MIT.</p>
<p>I need to go to MIT because it is quite the only school with top notch research and closer to my home. I have CMU but I don’t like Pittsburg. I don’t even have any safety schools because I am rock hard determined on getting in to MIT.</p>
<p>You should get other safety schools on the list in case. MIT is obviously extremely competitive and due to this, there will be kids with outstanding grades, GRE scores, research work, LORs, etc applying there, so you never know if you will get in or not. There are plenty of other great schools out there, and what matters the most is your specific interest in Aerospace that you want to focus in. There may be other great universities for what you actually want to go into that aren’t MIT but are actually possible to get into.</p>
<p>If you so insist to go to MIT then you need to read the stuff being said in MIT forum. Also, remember you are talking about Grad School not undergraduate so you have to make sure to meet their requirements. Lastly, nothing is impossible, just try it and who knows…</p>
<p>There is a lot of ignorance in this paragraph. I will start at the beginning. MIT has top notch research, but it is far from the only school with top notch research, particularly in aeronautics, where it is good but I can think of a handful of schools right off the bat that I would place above it for aeronautics research. I mean, in aeronautics, it’s no Caltech…</p>
<p>Second, limiting yourself to “close to home” for graduate school is very foolish. You should be looking at programs that are strong in a specific field in which you are interested. When I say that, I don’t just mean “aeronautics”, but something more specific like “boundary layer stability” or “shape memory alloys” or other specific research areas like that. You may not know exactly what you want to do yet, but you ought to have at least a list of possibilities, so you should be looking for schools with strong research in those areas. Limiting yourself to “close to home” limits your ability to get the most out of graduate school.</p>
<p>Last, not having safety schools is just completely reckless. The chances of MIT are so, so slim already. Have you thought about what you will do if you don’t get in? Shoot, do you even know what you want to research if you do?</p>
<p>You should consider other schools too, not just MIT because of it’s glamour. I know it looks nice having MIT on your resume, but you should be more concerned with the type of research opportunities offered by your ‘list’ of schools. MIT is not a one-stop-shop…</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid to leave your local area either. Grad school is all about maximizing your potential for research opportunities. Don’t just settle because of convenience… Also, this is MIT we’re talking about, and your stats are marginal.</p>
<p>Lastly, LOL at boneheads recommendation on Caltech. No doubt it’s arguably the best option for aeronautics research right now, but if only 5 people can get in, what’s the point?</p>
<p>I’ll be blunt and honest and will probably come off as an ass, but don’t get your hopes up for MIT ONLY. If you’re 100% set on MIT, then I would prepare to be disappointed.</p>
<p>Don’t mistake my post for “recommending” Caltech. I was merely pointing out that MIT isn’t even the best aeronautics program. I think the OP would have little chance at either. For the record though, GALCIT has some 100 graduate students. That isn’t much less than the large aerospace departments, so it isn’t like there are only 5 students. It is the undergraduate programs at Caltech that are comparatively tiny.</p>
<p>If you were a professor in aeronautics whose future (tenure, publications, execution of research grants, etc) depended on choosing you from among all other applicants, would you pick you. </p>
<p>If you are planning to spend the summer after graduation doing aeronautics research, why not wait a year to apply until you have the credible recommendation.</p>
No doubt it’s arguably the best option for aeronautics research right now, but if only 5 people can get in, what’s the point?</p>