Hello all – it’s getting to that time of year when seniors are starting to think about getting a job after graduation, or continuing on with grad school. A year ago, I knew I wanted to get my PhD, but I had no idea where to start, and the school I went to for undergrad didn’t have great resources. I ended up doing a lot of research, googling, and talking to everyone I could to figure out the best way to get through the process successfully. I didn’t go to a good undergrad school and didn’t have experience in a research lab at school, but I was accepted with full funding to 5/5 mechanical engineering PhD programs that I applied to (4 of which were Top 10 programs). More info on me, including my stats, are at the bottom of this post. I put together this guide to hopefully help anyone who is thinking about applying to grad school for engineering. I’ll go over choosing a degree, the GRE, choosing schools to apply to, preparing your application, and getting funded. When I get to the GRE section, I do mention some stuff that is only relevant for applying to super-competitive schools, but other than that, this should be applicable to anyone. I will be happy to answer any questions in the comments!

Part One: Choosing a Degree

There are four common graduate degrees that an engineer will pursue, and they are described below. Because I am keeping this guide focused on advanced engineering degree, I won't be going into more detail on MBAs, and the advice in the rest of this post is not necessarily relevant for anyone interested in pursuing an MBA.

• Master of Science (MS): An MS degree requires completion of classes as well as a thesis. It is often the step between a Bachelor degree and a PhD. It takes around 2 years to complete and although some people self-fund their degree, it is often subsidized by an employer, fellowship, graduate assistantship, or teaching assistantship. An engineer with an MS is qualified to do more heavy work in design or production rather than “day-to-day” engineering tasks. It is also a common path to going into project management.

• Master of Engineering (MEng): The MEng is sometimes referred to as a non-thesis MS. It consists of only courses and no thesis program, although sometimes an internship or capstone project similar to the one completed in undergrad may be required. It is typically slightly shorter than an MS degree, depending on the courseload taken each semester. These degrees are very often self-funded, although it is possible to have it subsidized by an employer or a teaching assistantship. An engineer with an MEng may become an engineering supervisor or senior engineer.

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD): A PhD requires students to take coursework and develop original research leading to a dissertation defense. It can often take anywhere from 4 – 6 years, depending on whether you have your MS already. Possible career paths include being a professor, researcher in industry or in a national lab, or working at a startup. An engineering student should never self-fund a PhD. Instead, they should be able to get tuition + a living stipend paid for by a graduate assistantship, teaching assistantship, fellowship, or a combination of those.

• Master of Business Administration (MBA): An MBA is a coursework-based degree that allows you to gain soft skills (teamwork, leadership, ethics, communication) that you don’t learn in engineering school. There is a strong emphasis on strategic decision-making. Applicants will typically have 3-5 years of full-time work experience before beginning their MBA. Some possible career paths include going into management, changing careers entirely, or starting your own business. They are often self-funded or subsidized by an employer.

Should you wait a few years after undergrad to go to grad school?

• Pros: Getting more experience can make a degree more meaningful because you’ll understand the practical applications of it. You also might be able to get your employer to pay for your degree

• Cons: The longer you wait, the more you’ll forget from classes, which will put you at a disadvantage against younger members of the cohort. As you may have noticed from your internships…it’s hard to go back to school once you’re used to making money and not doing homework!

Part Two: Preparing for the GRE

The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) is administered by the ETS (Educational Testing Service). It reminded me a lot of the SAT. The testing fee is $205 and the test is 3 hours and 45 minutes long. It can be taken once every 3 weeks, up to 5 times in one year. There are three different sections, described below:

• Analytical Writing is graded on a scale from 0 to 6.0 in half-point increments. The essays are scored by a computerized program and a trained human, then the scores are averaged together. All of the possible prompts are published online by the ETS. There are two essays: Analyze an Issue, in which you take a perspective on a given issue and support it, and Analyze an Argument, in which you discuss the logical soundness of an author’s argument in a piece of writing. Use complex sentences and vocabulary (this is what the computer scorer looks for!). Some writing tips:

  • Don’t start every sentence in the same way

  • Before beginning to write, spend 5 minutes brainstorming – write down as many bullet points as possible

  • Use a thesis statement to explicitly announce your main points

  • Start a new paragraph every time you shift to new ideas

  • Always write about the counterarguments

• Verbal Reasoning (Reading) is graded on a scale from 130 to 170 in one-point increments. There are three different types of questions: reading comprehension, text completion, and sentence equivalence. The second and third types are easily recognizable as vocab questions.

