Applying to Grad School in Aerospace Engineering

[RS-25]

Hi All,

I'm currently a senior at a small liberal arts college finishing a degree in physics. I've focused my research on fluid dynamics, specifically studying instabilities, and recently published an astrophysics paper in the Proceedings of the Royal Society alongside my advisor and his collaborators. I'm very interested in going to get my masters in aerospace engineering and I've got a few questions. As a physics undergrad, I'm aware that I'm coming into aerospace engineering at a slight disadvantage compared to those who got aerospace degrees at the undergraduate level. Is this something I should be concerned about? My GPA is decent (~3.4) and I recently look the general GRE and got relatively good scores.

I've been told that I could get good jobs in aerospace without a masters degree, but I'd like to get one partially just to learn more about engineering techniques. I'm interested in becoming an astronaut and I'd like to do this through becoming an engineer rather than joining the Air Force and becoming a pilot, for example. I'm also acutely aware that being selected for astronaut training is very selective and therefore my goal is to get close to the industry so my career path is in aerospace whether or not I end up as an astronaut.

For those of you who applied to graduate school in aerospace, how many universities did you apply to? My current list of schools is MIT, Stanford, Princeton, UC Boulder, Caltech, Texas A&M, UT Austin, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Cornell, RPI, and Purdue. I feel like this is too many to apply to and I'd appreciate any advice or insight into where i might best spend my time applying.

Thanks for any and all advice or tips!

[AJA]

As a physics undergrad, I'm aware that I'm coming into aerospace engineering at a slight disadvantage compared to those who got aerospace degrees at the undergraduate level. Is this something I should be concerned about? My GPA is decent (~3.4) and I recently look the general GRE and got relatively good scores.

Not even close. You'll probably work on a focus area within aerospace, and the fluid mechanics you have experience with will stand you in good stead (if you pick that concentration - maybe work on the aero part of aerospace, or even the rocket propulsion part?)

If you're going to switch, that should be fine too... yeah, you might need to do some additional work, but I genuinely don't think you'll be at a disadvantage as a candidate. All the best!

[Eric Hedman]

If your goal is to become an astronaut, you have to start thinking there will be more and more opportunities outside of government and military.  When SpaceX starts launching people on Starship there will probably be engineers on some flights as part of testing and development.  The same will happen as private companies start doing more research in orbit for commercial applications.  The coming decades should be full of new opportunities that previous generations haven't had.  I wish you good luck on your future.  There is an interesting quote from a long retired golfer by the name of Gary Player that applies to any career.  He was asked about the roll of luck in his career and winning.  He said it is amazing that the harder I work and practice the luckier I get.

[Mondagun]

As a physics undergrad, I'm aware that I'm coming into aerospace engineering at a slight disadvantage compared to those who got aerospace degrees at the undergraduate level. Is this something I should be concerned about?

I'm not directly familar with US universities and their application procedures. However what I can tell you that there's definitely a niche in both academia and industry for people who with a combined physics/engineering background. Design of electrical propulsion systems, earth observation instruments and astronomy instruments are examples of topics that often require such combined background.