University of California Riverside Online Master of Science in Engineering webinar where we discuss questions about GRE waivers.
Transcript
Ted: Good morning. We do have 17 individuals who are registered for this webinar. I want to welcome all of you to the online Master of Science in Engineering webinar where we’re going to discuss the question about GRE waivers. Uh, we’re going to wait just another minute or two waiting for other people to log on. Uh, you’ll notice that there is a little console where you can post questions. I want you to feel free to do that. There will be a question and answer period at the end.
Okay, good morning, everyone. My name is Ted Kaake. I’m with the University of California, Riverside and we are going to go ahead and get started with our live webinar on the GRE waiver today. This is one of the questions that we get asked the most often so we thought we would address it in a webinar and allow people to ask questions and we’ll get started right now.
Our agenda today, uh, I’m going to introduce myself as well as my, uh, colleague, David Chambers. He and I are the two who do admissions for the online Master of Science in Engineering Program. We are going to talk a little bit about what the admissions requirements are, I will go over what is a complete application package and then we’ll discuss the GRE. We’ll follow that with a question and answer session.
I’m Ted Kaake. I’m in the top picture there and right below that is David Chambers. We’re the two that you get to speak to and we do encourage you to spend some time in a conversation with us. Our goal is always to make sure that you have the information that you need to make the best decision for you and, as part of that, we like to have a very in depth conversation. You’d be surprised how often it happens that you’ll say something not thinking that it has anything to do with the program but it does trigger something for us that we want to make sure that we share with you because it may have a big impact on whether or not the program is going to be right for you. So I do encourage you to talk to us. As part of our role we do, you know, answer any questions that you have about the program. As I’ve already mentioned, our primary concern is to help you determine if the program is a good fit for you, based on your career goals. We also want to look at it in the light of your previous education so keep that in mind as we’re asking all the questions that we do. And if you do decide to move forward, believing that the program is the right fit for you, then we’ll guide you through that process and we’ll walk you through the application process which is not especially difficult. There are a number of pieces to it and we want to make sure that you’re aware of all those pieces and how they fit together.
So just as a recap, the admissions requirements to get into the online Master of Science in Engineering include a STEM degree. STEM as you know is Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics and while we will entertain some degrees that are not strictly STEM degrees they do need to fit into the program. So if somebody has a degree in English Literature or Philosophy or even Psychology, unless you have gone out of your way to take a lot of courses in Calculus, Calculus with multiple variables, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, a full year of Physics, then you probably don’t have the general requirements. So we’re looking for a STEM degree because those things are typically included. Your degree should also be alignment with your area of specialization and your career goals. In other words, if you are working, you know, in mechanical engineering and your degree is in mechanical engineering, uh, we would want to understand why you’re looking at a different field such as environmental engineering or electrical engineering. It doesn’t rule it out; we just want to understand how it fits and where the alignment is. We do want to see an appropriate grade point average in the last two years of your program. This gives us the best understanding of your, uh, preparation for the program and, uh, the GPA that we need varies, based on the area of specialization that you’ve chosen. Electrical engineering is the strictest, wanting a minimum of a 3.2 and if you’re below a 3.2 in the last two years of your program, they’re probably not going to accept you. Uh, the other specializations all require a 3.0 and some of them are a little more forgiving and based on GRE scores, work experience, etc, may go down as low as a 2.7 or 2.8. And then the one that we’re most focused on today. We do want to see a minimum GRE score and that GRE must have been taken within five years of starting the program here at UCR.
Now one of the things that will waive the GRE is if you have taken and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam or the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. A complete application package, uh, includes an application that you’ve completed online in its entirety. It does include transcripts from all postsecondary educational institutions. So if you attended a community college prior to university, if you attended more than one university, if you took some classes at a community college or another university after graduation, we need to see all of those transcripts. They need to be official transcripts. The biggest difference between an official transcript and an unofficial transcript is an unofficial transcript comes in an envelope from the university that’s not been opened.
