- Minnesota has a joint Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) department. You can apply for the doctorate program in either the ChemE or MatSci side, and basically that determines the core classes you'll take and the title on your diploma (I applied to the MatSci side so I could formally learn about MatSci stuff in classes.). The faculty in the department, however, act as a single unit. There's no distinction between ChemE or MatSci professors, and you can do research with any of them, which I thought was very cool.
- During the visit, I noticed that the entire CEMS department (faculty, student, staff) got along very well. The professors all looked like they were friends with each other. The grad students and professors also got along like...very naturally. It was something I definitely did not expect.
- I've been thinking about why Minnesota was the only school I got into. It's kind of strange that I definitely applied to a lot of schools ranked lower than UMN and was rejected from all of them. Anyways, during the first introduction to the department, one thing Dr. F talked about was that chemical engineering education in the past couple decades has gotten very focused and very narrow. The benefit of having a joint Chemical Engineering and Materials Science department is that chemical engineers get to keep the quantitatively rigorous nature of the discipline while exploring other topics, and the material scientists will get the quantitatively rigorous training that is typical of a chemical engineering education while bringing in fresh perspectives from other disciplines (that's not to say other disciplines are not quantitatively rigorous, but I've heard Minnesota's CEMS courses are very, very mathematical). Dr. F really seemed to celebrate the fact that the materials scientists of the graduate program come from a diverse array of undergrad departments: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, physics, chemical engineers, etc. Looking at my resume/transcript, there's hardly anything that would suggest I'm prepared to do research on materials. I can only conclude that it's in the CEMS's department's philosophy to seek out people from different academic backgrounds that I got accepted to UMN.
- For all of my undergrad research at Rice, I've pretty much been exclusively working on experimental stuff. Two summers ago, however, I did an REU at LBNL, where I worked a computational materials project. The internship was an amazing experience and really changed my perspective of things. There is something very fascinating and satisfying about being able to predict properties of a material before it's synthesized in a lab or figuring out on a fundamental level why certain materials behave the way they do. Now that I'm about to enter grad school, I'm not sure what I should focus on.
I talked to Dr. C, the resident DFT/computational expert in the CEMS department. He basically said that dividing attention over experimental and theoretical means you can never be the best at either. =\ Really (this is going to be a huge tangent), this has been the dominant philosophy/practice ever since the Agricultural Revolution. It's like the whole economics thing with comparative advantage...if you're more efficient at growing apples, and your neighbor is more efficient at growing oranges, then the way to get the most fruit is if you specialize in growing apples and trade with your neighbor, who specializes in growing fruit. I have a LOT more to say on this that would bring me even further away from the topic at hand, so I'll leave it for another time. But basically, it sucks. It sucks that to become more valuable in this society, you almost have to make yourself less independent by specializing in some narrow field. I wonder to myself if that's really the best way to go. Is a good engineer someone who's really good at one thing? Or so-so in a lot of things?
Later, I talked to Dr. A, who is pretty much my first choice professor to work with (as of now, at least), since he does a lot of solar cell stuff. He was a lot more encouraging and mentioned that there was this electrical engineering student who came in, thinking that he wanted to synthesize solar cells and characterize their electrical properties and ended up spending about a year at the end of his PhD doing purely theoretical DFT stuff with Dr. C. That sounds pretty much perfect for me. It doesn't have to be a 50-50 split between theory and experiment, but I definitely want to get a good understanding of both. Since I'm not planning on pursuing a career in academia, I'm thinking it might be okay if I'm not the best in either theory or experiment. My experience in Rice Solar Car informs me that I can be neither an expert in mechanical nor electrical engineering, but still be heavily involved in both. Good enough is good enough for me. - UMN CEMS has no "pre-quals". There's no test over undergraduate material to weed out grad students, which is really good for me since I will be in the materials science side, and I'd rather not have to learn all of undergraduate materials science for a test. For their quals, basically, they write this 30-something page report in the second semester of second year about everything you've done so far and a proposal for everything else you're going to do. After a committee reads that, you either pass or get opportunity to re-write. A couple weeks later, you give an oral presentation, and the committee of professors grill you on your research as well as material covered in their classes.
- As far as I've heard from other grad students, the department really supports you and wants you to get your PhD. The admissions process is really the only weed-out/selection process. I know some schools make grad students compete with each other to stay in. That just sounds horrible. The atmosphere at the CEMS department here seems very much collaborative instead of competitive.
- I took a tour of several of the grad student apartments during the visit. Standing in their homes, in hit me. This is going to be my life for the next five years or so. And for the first time, I'll be completely self-sufficient. It's what I've always wanted. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to get out. Live on my own. Escape the dysfunctional family. Be completely independent. I'm finally there. It's what I've always wanted, right? It's exciting but so terrifying at the same time.
- I really wish I at least got into another school. Despite UMN seeming to be a great school in a great location, I wish I had something else to compare to. I just have no reference and no ability to judge what my life will be like at UMN compared to anywhere else. I wish I had the chance to say, "THAT one. I want to go to THAT school". Getting into LBNL for a summer internship, I had no idea what living in Berkeley would be like, but I knew that it'd just be for a summer. Having no say, no options for where I'll be for the next 5+ years...it's just scary.
- Several people in my visit are going into grad school with long-distance relationships. Some of the first-year grad students are engaged. One of the first-years bought a house with her fiance (got to see it on the housing tour). I guess I'm nearing that age where people start getting married and stuff. That, too, is terrifying. I just can't see myself getting married anytime soon. So many questions about that...Am I supposed to find someone I'm going to marry in grad school? Am I going find someone to love here? Do grad students even date? This is all coming at me so fast.
- I won't miss Houston, but I will definitely miss people I met at Rice. Being a 5th year senior, most of my friends in my class already left for grad school last year. I often find myself missing their company. I guess now I'll leave everyone else in Houston, soon. I'm really going to miss my lab. There's something about those group of people that makes me feel very comfortable being around. I could write another post entirely about this, but I enjoy hanging around people my lab a lot more than most undergrads. I hope I can keep in touch with them after I leave.
- I wonder what my social life will be like in grad school. In my time at Rice, I've learned that I'm pretty introverted. While I very much enjoy having a conversation with a couple of people, giant roomfuls of people mingling are definitely not my thing. I'm guessing the department got all of the most extroverted grad students to do recruitment weekend. Also, lots of social events around drinking. Socializing in grad school would probably be easier if I drank...
- There is a pho restaurant and a Vietnamese sandwich restaurant on campus. This is good.
- Finally, pretty much the entire state of Minnesota is in love with my Indiana Jones hat. Got so many compliments. People in the hotel, people walking by on the streets. Two grad students said they wanted one. It's just that awesome =|.
That's all for now.
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