  • Become familiar with the connotation of words, not just the dictionary definition

  • With a “fill-in-the-blank” question, read the sentence first without looking at the answer and try to fill in the word that you think belongs. Then, look at the answer choices and try to find a synonym

  • Download the Magoosh Vocabulary Builder app – it has 1,000 words on it that very commonly appear on the GRE

• Quantitative Reasoning (Math) is graded on a scale from 130 to 170 in one-point increments. None of the material that appears is from beyond a high school-level. The basic topics it covers are Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, and Data Analysis.

  • Remember that figures are not necessarily drawn to scale

  • Plug in different quantities (positive, negative, fractions) to test the validity of a comparison

  • If there is only one right answer to a multiple choice question, plug them all in if you get desperate

  • The on-screen calculator takes a bit of getting used to, so be sure to practice ahead of time!

How to Study for the GRE: I am a fan of Magoosh – they have a free vocabulary app that helps you learn the 1000 most common GRE vocab words. They also have a paid online study service around $100/month; you tell them when you want to take the test and it creates daily assignments to help you prepare. Other popular companies for prep are Manhattan Prep (they have a very extensive set of books) and Kaplan (lots of practice tests!). There are also 2 free practice tests on the ETS website. These are very important and I recommend paying for more ($40/each) if you don’t get other practice tests through your other study method. It uses the same software as the actual test, so it’s perfect for getting used to the calculator and how the test will look.

Competitive Scores: I went into the GRE aiming for a score that would be competitive at a Top 10 school. For engineering, you should have a strong quant score, but you need to show that you have decent written communication skills as well. For analytical writing, many schools require a 3.0 at a minimum, but you shoot for at least a 4.0 to be competitive. Verbal is also not super important for engineering students. Some schools will post a minimum required score, but above 155 is a reasonable goal. The quantitative section is by far the most important; for a top school, you want to be in the 90th percentile, which is typically around a 165. The average score for Stanford engineering is 4.5AW/161V/167Q.

Sending Scores: On the day you take the test, you can send your scores to up to 4 schools for free. Afterwards, it costs $27 per institution to send your GRE scores there. Also, check the box that gives them permission to share your info with other institutions. You’ll get some spam email from liberal arts schools that you have no interest in, but you’ll also get tons of application fee waivers emailed to you.

Part Three: Choosing Schools to Apply to

Ideally, you should have at least four schools picked out before you take the GRE so you can save money on sending scores. When I chose my schools, the factors that I considered, in order from most to least important, were ranking, location, cost of living, and research opportunities. Looking back, I should have done research opportunities, ranking, location, and then cost of living, but you should decide what's important to you. I’ll go through all of them below:

• Ranking: Higher-ranked schools will almost always be better funded and have more resources available to grad students, but they are also be more competitive. Graduate school prestige matters more than undergrad prestige, but it’s not everything. I recommend using U.S.News to see the top 10 for your field, but you have to pay to see more. I used https://www.university-list.net to find the rankings for mechanical engineering PhD programs. The data is all from 2015 and appears to be stolen off of U.S.News. The current ranking for the top 10 grad schools across all engineering fields, according to U.S.News, is 1 - MIT, 2 - Stanford, 3 - UC Berkeley, 4 - Carnegie Mellon, 5 - CalTech, 6 - UMich, 7 - Georgia Tech, 8 - Purdue, 9 - USC, and 10 - University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

• Location: Ask yourself if you’d rather live in a big city or a small college town. This might not matter to you, which is good too! Climate is very important – do you hate being hot or cold? Also, consider job opportunities in that city and try to picture yourself settling down there. Keep in mind that some locations may make a wonderful vacation, but you might not enjoy living there for many years (I’m talking about you, Florida). Don’t visit any schools on your own dime, unless you happen to live nearby.

• Cost of Living: Look at the average cost of an apartment near the campus that you’re looking at. Will the typical stipend at this school be enough to cover your portion of rent? In a big city, you will almost definitely need to have roommates.

• Research Opportunities: Go to the department’s website and look at the professor’s CVs and websites. Are they doing projects that are relevant to your interests and background? You can reach out to PIs (Principal Investigators) as early as the summer to discuss their work and ask them questions. I can provide a sample of one of my “reaching out” emails if wanted. If nothing else, sending this email will at least get them to recognize your name in the application pile! If things go well, you could get an interview with them.

Part Four: Your Application

Schools are looking for experience and skills (highlighted in your Statement of Purpose), letters of recommendation, a research interest match, and a solid GPA/GRE (least important of all the factors). Having external funding (discussed later) will put your name at the top of the list because they won’t have to pay for you to be there.

