A Successful Life

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Professor Martha Mecartney

Graduate Advisor to the Materials Science and
Engineering Degree Program
Former UCI Associate Dean of Graduate Studies
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Why go to graduate school?
You want to teach in a college or university
(need a Ph.D.)
You want to conduct research at a
university or in industry or at a government
lab (need a Ph.D.)
You want to be a manager and move up the
professional management track (need M.S.
or M.B.A.)
You want to earn more than $100,000/year
five years after finishing your Ph.D.
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What does a Masters of
Science require?

http://www.editor.uci.edu/catalogue/
Usually have two options for the M.S.
Coursework (12 courses) and
comprehensive exam or project
Coursework and thesis (based on small
research project)
One to two years to complete

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What does a Doctorate of
Philosophy require?
Must complete same coursework as for M.S.
Research on an independent project providing
a significant new contribution to science or
engineering (dissertation)
Milestones: comprehensive preliminary
exam, Ph.D. qualifying exam, defense of your
Ph.D. dissertation
Time to degree, including M.S., is usually 5
years (this depends on YOU)
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What are the steps to admission?

Check out the on-line catalogue for each

school and the on-line web application
process for each school
Deadlines are usually December or January
Fill out your application (statement of interest
will help us know about your research
experience, research interests)
GRE scores
Transcripts
3 letters of recommendation
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How do you pick a graduate
school?
Ask faculty in your department to recommend
schools (they know you best)
Think about the research areas you are
interested in
Find a program that matches your research
interests
Find research advisors that you like
Location
Your GPA (CSU has lower minimum GPA than
UC)
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 How we pick who gets in.
GPA (For all UC programs, rare admission
below 3.0)
GRE
Letters of recommendation (from faculty or
Ph.D. recipients)
Statement of interest, research experience
Is everything in on time?
Do we know you?
Have you received an outside fellowship?
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Come for a Visit
Admission Letters sent usually in late
February or early March
If a program wants you for the Ph.D.,
they usually will help pay for at least
part of a visit (ask!)
Many programs have visitation days,
weekend
Talk to faculty, talk to students, see the
housing Go to Graduate School
Now the best part..

You can get paid for going to

graduate school!

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Financial Support
All qualified U.S. citizens or permanent
residents should be offered financial
support with Ph.D. admission
Financial support includes tuition/fees
and a monthly living stipend
Some campuses, such as UC Irvine,
offer guaranteed on campus housing
Some financial support for excellent
M.S. students also
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Types of Financial Support
Fellowships
Research Assistantships
Teaching Assistantships
Summer Internships

All support is given competitively, and based

on continuing good standing.

FAFSA must be filled out each year

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Fellowships
Fellowships are primarily given to first year
Ph.D. students so they can focus on
completing their coursework
Special fellowships and external fellowships
may also be used in subsequent years
Students are expected to work on research
full time after coursework is completed
Some programs offer research rotations the
first year for new students, to help them
select a research group
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 Research Assistantships
Students conduct research on projects
sponsored by the faculty
Expect 40 hours/week or more of time
20 hours/week paid by Research
Assistantship
20-30 hours/week from course units (credit
for research)
Can expect to be off when university is closed
(completely) and perhaps 2 weeks/year
additional
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Teaching Assistantships
TAs grade homework and tests, run
demonstrations, hold office hours, lead
discussions, maintain class websites, maintain
records of grades, run labs, grade homework
and tests
Excellent preparation for future faculty
positions fellowship opportunities
Students are selected based on faculty
nominations, match with course material,
instructor preference, past experience
All students who want to be a TA or grader
should take TA Gotraining.
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 Cool Programs to Check Out
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate
Fellowships, $30,000/year for 3 years (plus fees and
tuition paid), deadline early November
NSF IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and
Research Training), $30,000/year (plus fees and
tuition paid)
Graduate Assistantships in Areas of National Need
(GAANN) Fellowships, pays all tuition and fees,
provides about $1700/month, guarantees 5 years of
support for Ph.D.
NSF Alliance for Graduate Education and the
Professoriate (AGEP) Goencourages
to Graduate School minority
 NSF Graduate Fellowships
Need
Identify top choice institution
3 letters of recommendation
Transcripts (GRE optional but recommended)
Proposed research project (give a copy to references)
Deadline near Nov. 1
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=
6201
Dont forget to check out the NSF Graduate Teaching
K-12 Fellowships
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5472
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NSF IGERT Programs
The Integrative Graduate Education
and Research Traineeship (IGERT)
program seeks to train PhD scientists
and engineers with the interdisciplinary
background and the technical,
professional and personal skills needed
to address the global questions of the
future
http://www.igert.org/index.asp

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Dept. of Education GAANN
Fellowships

Check out this link for a list of programs

(3 year funding cycle) at various
universities
Need based and merit based so if
have a trust fund, working spouse, may
not qualify
http://www.ed.gov/programs/gaann/awa
rds.html
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NSF AGEP
Program is focused on encouraging
underrepresented minority students to
continue to the Ph.D.
http://www.igert.org/agep.asp

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Any Questions?

Professor Martha Mecartney

Martham@uci.edu
949-824-2919
744C Engineering Tower

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