Where to Get a PhD 1

[zdas04]

In 5 years I'll be 59-1/2 and able to live off my IRA and 401K without tax penalties. At that time I plan to shut my business down and go get a PhD in ME (actually Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics). I don't know if I'll ever teach, but I just don't want to die without completing that task on my to-do list. I've planned pretty well financially for a retirement of leisure, but as it approaches it looks pretty dull.

I think I'll probably have the wherewithal to attend any English-speaking PhD program in the world (my language skills are non-existent). I'm having a really hard time deciding where I want to go. Does anyone have any suggestions of a really great engineering program in a fantastic location?

David



David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

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[zdas04]

Greg,
Austrailia is one of the places that I'm most interested in. I was in Melborne in the '70s and froze in December, but I really liked it.

JStephen,
I actually visited Texas Tech with my younger son when he was trying to pick a school after High School. I'll pass on Lubbock for oh, so many reasons. I hadn't heard of previous experience expiring, I'll have to look into that (it will be about 12 years from finishing the Masters to starting the PhD).

David

 

[Qshake]

David - Jstephen is correct. For a PhD or Doctorate, you begin counting at the MS level. Most programs are 60-70 hours and about half of that made up at the MS level.

Regards,
Qshake

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[SomptingGuy]

I do know several people who took the Engineering Science course at Oxford, but I have to agree that Cambridge has the better reputation, regardless of whether it is worthy of it. Both places are rich in culture and history - even us Brits find them "quaint" and magical.

For engineering at the research level, Imperial College is very hard to beat (in the UK at least). The main problem is accomodation. Unless you are VERY wealthy or are prepared to live in halls (nurse-maiding a load of 1st year students) then you'll end up living a long way from anywhere nice, commuting in by tube. Living in London is an interesting experience though.

 

[zdas04]

Thanks StompingGuy, no school is worth either a really long commute or nurse-maiding freshmen and I'll never be rich enough for the "stately homes of England".

David

 

[HgTX]

"I can satisfy the entry requirements of any school with 5 years to work on it"

How are you going to do that? Do you already have the undergraduate coursework & GPA that many schools (including MIT, which you mentioned) will require? Or do you plan to take and ace undergraduate classes to establish a track record?

If you're scared of the GRE, then exam-based coursework may not be the way to go. The GRE is not hard.

Hg

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[KENAT]

zdas04, for London housing prices think comparable to Santa Barbara, only without the climate!

You know, the more I think about it I'd recomend at least taking a look at southampton.

I had a friend who went on to do a degree in aerodynamics.

I think at the time I left the aerodynamics/thermodynamics was probably the strongest part of the aero department. Not to mention world leading ISVR if that's of interest.

http://www.soton.ac.uk/ses/research/afm/index.shtml

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[HgTX]

Hawaii...I wasn't very interested either till I went to visit a relative. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Take your wife on a vacation.

Hg

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[zdas04]

HgTX,
I can't say that I'm afraid of the GRE, it doesn't look nearly as hard as the PE exam and I've had pretty good success taking tests all my life. My undergraduate GPA was one "B" shy of 4.0, and my grades in graduate school were about the same. I figure the most likley stumbling block would be random pre-requisites that I might have missed along the way. With adequate time, pre-requisites can always be satisfied by someone with the motivation to try.

KENAT,
I can probably handle Santa Barbara prices, I was thinking you were talking about Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous pricing. I'm more interested in flow throgh a pipe than flow over a control surface. I took an Aero compressible flow class in Grad School and it was interesting, but I'm not sure it is for me. I looked at the web page and it looked interesting, thanks.

David

 

[KENAT]

zdas, I took advanced aero at Southampton as part of my Bachelors. It wasn't just about wings, I seem to recall pipes and wedges in ground effect.

Southampton does/did a lot of work on formula one aerodynamics.

Look not just at the aero department but also at ISVR which was originally a spin off of the aero department.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[Ashereng]

David,

Before you can start an engineering PhD, you need to pass your comprehensive. It is an "open meeting" whereby your faculty, or anyone else for that matter, may ask you any and all questions related to your PhD field. If you don't pass, you don't start.