• Application Fees: In my experience, they ranged from $35 - $125. If you don’t get a fee waiver emailed to you after the GRE, there’s no harm in emailing the admissions office and asking if they give fee waivers. Also, applying to some fellowships, such as GEM, will automatically give you a fee waiver at some schools.

• Transcript: Most schools won’t request your official transcript (expensive) unless you enroll, so buy one PDF version of your transcript from your undergrad school and upload it to all of the applications so you only have to pay for it once.

• When to Apply: Every school has a different application deadline, but it seemed like most range from Dec 1 to mid-January. If you’re applying for Masters rather than PhD, the deadline is typically, but not always, later. Check to see if there is an earlier deadline for people who want to be considered for funding. Aim to submit your app AT LEAST one day before it’s due in case of computer issues or anything else that could come up.

• Letters of Recommendation: You need at least 1 academic reference. Ideally, this is a professor that you’ve interacted with a lot outside of class. Most schools accept between 3 and 5 reference letters. Give your LoR writers plenty of notice beforehand – bring it up within a few weeks of getting back to class in the fall. Always send a thank-you note and gift to your writers once the application season is over!

• Statement of Purpose: When you were applying to undergrad schools, you probably wrote a Personal Statement, but this is different. For grad schools, you write a Statement of Purpose, which should answer these questions: What do you want to study? Why do you want to study it? What experience do you have in this field? What do you plan to do with your degree? Why is this program a good fit? You should be tailoring your SoP to each program you apply to. I followed a formula with mine that worked very well: I started talking about my specialized area of interest and the skills/experience I have related to it. Then I discussed my future goals, and ended with a paragraph tailored to each program about why I was interested in that specific department at that specific institution.

  • Get as many people as possible to proofread your application: advisors, professors, your LoR writers, even other students.

  • Things to Avoid: Pretty much anything that happened before undergrad, clichés (ex: from a very young age, I knew I was destined to be an engineer…”), anything overly negative, passive voice, casual writing including contractions, and using acronyms without defining them beforehand

  • Your Experiences: My application was a bit unique because I didn’t have academic research experience. My undergrad school had a mandatory co-op program and I couldn’t financially afford to take a >50% pay cut to do research instead of co-op. Instead, I used my co-op to explore the world of R&D, focusing as much as I could on the “R” part of R&D. I got heavily involved in doing testing and experiments for my company, and managed a long-term testing project that was extremely similar to a research project a grad student would be working on in a lab. I discussed that project in my SoP, and interviewers/admissions panels were impressed that I was able to operate with that level of independence.

• Hearing Back: Some schools have rolling admissions and some will not start reviewing applications until after the deadline has passed. Some schools will admit you without a visit, while some will invite you to visit and interview with professors to find someone to give you funding before they accept you. You have until April 15th to accept an offer with funding attached. After that, you can change your mind, but it requires a written release from the school that you originally committed to, and that will pretty much burn bridges with that school.

• Visit Weekends: Schools will often pay for your flights and hotels to come visit them if they admit you or are considering admitting you. Prepare as you would for any interview, wear business casual, do your research ahead of time, and bring some resumes just in case. Going into your visit, know what you want to do and how it relates to the professor that you’re interviewing with. You should look at these interviews as a two-way street: they’re seeing if they want to accept you and give you funding, while you’re trying to decide if you would want to go to school and research there for the next few years. Some important questions for you to ask are:

  • How many grad students do you currently have? How many have you had in the past?

  • Where did your past students end up? Industry or academia?

  • Is your research mostly theoretical, computational, or experimental?

  • How often do you meet with your students?

  • Do you have a requirement for how many papers a student must publish before they finish their degree?

  • What background or skills do you look for in a potential grad student?

Part Five: Getting Funding

Funding Amount: Ideally, you should be able to get funding that covers the entire tuition cost (whether it’s in-state or out-of-state) as well as a living stipend. Living stipends are typically a monthly or bi-weekly payment, just like you’d get from a job. If you are lucky enough to get external funding, then sometimes that can partially stack on top of funding from a school!

The main funding sources for a grad student are departmental fellowships, external fellowships, research assistantships (RA), and teaching assistantships (TA).

• External Fellowships: An external fellowship is funding that comes from external organizations. Applications are due very early, usually October or so, and can be available to both undergrad seniors and grad students. These are great to have because your advisor doesn’t have to spend as much money on you (if any at all)! Some fellowships require you to “pay back” the money they give you by working for them for a certain number of years after graduation, so make sure you understand what you’re getting yourself into. Some popular (and very generous) fellowships include the NSF, GEM, SMART, and NDSEG fellowships. Smaller organizations (SWE, ASME, Tau Beta Pi) may offer smaller fellowships, which will be less competitive to apply for.

