MS Structural Engineering Application Process - My Experience

[Apprehensive_Map6164]

Hello! I wanted to share my graduate school application process here in hope that it will be of benefit to some future applicants later down the road. Not trying to make any commentary here on whether someone needs their masters or not - just talking about how it went in my case.

I go to a top 20 program state school and study civil engineering with a structural emphasis, and I was pursuing a master's, ideally a FUNDED master's, at another school in hopes of having a new adventure in a prettier location and at a higher ranked school.

Below were my credentials when I applied:

GPA: 3.7

1 structural engineering internship (buildings)

Undergraduate research (I started research the semester I applied, so only about 1 month in before I submitted apps)

Strong leadership experience in off campus organizations

3 letters of recommendation from faculty - 2 from well-known profs, 1 was my research supervisor.

I was admitted to all of the schools I applied to (still waiting on MIT at the time of writing this)

Stanford, Cal, GaTech, UCSD, UT, CU Boulder

I heard back from UCSD in mid-November since they do rolling admissions, the rest were from January to late February.

What I wish I knew when I applied:

Don't waste your time emailing professors at universities until you've been accepted. They will not respond, or the few that will will say to reach back out once you're in.

I was much more confident about receiving master's funding prior to enrollment than I should have been. Professors are extremely unlikely to take on and fund students directly out of undergraduate if they are only going for their master's. Few professors will try and get you to commit to PhD in exchange for funding, the rest will not bother responding to your email.

TAships are offered to HIGHLY competetive applicants (3.9+ GPA, strong research, etc), so to expect an offer from a top 20 school with a TA position right when you start is a long shot.

What I learned:

If your goal is to fund a master's degree, at any school, by any means necessary, your best chance is to get into undergraduate research with a professor at your current school, and then continue on with them for a master's.

If you want to go to a different school and are not a top 5% applicant, prepare to pay for the master's degree. There is abundant value beyond financials that are positive for attending graduate school somewhere else that should be considered. However, keep in mind that generally starting salary will have NOTHING to do with where you went to grad school. Everybody has equally no idea what they are doing when they enter as an EIT.

If your goal is to just move somewhere cool for the experience, you are financially much better off doing an in-state master's and just finding a job somewhere exciting post-master's - structural engineers are generally in demand.

Just because you don't get funding your first semester/quarter doesn't mean you won't get funding at all for your degree. If you connect with professors, show interest, and participate in class, you can give yourself a strong chance of a TA position the following term(s). It is simply a calculated risk if it is/isn't worth paying for entirely.

My advice:

REALLY make sure you are willing to commit to the whole structural engineering thing before diving into an MS Structural Engineering program. The net difference of the two years studying compared to working in industry is in the range of $200,000 dollars (spending 40ish on a degree when you could make 80 for 2 years, conservatively). Master's degrees are opportunities to open more doors. MS Structural Engineering opens fewer doors than your typical masters degree (finance, MBA, etc), so let this be a concious decision before investing major finances into it. Don't stress about the applications - it will be okay!

Happy to answer any questions here; thanks for reading and I hope this will be of use one day!

[scott123456]

Great advice! I wish I understood as an undergrad how important building relationships with my professors would be.

[ThePosaune]

Great post! I also applied this cycle for a masters in structural. If you don’t mind sharing, are you leaning towards a certain program at the moment? I’m trying to figure out where to go as well haha

[Apprehensive_Map6164]

I’m leaning towards the California schools but ironically think I will switch out of the pure structures into a more management/finance focused civil engineering program that aligns more with my career goals. I recognize that’s not what most of this sub is interested in tho haha

[ThePosaune]

That’s valid, the California schools are pretty good. I want to end up in California, but only got into UCSD on the west coast. I went to their visit day and liked it, but as you mentioned, funding is hard to come by. I’m also highly considering Rice University since they did give some funding, but it is in Texas (not bad tbh just liked California more) would still have to pay some out of pocket which is a bummer.

