Applying and Getting into a Graduate School in the Engineering Field
Most major engineering schools have a single application form for all their graduate programs and a set of basic application requirements to which individual departments may add. The application process begins (informally) months before you ever request information about the school. The application process starts when you begin to consciously develop relationships with professors, your undergraduate instructors and advisors, professors you have taken classes with, and/or professors at your target schools. Also months in advance, if your target programs require it, you will prepare for and take the General GRE or any other graduate tests that may be required for acceptance into the program.

The application process may require writing a personal statement, filling out general information forms, soliciting recommendations, requesting official transcripts, and having GRE scores sent to your prospective schools. Some programs may have additional requirements, such as an interview in person or by telephone.

When your application is received by the schools’ committee, it is generally sorted into three piles: (1) a definitely yes pile, (2) a maybe pile, and (3) a definitely no pile. Once an application is placed into the definitely yes pile, it does not generally come out again and there are fewer vacancies for the applicants who follow. For this reason getting an application in early is very important.

Eventually, the department will issue offers of admission, notices of rejection, and, in many cases, a few notices that applicants have been placed on a waiting list. Admission is usually offered to a couple more people than the department actually has room for. The assumption is that some students who have been accepted may choose other schools and enroll elsewhere. If a large number of accepted students choose other schools, then applicants on the waiting list will have the opportunity for admission.

Deadlines
Meeting your schools’ deadlines is one of the important details of the application process. You do not want to be rejected from a school for which you might otherwise have qualified simply because you were late in filing your application. Check with each individual department to which you are applying to find out their specific deadlines.

Transcripts
An official transcript is a certified copy of a student’s permanent academic record. Most schools ask that transcripts be sent directly to them from your school’s Registrar’s office.

Application Fee
Every school we surveyed requires that you pay a fee, ranging from $20 to $55, to have your application processed.

Test Scores
All engineering schools ask applicants for applicable standardized test scores, such as the GRE, GRE Subject Tests, or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). All foreign students from countries where English is not the native language are required to take the TOEFL and some students may be required to take the Test of Spoken English (TSE) as well.

Preparing for the Test
There is good news about the GRE. Both the paper-and-pencil and computer-based versions of the GRE General Test can be completed successfully with a good score. Just familiarizing yourself with GRE question types will improve your performance. The Princeton Review has developed strategies and techniques that can raise your score significantly.

Letters of Recommendation
These letters are one of the most influential aspects of your application to an engineering program. Through the letters, admissions officers can see you, as something other than a file full of papers that closely resembles everyone else’s information. A borderline student is often pushed into the acceptance pile because of excellent recommendations.

*Be careful not to lose your head when you are talking to anybody whom you might ask to evaluate you. No matter how friendly you are with such a professor, it is a mistake to pour out your insecurities. Never confess that you feel confused, have no direction, or admit to serious fallings.

Most schools ask for two or three letters of recommendation. Try to get three or even four or five, in case one is lost or is submitted late. You must take the initiative in getting the letters.  Think carefully before you choose someone to write a letter for you. If you are still in school, ask for the letters from your professors early in the fall semester of your senior year.  The people you chose should fill some of the following criteria:

1. They should know you well.
2. They should be familiar with your plans and goals.
3. If possible, they should be familiar with the institution to which you are applying--ideally they have attended the school or know someone currently affiliated with the program.
4. They should have the ability to rate you in comparison to others who have had approximately the same experience and training as you.

Personal Statement
Medical, law, and business school applicants are always asked to submit relatively lengthy personal statements or essays about their motivations, goals, and greatest achievements, character flaws, and most praiseworthy personal traits. Sometimes applicants are asked to propose solutions to hypothetical problems.

In your personal statements, you want to talk about activities that interest admissions committees, which strictly speaks of your suitability for graduate work in engineering. As a graduate student, you will be called upon to do difficult coursework. Unless you are in a professional degree program, you will be required to do extensive research. You will have to write up your results precisely and clearly. You may have to teach undergraduate classes within your field and conceivably even design a course. Also, you will have to get along with a diverse group of colleagues who will sometimes work very closely with you. All outstanding experiences in school, work, or your extracurricular life that speaks of these abilities are worth talking about.

Interviewing
Interviews of incoming graduate students are usually not required for entrance into engineering programs. However, many schools encourage you to visit the campus and set up appointments to speak with admissions officers and individual faculty. It is also a good idea for you to check out the places at which you are thinking about spending several years. You will get insights into schools and programs that you just cannot get on paper.
In preparing for the interview, you should know and be able to communicate the following points:

1. What you want to study at graduate school.
2. Why you want to study it.
3. What experience you have in your field.
4. What you plan to do with your degree.

Joint- or Dual-Degree Applicants
Applicants intending to work toward two degrees simultaneously are often required to fill out a special form about their degree plans.

Returning and Part Time Students
Many engineering programs accept students who have been out in the workforce and are returning to school to get advanced degrees, as well as those who are still working full time and want to earn their degree simultaneously. Admissions requirements may be different for both returning and part-time students; therefore, be sure to check with the admissions office and department.

Your Written Application
A large part of your application is never put down on paper. It consists of the contacts you have made with engineering faculty, your conversations with them, and the impressions you have made.

Make an Application Schedule
It is easy to underestimate the time it takes to apply to graduate school. Many people do not leave themselves enough time, and end up doing a rush job on their applications and just sneaking them in under the application deadline. That is foolish because it can hurt your chances to be considered for admissions. Earlier is better in virtually every admissions process. Getting your application in early may allow you to slip in before the rush and snag a place in the program you want. Submitting your application at the last minute lands it in a big pile with the applications of all the other people who are as disorganized as you. Earliness distinguishes your application.
To avoid this unnecessary stress and suffering and to improve the quality of your application, you need to make an application schedule. A practical schedule should be made more than a year before you will actually start classes (if all goes well). The following is an example:

August 1
You have got two more weeks to make sure graduate school is the right choice for you and to think about what you need in a graduate degree program.

August 15
Create a starting list of target graduate schools and start to narrow it down.
Register to take the paper-based GRE in the fall, if possible. Otherwise, make plans to take the GRE CAT no later than October 1.
Begin preparing for the GRE.

September 1
Request literature from the schools you are considering.
Start talking to professors in your field about doing graduate work.

September 15
Finalize your choices of target schools. Send away for any applications you do not have yet.

October 1
Begin your statement of purpose.
Start talking seriously to professors who might recommend you.

October 15
Have someone knowledgeable in your field critique your statement of purpose and then start revising.

November 1
Request official transcripts from the registrar’s office at your college, or have them sent directly to the schools you are applying to.
Have your GRE scores sent to all the schools you are applying to.
Deliver recommendation forms to your references and make sure they know what they have to do. Be grateful.

November 15
If you are not happy with your GRE scores so far, arrange to take the GRE CAT as soon after December 1 as possible.

December 1
Check up with your references.

December 15
Send in everything, i.e. application forms, essays, transcripts, and etc.
Verify that your recommendations have been sent.

Graduate School Resources 
Fellowships, Grants & Scholarships
Letters of Recommendation