> Dr. Keith,
> I was giving some serious thought to graduate school and I have some
> questions about it. I was wondering if you could help in answering some of
> them? I would appreciate any help you could give. Here they are:
> 1. First off, do you have any suggestions for chemical engineering

1. You should think about the type of research you want to do and then find
a school with experts in the field. There are graduate rankings available
and I can tell you about some of the schools but not necessarily all of
them. The Big 10 schools in the area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan,
Michigan St., Northwestern) are all excellent, and so is Notre Dame. If you
want to move away from the midwest there are top programs as well.

You will need to have very good to excellent GRE scores, grades, and
recommendation letters to get into these schools. However, the US economy is
doing well and a lot of undergrads are getting jobs, so there is a demand
for domestic PhD students at many institutions. This is a perfect time for a
student to be interested in grad school because the departments will bend
over backwards to get quality students into their programs.

> 2. How probable is it that I can get my schooling paid for? How should I
> approach schools on this issue? Money will be a major factor in my
> decision.

2. If you are looking for MS there is a smaller chance that you will get
funding. Most universities, including MTU, are trying to only support PhD
students. PhD's are in school 4 years, get more publications, help with
proposals, and overall improve the reputation of the university. You should
only accept an offer in engineering where tuition is paid, and you get a
stipend anywhere from $15,000-$25,000 per year.

> 3. In today's job market, is the salary jump made by a master's degree
> over a bachelors worth the extra years?

3. I don't know. I do like the job flexibility that I have, and people with
advanced degrees in engineering have that in industry. That is worth more
than money.

> I also had a bunch of questions concerning grad school itself.
> 1. What is the workload like? I've heard that there are less assignments
> and tests on a daily/weekly basis and more constant research in grad
> school. Is this true? Is this the typical format?

1. The first year is hard because you have a full load (3-4 classes) plus a
teaching or teaching assistant position which combined is a lot of work.
After the classes are over you then start to focus on research, usually in
the first summer. The hours vary but you can put in 30-60 hours per week
depending on any deadlines you may have. You are expected to be in the lab,
collect data, work with your advisor to write a paper, sometimes present the
paper at a conference, etc. It sounds like a lot but it is a blast.

> 2. Do many grad schools have a weeding-out mentality or are they generally
> very supportive of all the students that get in?
> programs? I have been looking at some rankings, and I'm not so sure how
> credible they are. Most sites are geared towards undergraduate entry to
> college.


2. Some places do weed students out, they sometimes end up getting a MS
degree. Of course the institution has made an investment in you and want you
to be successful. Most people starting a position do finish, but for many
reasons people drop out, switch to a MS, or get a job. Some schools may have
a more cutthroat mentality among the students.

When a school accepts you they usually invite you to visit. They are
recruiting you to go to that school. This is a good time to see what the
place is really like, and decide if there are people that match your
personality type, etc. You can also ask about particular faculty you would
want to work with. The students are honest and will say if a professor is a
big jerk or is really easy to work with.

> 3. What about non-thesis options? I have seen a couple of ChemEng programs
> that offer a non-thesis master's program. Do these look differently in the
> eyes of the employer?


3. This is not clear. There are not enough programs for me to really say if
it is looked upon favorably or not. With a non-thesis option there is NO
funding available because you will not do research, write papers, etc. Since
you do not have the research skills, it is more of a risk for a company to
hire you, they want someone who can think independently and this is best
judged from a research project instead of taking classes.

As a final note, I think it is good for students to do some undergraduate
research. You should consider doing something with a faculty member in the
chem eng or some other engineering department on campus. It will help you
decide if you like research or hate it.