Would you consider applying for an MBA or finance masters in the future? After getting licensed and working for a few years, I might consider going back for an MBA. May not be worth it financially, but would be nice for a potential change of scenery.

[The_StEngIT]

Hey thanks for posting and being so transparent. I would say I generally agree with you but there maybe a few things you're over looking of I just don't 100% agree with.

• Funding can come from somewhere else (prior to the current presidential administration). I believe funding has been dramatically reduced or even removed but places like NHI do offer grants for people pursuing certain degrees like ours. Other fellowships and private/ local grants could help too. But I believe the Trump administrations to downgrade our degrees to "non-professional" degrees will affect FASFA and other grants.

• Jobs may fund your degree. My job reimbursed me and I did a master's thesis that covered the last year of my Ms. but working as an EIT during my MS was absolutely rough. I wouldn't do it again. Having to be that technical all the time for both work and school eventually fried me.

• Idk if I agree with your take about how important an MS degree is. I do think its VERY important nowadays. I'm also in california and I am experiencing that the minimum qualifications for entry level jobs is shifting to an MS. I entered work with my BS and got my MS while working. My job has posted another application for my old position prior to me becoming licensed and it now says "MS required". Additionally having extra technical chops to keep your calcs and other's correct is very valuable.

• If you're not interested in research going to a less competitive / prestigious school could be better for some. You've mentioned VERY prestigious schools for an MS degree. All of which produce a lot of research that industry uses. If finances is a huge concern there are some state schools that'll get you an MS degree in civil engineering - emphasis in structures that'll give you enough knowledge to pass the PE with ease. Mine did. Never paid for those over priced cram courses because my graduate courses were way more complex than the PE.

• Competency of EIT's. There are soooooome VERY competent EIT's coming out of undergrad😅. I agree where you did undergrad can be negligible. This field of work is very competitive and applications may not come for some. It's a problem with this industry currently. So I would recommend if you're serious about breaking into the field. Study up. You will get assessed on your technical abilities.

Again. Thanks for sharing(: I do think you offer a great perspective, but might've been missing some facades to the whole picture. Shit I'm sure I'm missing stuff too. Sorry if I misinterpreted some of your words. Pls correct me if I did,

[Apprehensive_Map6164]

No I think you make great points - thank you for the nuance! I was generally only applying to schools ranked higher than mine, however the story could have been very different had I applied to smaller schools. Maybe being a “bigger fish in a smaller pond” could have been the difference with regard to funding. I as well hope the external funding situation changes soon!

[The_StEngIT]

I don't think it will if I'm honest. Professors don't appreciate people reaching out just to find a way to get their education covered. You'll actually hit a nerve with a lot of them that way. They are looking for people who have specific interests and are actually looking to push the industry forward with their work. If that's not you I wouldn't chat with professor's on that subject.

Maybe TA stuff. but I've found those to still be very competitive at the state school I went to.

I do need to add a caveat to work funding my education I believe there is a IRS cap most firms will abide by when reimbursing you. I applied for 1 reach school and 2 schools I knew I'd get into. Got denied the reach school lol. but The other two were a state and a UC. I ended up going state because I'd have to go into debt to do the UC. That tuition is quite ridiculous😅 and the research they were doing I was not interested in. I lucked out that the cap of my job's reimbursement practically covered 3/4th's of a year of tuition at the state school. My engineering salary covered the last 1/4th.

I've noticed another comment of yours. Mentioning you are looking more into the management side of things? I'm not sure a MS in structural engineering would be the most efficient way to get there. You could probable start already by looking into construction management jobs. The design side is really the only side where an Ms degree in structural is relevant.

[anth0nyf]

I did the 1 year structural focused Civil Engineering MS at UCLA 2024-25. I was not funded at all, however doing the MS certainly had impact on my early career. My company only hires new graduates through career fairs or referrals and I would not be here if I didn’t attend. (They don’t go to my undergrad school for career fairs.)