CEE Grad Guide 2023-24

This app features schools that offer graduate education programs in chemical engineering and related fields. By advertising their programs in this annual graduate education issue, on our website, and in this app these schools have financially supported CEE’s ability to continue serving the needs of the international community of educators in chemical engineering.
CEE (Chemical Engineering Education) is the premier archival journal for chemical engineering educators.
Any chemical engineering student considering graduate
studies should consult two valuable resources
that are found in Chemical Engineering Education.
In the introduction to the 2021 Graduate Guide, Visco
provided perspective, guidance, and information about engineering
graduate studies. Aided by the journal editorial
team, Visco contemplated, “How was graduate school different
from your undergraduate experience?” and five related
questions. Along similar lines, in 2019 Wankat presented a
detailed analysis of the question “Is Graduate School Next?”
Professor Wankat discussed reasons for attending (or not attending)
graduate school and provided details regarding the
structure of different types of engineering graduate programs.
For those who answered, “Yes, graduate school is next,” he
illustrated use of Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis to select
the best graduate programs to apply to. To use the Kepner-
Tregoe approach, a student identifies key factors that they
desire in a graduate program, weights these factors according
to their importance, and rates prospective programs for each
factor. Addition of the weighted scores results in a cumulative score for each program. The Kepner-Tregoe approach
is a rigorous method of selecting the graduate programs
that best match each student’s interests and motivations.
Professor Wankat provided advice on a number of high level
considerations about the application process, including applying to more than one program, but limiting the
number of programs you apply to; however, he didn’t go
into the details of how to effectively prepare the required
components of a successful graduate school application.
Graduate engineering programs have limited space available,
meaning that reviewers can be very selective regarding
acceptance into their programs. In particular, PhD programs,
which require considerable research and associated
funding, can be highly competitive. As such, the application
process should not be rushed through or taken lightly,
as acceptance depends upon your ability to highlight your
previous accomplishments and demonstrate your potential
for successful completion of a graduate engineering degree.