As to credits of previous course work and such, I don't think it should be a problem. You can always write the challenge.

The comprehensive is just that. If your field is CFD, you may have faculty from mech eng, chem eng, math, geo and etc at your comprehensive asking questions. There is a moderator that runs the comprehensive, and if the numbers get large, I would think that they would have to submit their questions (to get rid of duplicates) ahead of time, and have a schedule. The comprehensive usually lasts a day - although I have heard "war stories" of it going on much much longer.

Still, lots of people pass, so how hard could it possible be?

On the going back to school side. One of my undergrad professors got his PhD after a 30+ year career in the real world. It is probably more common than one would think.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[HgTX]

Requirement for a "comprehensive" will vary from field to field and school to school. Typically if you're in a program that doesn't have a master's degree as a prereq, then nothing resembling a comp exam will happen till you've completed a couple of years of study (at which point you'd probably be eligible for a master's degree). It's not something you'd be expected to do coming straight out of a bachelor's degree program. At least not in the States, in my experience.

Hg

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[Ashereng]

The comprehensive is part of the PhD program's requirements. It determines a candidates suitability to enter a PhD program.

A student does not need a Master's degree to enter a PhD program. Many start in a Masters, and jump to the PhD without a Master's degree. This usually saves one or two years.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[Qshake]

My departmental entrance exam was both written and oral. Written was easy but the oral.....whew! I've got war stories.

Regards,
Qshake

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[zdas04]

I'm an ex-Nuc with all the inherent arrogance that that entails. I'm not worried about oral or written exams, those things can always be mastered with preparation if you have time and I have plenty. What I'm concerned about is what location/school I am going to pick, not whether they will accept me or not (I'll cross that bridge when I get there).

David

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

David,

Ashereng mentioned UW Madison. I'm not in your field so I won't comment on the program, but will say Madison is a great place to live. Most of the benefits of a larger city without many of the downsides. Plenty of culture, good food, four beautiful seasons, etc.

 

[zdas04]

Thanks Bruno, I've been looking at their web page and while Wisconson wasn't on my short list of great places to start with, the school really looks like it is worth looking into, they say all the right things on their web page.

David

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The harder I work, the luckier I seem

 

[Ashereng]

David,

I would be severely disappointed if the school's web site said all the wrong things!

Have you checked out their current and past faculties? They boast an impressive list of who's who of the CFD and Thermo world.

Let me/us know if you do decide to go!

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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[zdas04]

Ashereng,
That would be a good point if there weren't so many of them that didn't say the right things. I've been to upwards of 100 grad school web pages and at least half have turned me right off (things like, PhD students are required to live in grad-school dorms the first year on one campus; or theses work is required, but doesn't count towards their 72 hour requirement, etc). There are a bunch of Universities out there that haven't entered the information age even to the point of having a useful web page. The range of information and information quality is pretty amazing.

I'll get to a short list of a half dozen schools sometime in the next couple of years, then I'll do the kind of research (probably including campus visits) that you're talking about. There are far too many possibilities to go very deep at this point.

David

 

[dgowans]

I'd agree with Bruno and highly recommend life in Madison. It's a very cool city, small enough that you can get around (once you come to grips with the fact that the streets in the downtown area don't run N/S and E/W) but with lots of culture and plenty to do. I didn't attend UW, but my wife worked at the UW Hospital for a short period. We spent several Friday evenings sitting on the patio at the student union sipping beers and gazing at the lake. The union is THE place to be in the summer - I knew people who had kept their UW IDs for years just to be able to go have a drink on the patio.

There is of course all the buzz surrounding Big 10 athletics and if you're a boater you've got a lot of choices within about an hour's drive, including the two lakes on either side of the Capitol.

Oh yeah, I've heard it's a good school as well.....

 

[SomptingGuy]

(once you come to grips with the fact that the streets in the downtown area don't run N/S and E/W)

Phew! That was one of the things I just couldn't cope with in America.