Applying to Engineering Programs - What Advice Would You Give Current Applicants?

How should you approach an application to a graduate engineering program? Dr. Karin Ash, an admissions consultant and career coach for aspiring engineers, and former director of the career management center at Cornell's Johnson School, career coach at Cornell's College of Engineering, and director of Cornell Career Services, shares everything you need to know. Welcome to the 486th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for tuning in. Do you know how to get accepted to graduate engineering programs? Dr. Karin Ash does, and she shares her knowledge and insight in Accepted's guide, “Applying to Engineering Programs: What You Need to Know.” Download your free copy at accepted.com/486download. Our guest today is Dr. Karin Ash, author of the guide that I just mentioned, and the former Director of Cornell University's Career Services, Director of the Career Management Center at Cornell Johnson School, and a career coach at Cornell's College of Engineering. Dr. Ash joined Accepted in 2015 as an admissions consultant and career coach. She has been guiding clients to acceptance at leading masters and PhD programs in engineering at top universities, including UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Cal Tech, Cambridge University, Columbia, Cornell, Duke Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, NYU, Stanford, UCLA, USC, University of Michigan, UT, UVA, and University of Washington, among others. She's here to discuss how to get accepted to graduate engineering programs.Much of your experience before joining Accepted was in the career guidance side of graduate and undergraduate education, how do employers influence admissions decisions? [2:16]They can influence it in a couple of ways. Let's say all of a sudden, a lot of employers decide they need more computer scientists. The programs at a university might expand the number of candidates that they are willing to bring in. It can also make a difference if they emphasize certain areas within an academic area. For example, they can say they need more calculus because the new hires are coming in with not as much math skills as they might need. So they can affect the curriculum. The other way is if I'm sitting on an admissions committee and I going through files trying to decide who should be interviewed for a possible spot and an applicant’s story seems very clear, and it seems like they would not have a hard time finding employment. It can make a difference if I think the story doesn't make sense, and I don't think they're going to have an easy time getting employment. It doesn't mean they're totally out of the picture, but I might put them in another pile because schools get ranked somewhat based on what percentage of graduates find employment and what their salary level is. Those are some ways employers can influence admissions.I think teamwork has been a skill that employers have increasingly valued over the last 20-40 years. Is that something schools are emphasizing more in admissions decisions? [4:19]Absolutely. That's a good point, Linda. I think that's been true in the MBA world for quite a while, but with engineers, more and more companies are insisting that people work on teams. They realize that there's more productivity and a more creative outcome when you have diverse teams working together, not only within a department but across departments. You can get into a school without having great leadership or communication skills, but if you have them, it's an asset and there's more assurity that you'll get in.It also depends on the department. If you're being hired for a coding position, it

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