Grad School Admissions Question
Due to the large number of engineers on the board, I figured this would be a great place to ask a question that isn't really answered anywhere else.
When do applicants usually find out about whether they've been accepted to a Masters program? I applied before January 15th for the CSE masters program, and I'm just curious when they traditionally notify students of acceptance.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:39 PM ^
Do you mean SGUS? Did they change the name? Or is that something different altogether?
January 26th, 2010 at 3:36 PM ^
It's still SGUS.
January 26th, 2010 at 4:57 PM ^
For EECS students (as is the case here), it has historically been CUGS not SGUS (the program awards concurrent and not sequential degrees). If you've already graduated, CUGS is not an option, as you would've needed to start taking applicable grad classes your senior year.
To BlockM, EECS grad admissions are rolling, though they do tend to look at PhD applicants first. Speed it up by convincing a faculty member agree to be your adviser early on. If you have that, you're pretty much guaranteed a spot.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:51 PM ^
Thanks for the tip. How would one go about doing that? I don't really have any connections with Michigan beyond the fact that my dad went there since I'm not there for my undergrad.
Is that something where I can just start emailing profs that are doing research in areas that I'm interested in? My gut tells me that they must get dozens and dozens of those requests, and I hate being a pest. I can use all the help I can get, though, as my GRE/GPA are good but not incredible, and I've been working rather than doing research outside of school.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:32 PM ^
Not sure if this applies, but AAU schools require accepted grad students to accept or decline admission invitations by April 15. I think most places look to give out answers by March 1.
January 26th, 2010 at 5:06 PM ^
April 15th is not technically a deadline for admission decisions, per the EECS FAQ.
However, if you haven't heard back by then, you should probably expect to do something else.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:37 PM ^
I think it depends on whether the program has rolling admissions or not. I applied to two grad schools in CE/CS out here in NY, and both have rolling admissions. I submitted my application in late November and am still waiting to hear back, but I should know relatively soon. My wife applied to grad school in Biology and found out in March. My guess is that March would be a likely time, but if the admissions deadline is later or ongoing, then you may hear back later.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:38 PM ^
They evaluate PhD applications first, then MSE apps, and faculty just started looking at the former. Probably early- to mid-March is when the first round of MSE decisions will go out.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:46 PM ^
But I got into the U.S. Open and the British Open, so I'm pretty happy overall.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:51 PM ^
I was applying to the PhD program so it might be different but I started getting info back when I got back from spring break.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^
"official" acceptance letter came in late Feb. My grad advisor told me I was in in Sep the previous year.
January 26th, 2010 at 1:57 PM ^
I am a recent graduate from grad program in EE:Systems. From what I remember, it was pretty quick. I think they sent the first round of decisions out within a month after the deadline. But then, systems is a lot smaller than CSE and although they are all part of EECS, each subdivision in EECS has its own admission committee and program coordinator. So I am not sure how well my experience would correlate with your process, but its a data point I guess..
January 26th, 2010 at 2:00 PM ^
I'm in the chemical engineering field, but I'm pretty sure you should find out well before April. Because the deadline is April 15th. For funded PhD programs there are recruiting visits and such to the departments in Feb and March. Not sure how the Masters programs work, but go on as many of those paid visits as you can. They are free, they feed you a ton of good food and booze you up every night. Pretty solid time.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:31 PM ^
I'm faculty at an engineering school, and we haven't even looked at applications yet. The PhD decisions will likely be made in the next 2-3 weeks, and MS decisions sometime after that. As someone else noted, 1st round PhDs must accept by 4/15, and occasionally some people will get 2nd round offers after that (though this is not common).
January 26th, 2010 at 2:41 PM ^
Is this Nathan Clark, from Portland, MI?
January 26th, 2010 at 2:42 PM ^
I got my MS acceptance email first week of April having applied in December. This is mechanical engineering, though.
January 26th, 2010 at 2:45 PM ^
Thanks for all the responses folks. A little all over the place, but that's what I expected...
January 26th, 2010 at 5:17 PM ^
Last year, my brother applied for Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. programs at Texas, Michigan, USC, UCLA, and Georgia Tech and submitted his application material before November 1. He heard back from Georgia Tech in December, UCLA in early February, USC in late February, and Michigan in early April. Texas lost his application.
I applied for Chemical Engineering Ph.D. programs, and I was told to expect to hear a decision in the next two weeks. I have had everything in since mid-November. It is a little frustrating not hearing anything.
Good Luck.