University of Dayton - MyLife

Grad School Visits

Over the past couple weeks, I have traveled to two schools for grad school open houses. Last week I went to Georgia Tech, and this week I visited the University of California Berkeley. I've been admitted into both schools, so now I just have to see who gives me funding and which one I'd rather attend in the fall. Both schools are excellent in structural engineering, which is what I'm interested in studying. Each open house had some things in common but other things were distinct. While there were about a dozen prospective students at the Georgia Tech program, there were about 50 to 60 students visiting Berkeley for structures. Besides the free meals that both schools offered, the open houses were beneficial for meeting faculty and current grad students as well as learning more about the programs.

Both open houses featured presentations by faculty about the program and by current grad students about their research. Georgia Tech and Berkeley have many interesting research projects going on in various areas. At Georgia Tech, the prospective students met with 6 or 7 different faculty members individually for 20 minutes each. This "speed dating" allowed the students to find out what research opportunities are available and learn more about the program. At Berkeley, visiting students met with faculty in groups rather than one on one due to the large number of students. Finally, campus tours were given at both schools, including tours of the structures labs and research facilities. I should be deciding which school to attend in the next couple of weeks after some thought and meditation!

Mar 21, 2009 11:19 AM Permalink