For international students, in addition to an official transcript that shows all the courses taken and the grade received, we also need an official copy of the graduation certificate itself that shows the date the degree was conferred and is – again that needs to come in a sealed envelope that’s never been opened. We also need three letters of recommendation – academic letters are preferred, particularly for those who have graduated within the last year or two. Once you’ve been out of school for two years or more, professional letters are preferred. They should be from people who know you on a professional level – no relatives, please – and can speak to your ability to do graduate level work. In addition to that there are two personal statements. One is a statement of history, one is a statement of, uh, purpose. These are both statements. Your audience is an admissions committee that is made up of engineers. They like things short, sweet and to the point. Uh, we’re not looking for just bullet points but you are limited to three thousand characters or less including spaces. And in the statement of history you should basically address how you got to where you are today. Identify significant individuals and events that influenced you in your choice of education and career. Also address any significant challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame those challenges. In the statement of purpose you want to talk about your career goals and how this degree is going to help you attain those goals. And then we want a copy of your resume.
Now let’s talk a little bit about the GRE. A lot of people ask if it can be waived. Before we discuss that, I want you to be aware of a couple of things. Number one, our website makes it very clear that a GRE is required unless you have taken and passed the FE or the PE. Additionally the purpose of the GRE, according to the Educational Testing Service, which administers the test, GRE scores are used by admissions or fellowship panels to supplement your undergraduate records, recommendation letters and other qualifications for graduate level study. To put it another way, the GRE helps us assess your skills in Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing. Those are the three sections of the GRE. By looking at those scores we can see how well prepared you are for this program and that’s the bottom line. The GRE helps us determine if you have the academic chops to be able to complete the program and do so successfully.
So under what circumstances may the GRE be waived? Well, as we’ve already mentioned, if you’ve taken and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam or the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, the GRE will automatically be waived. For that to happen, you need to send us proof of passing the FE or the PE; relatively easily done if you’ve taken and passed those exams. So from the UCR catalog the GRE FE may be waived by exception with an appeal made by a student with verified and substantial work experience two years or more in an engineering company with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering or Natural Sciences such as Physics, Mathematics or Chemistry.
So what does that mean? That means if you are currently working in an engineering field, you are an engineer, you’ve been doing so for two or more years and your work is relevant to the specialization, then you can request a waiver of the GRE. That means if you have been working in, uh, Mechanical Engineering and you’re applying to Mechanical Engineering and you have been working in Mechanical Engineering for two or more years, you can request the GRE waiver. Now there’s a couple of caveats. If your GPA is below a 3.0 I don’t recommend you request the GRE waiver. We’ll submit the application with the request for the waiver but think about the committee. You’re trying to sell yourself to the committee. The committee looks and they see a weak GPA and they see a request for a waiver and only two years of work experience, they’re going to not be as quick to offer that waiver as if, say you’re in Electrical Engineering, you’ve been doing it for 20 years, you graduated from an ABET accredited university with a 3.6 GPA, that person is much more likely to get a GRE waiver. This is one of those things when it comes to very close specifics, David and I are pretty well versed in being able to explain whether or not you should take the GRE.
So under what circumstances can the GRE be waived? We’ve already mentioned, you know, the FE or the PE, we’ve talked about two or more years of relative work experience – a couple of other things that we want to address. If you have completed a Master’s degree at a regionally accredited institution and it is a degree of similar rigor or difficulty, in a similar field although not an identical field because we do not allow duplication of degrees. So if you have a Master of Science in Biology, in Physics or Mathematics, the GRE may be waived. Again, the purpose of the GRE is to demonstrate that you will be successful or have high likelihood of being successful in a graduate program. Having completed a similar graduate program does the same thing; it demonstrates that you’re likely to be successful in this program.
I also want to emphasize GRE waivers are not guaranteed. David and I cannot guarantee that you’ll get a GRE waiver unless, of course, you’ve taken and passed the FE or the PE. Those are the only two instances where a GRE waiver can be guaranteed. The Admissions Committee may require or request the GRE even if you have extensive work experience or a previous Masters degree. And, as I’ve already mentioned, if your GPA after we calculate it on the last two years, is below a 3.0, you should not request a GRE waiver.
So how do we go about requesting a GRE waiver? Well, there’s no real separate process for that. When you complete the application and as part of your conversations with David and I you would want to make it clear that you want to apply without a GRE. Again I would encourage you, if we tell you that we highly recommend the GRE, we’re doing so based on our experience, we’ve both been doing this for years, we know what the committee is looking for and we know whether you’re likely to be approved for a GRE waiver or you’re not. And if we say: “You know? It’s 50-50, we don’t know.” Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about whether or not to spend the money on an application fee and put it forward without a GRE. So the way you do this is you will comp – complete an application online, you’ll let David or myself know that you want a GRE waiver. We will then need to be able to document your rationale for waiving the GRE when we writer our recommendation and justification. So as part of that we’re going to need your resume and your resume will need to demonstrate relevant work experience. If you’ve taken and passed the FE or the PE then we need proof of that. Uh, or send us proof of a similar Masters degree which that would happen, uh, you know, because you’re going to need to get us all of your post secondary education, uh, transcripts.
