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Admitted Graduate Student Chat - April 3, 2019
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AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:00
Good day, all. My name is Will Fenton and I'm the Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions at Penn Engineering. I'm here to answer questions you may have about our Graduate Programs, life as a graduate student at Penn and living in Philadelphia.
Here are some links that you may find useful:
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Where do you live?
United States (25% | 3 votes)
 
China (25% | 3 votes)
 
India (50% | 6 votes)
 
Europe (0% | 0 votes)
 
Middle East (0% | 0 votes)
 
Another Region (0% | 0 votes)
 
Total Votes: 12
ZZ
10:01
Good morning. May I ask when will this chat end? I have a class every Wednesday morning at 10:10...
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:01
Hi ZZ, the chat ends at 11AM EST.
Aditya Dhavala
10:01
Hi Will, I am Aditya Dhavala, currently an undergrad and have been admitted to UPenn's MSE in Robotics program.
I needed some clarity regarding the course structure as well as the CPT and OPT periods. Can you please help me out regarding the same?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:02
Hi Aditya, I'll do what I can to assist you, but I'll also recommend you contact the International Students and Scholars Services Office (ISSS) regarding CPT/OPT, as they ultimately work with those processes more than the admissions office.
Alex
10:02
Hello Will, I got accepted for the masters program in Material Science and Engineering. I was curious as to how many applied/got accepted for this last year. Also, for this program, are there companies near UPenn that are interested/good places for internships/jobs relating to the program.
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:05
Hi Alex, for the Materials program, we had 234 applicants and accepted about 46%. And yes, we have several local/regional companies that recruit from our program.
ZZ
10:02
I'm not going to return when the chat is over, so I'm just going to post some questions here:
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:05
That's fine, ZZ.
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:03
Folks, we'll also be joined by Miranda Stewart, the Graduate Assignments Coordinator for the Housing Office; she can answer your questions about the On-Campus Housing for Grad Students.
Miranda Stewart
10:03
Hi all! My name is Miranda Stewart, and I am the Graduate Assignments Coordinator in the Housing Assignments Office. I'm happy to answer any questions you have about on-campus housing!
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:05
Good morning, Miranda!
Aditya Dhavala
10:03
Can I follow (3+3+4) course scheme for the program? If so, what will I be doing in my last semester?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:06
Aditya, you can usually do this type of structure, and then you could do three the following semester and graduate in a total of 3 semesters or 1.5 years.
Bill
10:05
Hi Will. I am an admitted student in SE graduate program. I have heard that the dual degree policy within SEAS has changed this year. Can I still pursuit a CIS dual degree?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:07
Bill, yes, you would still be able to apply to do a dual degree with CIS. The change to the policy was how often one can apply to the same program for dual degree.
Chenxi Ji
10:05
Good morning! I am an admitted student in MSE Mechanical Engineering Program. However, my intended focus is robotics. Can I take some class of robotics program, and do research in grasp lab?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:08
Chenxi, you may very well be able to - you would work with your Program Coordinator for the MEAM program to make sure that the Robotics courses you want to take will count for the electives you need. As for doing research in the GRASP Lab, that would be a question for the faculty in the lab/the Program Coordinator for the Robotics Program. That is Charity Payne and her email is charity@seas.upenn.edu. The needs for student researchers can vary semester-to-semester.
ZZ
10:05
Q1: Is it true that MSE students in Robotics are typically advised by Post-Docs when doing research/thesis projects? According to the website, there are 18 professors with 90 MSE students and 75 PhD students -- would that put MSE students at a disadvantage as to resources if they want to pursue a PhD degree in the future?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:09
ZZ, this is a specific question you'll want to ask Charity Payne, the Robotics MSE Program Coordinator, and you can email her at charity@seas.upenn.edu.
Chenxi Ji
10:05
Also, how long is the Mechanical Engineering Program?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:09
Chenxi, the program is 10 courses long, and usually completed in 2 years.
Coulson
10:07
Hi, Will, can you tell us more about transfering to another program during master? What are the requirements to transfer to MCIT/Robotics/Financial Engineering as a ME major student?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:11
Hi Coulson (are you a fan of Agents of Shield?). You can find the requirements here: https://grad.seas.upenn.edu/student-handbook/academic-options/#2degree. Some programs do have specific requirements (GPA minimum, etc), but all require that you complete at least one semester in your initial program in good academic standing.
Aditya Dhavala
10:07
Can Robotics MSE students change their Major to CIS if their undergrad is not CS background? Where can I find more details about this?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:12
Aditya, you can apply to transfer to the CIS program, but you'll have to meet their requirements. Here are the regular transfer requirements: https://grad.seas.upenn.edu/student-handbook/academic-options/#2degree and here are the requirements for the CIS MSE Program: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/current-students/graduate/mse/index.php
ZZ
10:07
Hi Miranda. I do have a question on housing... Q2: How fast does on-campus housing run out? Also, do you know what's the typical range of monthly rent (utilities & fuel included) for off-campus housing in relatively safe areas? I know from the booklet that there are several different communities to choose from, but I'm not certain about their prices. I also wonder if the on-campus housing has mice and other pests appearing, as described by a Penn graduate student living off-campus when I approached him to ask about the housing conditions.
Alex
10:08
Around what time can incoming masters students, specifically for material science and engineering, look over classes to take or see their curriculum for fall 2019
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:14
Alex, here's the course catalog page: https://catalog.upenn.edu/graduate/. As for courses for the MSE program, you can find it here: https://mse.seas.upenn.edu/masters/
Bill
10:08
I have seen specific transfer requirements and dual degree requirements of CIS and DS program on website. What are the transfer/ dual degree requirements of other program in SEAS such as robotics and EE?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:15
Bill, to my knowledge, the other programs don't have specific transfer requirements at this time. However, if you send an email to gradstudies@seas.upenn.edu, we can give you a more specific answer.
Doug
10:09
Hello Will, can I know what the acceptance rate for the chemical engineering MSE was last year? Also, for the engineering ambassadors tour, do you know how many hours a typical session lasts for?
AvatarWill Fenton, Asst Dir
10:16
Hi Doug, our Chemical Engineering program had a 27% acceptance rate last year. As for the tours, I believe they're usually around an hour  or so.
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Chenxi Ji
10:12
Thank you for your reply. I have contacted professors from Grasp Lab, but I haven't get any reply yet.  Should I send them another email or just wait?
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