Graduate School: Why, What, How, When?

1. Graduate School: Why, What, How, When? Brian Johnson Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

2. Why Graduate School? • Plenty of job opportunities for BSEE…. • Good starting salaries • Good annual advancement • Moving on to management • I can’t afford more school • Besides, I’m sick of school

3. Why Graduate School? • Different types of job opportunities • Research and development engineer • Teaching at the college level • Patent attorney • Medical school

4. Why Graduate School? • Other Benefits • More likely to stay in engineering longer • Often higher pay for engineering projects (Master’s more than Ph.D.) • Often have more say in project assignments • More interesting and varied projects • More likely to work near the technology cutting edge • More interesting toys

5. What graduate school options? • Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering • Doctoral Degrees in Electrical Engineering • Degrees in Other Engineering Disciplines • Non-Engineering Degrees • Law Degrees • Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) • Master’s in Engineering Management • Medical School • Or simply for continuing education • Marketable job skills • Continuing education requirement for PE

6. EE Master’s Degrees Typically 24-36 credits Often focused in one area or two areas Master of Science (MSEE) Roughly 6 credits of Master’s thesis research Written document (~100 pages) and defense MS Research: Generally slightly extends existing knowledge Or applies existing knowledge in different way Or uses existing knowledge in a new application

7. EE Master’s Degrees Master of Engineering (MEEE) Non-thesis Master’s Often additional courses replace thesis Often 10 semester length courses Often geared toward part-time students Many schools require a report/presentation At some schools this is almost a thesis

8. Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.) • Many Engineering Programs Require Master’s • Often 15 -24 course credits beyond Master’s • Many schools require breadth areas • Often some form of qualifier exams • Doctoral Dissertation (or Thesis) • Key distinguishing factor • Prove you are capable of performing research at cutting edge in a field of study, globally, not locally • Significant new contribution that field

9. How?  Full Time Option • Generally 2-3 courses per term • Usually fewer, longer assignments • Often more interesting courses • Usually more relaxed pacing than BS courses • Time for working on research • Full time students more often doing MS or Ph.D. • Fewer courses during school year • Full time on research in summer

10. How?  Full Time Option • Graduate students often funded as TA or RA • Not medical school or law school • 20 hrs/week during school year, 40 in summer • Pay rate approximately what get for internship • $16/hr to $20/hr • Fees or tuition often paid (health insurance) • Approx. 2-2.5 years for MS • Approx. 3-4.5 years for Ph.D.

11. How?  Part Time Option • Graduate school while working full time • Employer often pays for classes • If you get good grades • Often 1 course/semester • Figure 10-12 hours/week on average per class • Some students take 2 classes if have time • Courses delivered by DVD, Web, etc. • For example, UI Engineering Outreach

12. How?  Part Time Option • Often works better non-thesis degree • Classes have fixed milestones and deadlines • People do complete MS and even Ph.D. • Generally very self-motivated people • In many cases research project has some relationship to job • Challenges with job related research topic • Managers looking over your shoulder • Intellectual property issues

13. When? • Take advice you get with a grain of salt • People with graduate degrees typically suggest what worked for them • If part time option: • Employer may have a time limit before reimburse • Degree will take about 5 years • Does that fit the rest of your life • We have Engineering Outreach students just out of BS and others 25 or more years out of BS

14. When?  Full time option • Your circumstances may vary…. • Perhaps you can’t find a job you like, where you like… • Or you have a spouse or significant other who needs one more year of school… • Some people recommend going straight to graduate school • You are used to student lifestyle (aren’t moving paying job to a low paying one) • You have an assistantship of fellowship

15. When?  Full time option • Others recommend working for a few years as an engineer • Learn more about real world engineering issues • Practical knowledge to help theory fit into place • Less common outside of engineering • Some employers will provide a paid leave of a year or so to work on the thesis research • Work part time for company and full time student

16. When?  Application process • Every school has some sort of application process • Web based applications • Some schools only admit full time students for starting in fall semester • Part time students may also be able to start in spring • Application deadlines posted on their web pages • Often in December January for Funded Fall Admission • Partly driven by visa requirements

17. When?  Application requirements • Minimum undergraduate GPA • Ranges from 2.8 to as high as 3.8 depending on school • Most will give credit for post-BS level courses if low undergraduate GPA • Most will accept at least a few transfer credits • Many schools require graduate records exam • Score may be used for admission or • Just for determining who gets assistantships • Especially if degree from accredited undergraduate program

18. When?  Application requirements • Specify which area of EE for specialization • Make sure that school offers that area • Try to contact faculty researchers in that area of study to see if they have open positions • They may require some form of written statement of personal goals • Letters of recommendation (possibly a form to complete) • Resume of some form

19. When?  Where to apply? • Consider how strong the school is in your area of specialization • Will a degree from there help your career goals • Reputation of a Ph.D. program or of your major professor impacts job prospects significantly • Can you get admitted there • Can you get funding there

20. When?  Where to apply? • Generally not a good idea to get BS, MS and Ph.D. from the same school unless the school unless they have a very strong Ph.D. program

21. UI ECE Department • MSEE, MEEE, Ph.D. EE • MSCompE, MECompE • Undergraduate GPA of 2.8 or higher (3.0 preferred) for MS • Letter of recommendation waived for recent BSEE or BSCompE graduates • GRE not required UI ECE BSEE/BSCompE graduates • Keep 1-2 page statement of purpose short and to the point…

22. UI ECE Department • 30 credits for Master’s (MS thesis is 6 credits) • 78 credits past BS for Ph.D. • Master’s counts for 30 • Dissertation is up to another 30 • Two breadth areas • Areas of department with funded research • Electromagnetics (Young) • Digital systems (Donohoe) • Control Systems (Edwards) • Power/Power Electronics (Hess, Johnson) • Applications of embedded systems (Wall, J. Frenzel) • Electronics (Ay, Barlow, Elshabini)

23. UI Resources • ECE Graduate Guidelines • UI College of Graduate Studies • http://www.grad.uidaho.edu/ • 2008-09 Graduate Fees: • Idaho Residents: • Full time student fees: $5212 (2 semesters) • Part time student per credit fees: $267/credit • This would apply for taking class for graduate transcript as a senior as an Idaho resident • Out of State Students • Full time student fees: $15,292 (2 semesters) • Part time student per credit fees: $603/credit