So at this point I want to open it up to questions. If you have a question, go ahead and type it in the console there and I will go right ahead and we’ll, uh, address those questions online. I’m also willing to, you know, discuss individual situations so if your situation you believe is unique, I’m happy to address that. So I do have a question. It doesn’t have to do with the GRE but it is from one of our, uh, viewers and the question is: How much is tuition? So tuition is $833 per credit hour. There are 36 credits in the program so total tuition will come to $29, 988. There is no difference between in-state and out-state tuition because the program can be done essentially from anywhere in the world as long as you have a good, high speed Internet connection.
What other questions do we have today? We have another question: When is the application deadline? The application deadline is, uh – it varies based on the term that you want to start. So we have – we bring in new students three times a year, the fall, the winter term or the spring term. The fall term always begins late in September. This year it began – classes began on September 27th. The last day that David or I can send an application over to the committee for the fall term is always September 1st – that never changes. The winter term begins the first week in January. This coming January it will start on January 7th. The last date that David and I can send an application to the committee is November 15th. That also never changes. So if you’re thinking about the winter term you would need to be able to complete an application, get your transcripts to us, get your two personal statements written, make sure that your recommenders are going to respond with a letter of recommendation and we would need your resume and test scores no later than November 15th. On November 16th your application dies a poor, sad, little death. For the spring term classes usually start the first week in April. This coming year it’ll be April 1st and the last day that David and I can send an application to the committee will be March 1st. Again, that date never changes. We do offer courses during the summer term and the sum – but the summer term is reserved for ongoing students.
We have another question that has to do with: Is your program fully accredited? Of course the program is fully accredited. The University of California Riverside is one of the 10 schools in the University of California system. As such, we are regionally accredited through the Western Association of Colleges and Schools. The degree that we offer online will not say “online.” It will be a Master of Science in Engineering. None of our graduate programs in engineering are ABET accredited. That is in line with what most other graduate schools in engineering do. There’s very, very few online programs that are ABET accredited at the Masters level in the United States. You can check that at ABET.org and other than that our program is well received, well respected and the institution is fully accredited. All of our undergraduate degrees in engineering are ABET accredited. But again, like most other schools, we have not sought ABET accreditation for our graduate programs. It’s usually a much less critical issue. Any other questions? I was waiting to see if there’s any other questions here. We’ll give it just a couple more minutes. If there aren’t any questions, then we’ll wrap it up.
I do want to thank everyone for their participation. Okay. I want to see if we have any other questions. I see we’ve got another one coming in. Okay, we have a question: Is the online word – will it be mentioned on mark sheets because some countries don’t recognize online study. The graduation certificate that you receive will simply say that you have earned a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of California at Riverside. The word “online” will not appear on your graduation certificate. Additionally, on the transcripts that you receive it’s not going to indicate online. The course numbers are identical. We keep the courses identical. They follow the same timeline as courses on campus. They’re taught by the same instructors who teach the courses on campus. The lectures that you have are recorded sessions of live class sessions. You’ll have the same assignments, the same textbooks, the same resources and the same exams and those exams are proctored. In other words, we’ve made the online classes identical to the campus classes with the exception of you don’t have to come to campus and you don’t have to, you know, show up at a certain day and time to take the course. Now there are deadlines within the classes but no, online will not be mentioned.
We have a question about tuition waivers and financial aid. The, uh, realization here and the reality is the only form of financial aid that is available for this program is in the form of Federal Student Loans through the US Government’s Stafford Loan Program. There are no tuition waivers. There are no scholarships, uh, there are no fellowships for this program. And do we have any other questions. I’ll give it just another minute or two.
Okay at 9:25 I will, uh, okay. We’ll give it about one more minute and then we’ll wrap this up. I want to thank you all for logging in and participating in the program. I want you to feel free to reach out to either myself or David. We’re more than happy to, uh, answer any questions that you may have in terms of the application process, the programs themselves, uh, documentation, GRE waivers, etc. Again, thank you very much for coming. We look forward to assisting you in any way we possibly can. Take care.