  • If you’re a senior in undergrad, I encourage you to throw together an application for NSF. It will get you 3 years of funding with a generous stipend, and if you don’t get it as an undergrad, you’re still able to apply as a grad student. I didn’t think I would get it, but I spent a weekend putting the application together and ended up getting it, which is probably the best return on investment I’ve ever made (and it’s free to apply). For this fellowship, NSF chooses to fund you as a person, not the research projects you propose. From my experience, the most important part of your application is your “broader impact” – how you give back to the community and will use your skills to better the world. I am very involved outside of classes and had a lot to write about this topic, which I think brought my application to the top, despite my weaker research proposal.

• RA and TA: RA- and TA-ships are funding packages from a specific professor or the department of a school. These can often come with requirements such as maintaining a certain GPA or being enrolled in a certain number of credit hours. RA requires you to spend a certain amount of time working in the professor’s lab, while TA requires you to TA, grade papers, sometimes even lecture for undergrad or lower-level grad courses. Of these, RA is preferable because you will most likely need to be working in the lab for your thesis anyway, so you might as well get paid for it. On the other hand, if you’re interested in going into teaching with a PhD, TAing could be a great way to get your feet wet.

• Departmental Fellowships: Some schools offer departmental fellowships, which is funding that comes from the department rather than a specific professor. They are similar to external fellowships but may come with additional requirements, such as a GPA you must maintain.

Part Six: Logistics and Conclusion

After going through the application cycle and observing others’ experiences, here is what I feel is the best timeline for applying to grad school for a fall start date:

• Late spring: start studying for the GRE

• Mid-summer: start looking at schools to apply to

• Late summer: take the GRE for the first time

• Beginning of fall semester: ask LoR writers to write for you

• October-ish: submit fellowship applications

• Early December – onward: submit grad school applications

• Rolling: hear back from schools

• February – March: visit schools, interview with professors

• April 15: accept or decline offers

And here’s what actually ended up happening for me (experiences may vary):

• Early summer: started studying for the GRE

• 2 weeks before GRE: started looking at schools to apply to

• Mid-summer: took the GRE for the first and only time

• Beginning of fall semester: asked LoR writers to write for me

• October: submitted NSF fellowship application 2 hours before the due date (don’t do this)

• Early December – onward: submitted each grad school application a few days before it was due (do this!)

• January: admitted to University of Florida and Carnegie Mellon with funding; admitted to Georgia Tech without funding

• February: admitted with funding to UMich; visited UF and Purdue

• March: received funding from GaTech, admitted to Purdue with funding; visited GaTech, CMU, and UMich

• April 13th: accepted GaTech offer, declined others

Total Cost: All together, I spent money on a used GRE study book ($20), taking the GRE one time ($205), sending two GRE scores (2 x $27), one unofficial transcript PDF ($8), and five application fees (approx. 5 x $75) for a total of $662. Five schools appears to be on the low end compared to other students, and I also did not spend money on GRE studying besides one used book from the bookstore, so I would be prepared to spend much more than that. I had all expenses paid for on my visits, including hotels, meals, and flights/mileage reimbursement if I drove! I had a classmate who was invited to a visit weekend that he had to pay for himself. I personally would not have attended a visit if they weren't willing to pay for me.

As promised, my stats! I graduated a year early from my undergrad program with a 3.85 GPA. My GRE was 5.0AW/167V/166Q. I had a total of two full years of co-op and internship experience at reasonably well-known companies, most of which was R&D, as I mentioned before. I did a super difficult but really cool senior capstone project (my advisor said it was on the level of a master’s thesis project) that related to my research interests for grad school. I spent two years as the VP of a professional organization, was the professional development chair of my engineering fraternity, and dabbled in a few other clubs. One thing that was super important for a lot of my applications was my extracurriculars – I was a volunteer coach for a FIRST robotics team teaching high schoolers how to CAD, participated in outreach events, and did an independent study project on what is causing the gender imbalance in engineering. Some other cool stuff happened senior year, but it came too late to be on my applications, so it isn’t relevant to this post. My NSF Fellowship was actually awarded shortly before the April 15th deadline, so it didn’t impact admissions decisions in any way.

If you read this far, thank you! I hope you found this guide helpful. Everyone’s experience during the grad school application process is different, so don’t take anything I’ve said as the absolute truth. I did consult a lot of my classmates who were also going through the process in order to try to make this as objective as possible. Please let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.

COPIED from reddit