Tips for Getting Into Graduate School?

[Khayembii Communique]

Working on applying to grad school. My degree GPA for my undergrad was 3.023 - not that great (though my Junior/Senior GPA average is 3.2, a little better).

Haven't taken the GRE yet but have just started prepping for it. Planning on killing the GRE, somehow getting some good letters of recommendation and pounding out an awesome statement of purpose with resume/CV.

Also planning on researching all professors in the department I'm applying, reading what they've written and are currently researching, and putting in my SoP a specific research preference that fits in line with one of theirs. Probably will get in contact with a prof prior to submitting my app to develop some kind of rapport with him to increase my odds.

Anyone here that has applied to grad school and got accepted have any awesome tips for me? I need to offset my not-that-great GPA with everything else.

 

[wj4]

Grad school is extremely vague. Are you trying to get into a state university or a top ranked school?

Unless your undergrad was in Physics or something of that caliber, the GPA is pretty mediocre at best.

 

[DerekS]

practice deepthroating a cucumber. may help.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

Grad school is extremely vague. Are you trying to get into a state university or a top ranked school?

BS in Civil Engineering, which I got in 4 years but stayed on an extra year for an Econ major.

Trying to get into a top school for Petroleum Engineering. Primarily interested in PSU.

practice deepthroating a cucumber. may help.

I already can.

 

[DerekS]



I already can.

yorue good to go then.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

yorue good to go then.

I'll be sure to put that in my SoP.

"I'm particularly interested in conducting research regarding increasing the efficiency of exploration, analysis and general upstream conveyance. Also, I can deepthroat a cucumber."

 

[dune]

Is this an online application? I'd just send a youtube link to you going down on a vegetable.

 

[CouttsClient]



Is this an online application? I'd just send a youtube link to you going down on a vegetable.

I

 

[erdawe]



Is this an online application? I'd just send a youtube link to you going down on a vegetable.

If you hadn't already revealed your major, I'd say some profs in certain areas might be into it.

 

[erdawe]

Were your grades higher in the BSE or Econ?? Because if the BSE grades were good (relative to the difficulty of your major) that may help since your continuing in engineer over econ.

Also, while focusing on excelling at the GRE is important (for all sections). Make sure the quant is your highest percentile, not score.
I've heard they'll look at that part the heavy since well they expect engineers to excel at this area over verbal.

When you ask your professors, make sure they're willing to write you a good LOR, not just a LOR in general. If you did research with one, hope to hell they'll be willing to give your the most glowing reference. Seeing how you did in this area really helps.

Oh and apply to as many programs as you could see yourself going, if you're not realistic you may not get in anywhere for the app cycle. However, no point in applying to anywhere if you're dead set on not going, waste of your time and the programs.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

Were your grades higher in the BSE or Econ?? Because if the BSE grades were good (relative to the difficulty of your major) that may help since your continuing in engineer over econ.

My engineering grades were as good as my econ grades towards the end of the degree which is why my Junior/Senior GPA is so high (not really but higher than my degree GPA), which is what PSU says they look at.

Also, while focusing on excelling at the GRE is important (for all sections). Make sure the quant is your highest percentile, not score.
I've heard they'll look at that part the heavy since well they expect engineers to excel at this area over verbal.

Yeah I emailed the prog's grad advisor to get their score reqs for the revised version, as they only have the old ones up.

When you ask your professors, make sure they're willing to write you a good LOR, not just a LOR in general. If you did research with one, hope to hell they'll be willing to give your the most glowing reference. Seeing how you did in this area really helps.

This is the part I am most apprehensive about. I didn't do any research in my ugrad aside from my senior design project. I have one prof that taught my emphasis that I am pretty sure he will write one, but aside from that I don't know who else to get. I need two others. I have a few history/politics teachers I could ask but that's not in my field so I don't want to use them. I'm thinking about asking the president/founder of the company I'm working at as he knows me pretty well and likes me, but I'm worried that if they knew I was leaving to pursue a degree full time that he'd refuse to write it or even that they'd try getting rid of me.

The third one I'd need I have no idea where to get it from. I've been thinking about asking other profs whose classes I took but it was a while ago and I don't think they'll remember me. I've thought about emailing profs at my ugrad school and asking to volunteer to do research work for them for free but I don't know if they'd agree to this and I also don't know if my schedule would allow it, as I'm employed in a full time position.

Oh and apply to as many programs as you could see yourself going, if you're not realistic you may not get in anywhere for the app cycle. However, no point in applying to anywhere if you're dead set on not going, waste of your time and the programs.

PSU's my first choice but I'll definitely be applying around to others, I'm focusing on them because they're probably the most prestigious on my list and so if I satisfy their reqs then I should just be able to submit the same **** out to other schools.

EDIT: My most obvious weakness right now is my GPA. I can't change that. I can try excelling in all other aspects of the application. I think I could do really well on the GRE no problem. I think I could also write a glowing statement of purpose (I am planning on reviewing the research of all professors in the dept and finding one that I'm interested in, and contacting them to develop a rapport and put on my statement specifically what I want to get into) and also an awesome resume/CV. My only real problem from here on out are those two letters ugh.

 

[AlexE]

During grad school (also in engineering) I talked to a bunch of professors to see what really makes them accept or decline you. Seems like the GRE is not the big factor in engineering since the verbal/writing sections are pretty much irrelevant and the quantitative part is at the level of high school math, i.e. having a low score can disqualify you, but having a high one does not mean anything. Letters of recommendation are very important if they come from somebody known in the research community. GPA and grades in specific/relevant courses seem to weigh heavy. They also like to see that you have done undergrad research (if you did not you should make as much out of your design project and your current job as possible).

It is always helpful if there is a professor who wants to do research with you, so finding someone with matching research interests and building up some rapport makes sense (but make sure that it is with someone with MATCHING research interests, don't pretend that you are interested in someones papers just for the sake of getting in).