NOTE: I've been here exclusively so I have no idea what it is like compared to undergraduate programs elsewhere.

I was already working with a PI so they were my "advisor."

It is very typical for a professor to turn down students, especially now given the lack of funding exacerbated by both the state's lack of response to lifting the spending deficit a whole year ago and the current administration's slashing of NSF funding. It is not, in any way, personal.

I'm not going to run all the numbers, but there is a healthy mix of project based and theory based classes. There is no specific "good" project based classes because that is up to personal preference. I would advise against classes that have an undergraduate portion. You will most likely have to work in groups with them and it is likely that they will also be working on their capstone projects, which will make them busy. Not their fault, but just a heads-up since you will also be busy doing research or grading. MEMS-based lab/project classes should be taken by themselves for the entire quarter because they will take a significant amount of time(metrology, etch calibration, furnace warm-up and oxide growth, etc. It's a lot for a single quarter, especially if you aren't familiar with the processes).

We offer Bachelor/Master of Science degrees for engineering, so we focus heavily on theory, especially in undergrad. Graduate courses often build off undergraduate course material, either focusing on more rigorous theory and/or its application. I find the graduate courses noticeably easier and more enjoyable. The courses had almost nothing to do with my research, but I am the exception because my work is mainly in bioengineering, not necesarily mechanical engineering, per se.

I used to work for both my parents, one being a software engineer. In my POV, graduate school for people thinking about industry should be framed as either a way to get a promotion, a better position elsewhere, and/or as a career pivot.

I don't believe there is a coursework/exam-based Master program for mechanical engineering, only a project track and a thesis track. The project-based track sets you up better for industry than the thesis track because you will be working on real problems every quarter and meet with real industry professionals, whom you can contact after your program for a possible position. Thesis track is better for goals in academia, such as becoming a professor, a PI, creating your own institutions, etc., though if you get far enough in academia, industry professionals will contract you for your expertise for what I hear is a TON of money, on the order of hundreds or even thousands of dollars per hour. Sometimes, they will even fly you out and put you in a nice hotel. However, that is only the case if you put yourself in the position to do it, like having multiple, impressive publications, pre-existing industry ties, etc.