Grad. Schools

[Stiganator]

Hey Guys,

I have some big decisions to make in the next few weeks. Its the graduate school time. As some of you lurkers may know, I have a 2.5 yr old daughter here in Minnesota. For this reason I would like to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota.

Would you agree that this is a good decision? Will not attending i.e. Standford, MIT affect my future? Should I apply to some coastal schools to see if I get in or make some contacts there?

I'm looking at Materials Science, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering-BME emphasis, or Immunology or some closely related field i.e. Aerospace, Microbiology etc.

My two big ideas right now are related to electro-adaptive optical membranes and infectious disease diagnosis.

Give me your two cents.

Edit: Well because my daughter and I don't live together. I have been very,very patient, but her mother has finally made it known that she was not going to let be spend any significant about of time with my daughter. So we are in the middle of a custody battle, which is unpleasant to say the least. It is actually quite ridiculous since I'm only asking for every other weekend. But she won't allow it. Such is life...

 

[bobdelt]

well, going to the "lower" school, could be cheaper because of scholarships and assistantships, so it might be worthwile. But if you can attend stanford or MIT I would go. If it was a top 15 school or so then I would stay put.

 

[IronWing]

Also, look at the specific research being done at the various schools. You don't want to go with a school only to find that the faculty there aren't doing anything that really interests you. For example, in my field, Stanford is top notch but the research they are doing in my field would bore me to tears.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Why couldn't you bring your daughter with you?

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
Why couldn't you bring your daughter with you?

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
Why couldn't you bring your daughter with you?

 

[Stiganator]

Well because my daughter and I don't live together. I have been very,very patient, but her mother has finally made it known that she was not going to let be spend any significant about of time with my daughter. So we are in the middle of a custody battle, which is unpleasant to say the least. It is actually quite ridiculous since I'm only asking for every other weekend. But she won't allow it. Such is life...

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

maybe you should wait to apply until after you know more about your custody settlement?

what are your career goals after grad school?

 

[Tiamat]

MS, doesnt matter. phD, you want a good well known advisor and a good program.

 

[fishmonger12]

If you can go to MIT or Stanford (ie get in) for grad school, i suggest you do that. Unless the State University is known for the program you are looking into, graduating from those top tier unversities is going to give you more opportunities than a mediocre state school.

I don't know anything about Minnesota's engineering other than Twin Cities is like #1 or 2 in Chem-E.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
MS, doesnt matter. phD, you want a good well known advisor and a good program.

the advisor is a little less important if you plan on going into industry.

 

[slpaulson]

I think you really need to look into the research taking place at those schools before you can choose.

 

[KillerCharlie]

What's your BS in? U of MN is a good engineering school, especially in some areas. I believe in Chemical engineering they are #1 in the country (US News and World Report may say otherwise, but screw them... they ranked Stanford's aerospace undegraduate program #1 when they don't even HAVE an undergrad aero program).

It also depends what you want to do. If you want to go into industry, then advisor and even school doesn't matter much for an MS, and a Ph.D in many industries is a waste of time (at least in aerospace).