Anyone from Albany Nanoscale Program?

[sol66]

So I'm wondering what the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Grad program is like? I'd like to know what it takes to get in, what the professors are like, what kind of research is going on, if whether or not you like it... things like that. Please talk to me if you know anything about it, preferably someone who is actually from the university program.

 

[biophysnano]

I usually just peruse these forums but since no one answered your post I figured I would register to help answer your question.

I will be attending CNSE this fall for nanoscale engineering so I cannot comment on the quality of the program just yet, but I have had an internship at CNSE. It was a great experience and the main reason I applied to CNSE.

As for what it takes to get in my undergrad degree is in physics but they accept from all across the board bio, comp sci, math, engineering etc. I have roughly ~3.6 GPA and have been doing research for two years now in two different labs both related to micro/nano/bio. I tried to take micro/nano oriented courses at my undergrad institution and would suggest taking some if they are available to you, not only to solidify your interest in the field but make yourself more marketable to micro/nano oriented grad programs.

The facilities are astounding and it seems that I am constantly hearing about plans for expansion, new equipment obtained, etc. I have a feeling that the college is leaning towards attracting NY state residents. If you browse the past internship records on the website most of the interns are from NY state, sans a few international students. So if you are a NY state resident this is a big plus in my opinion.

A lot of the research is geared towards nanoelectronics, new energy initiatives, micro/nano fab, and nanobio. Again I have not started the grad program yet but I am very excited for the fall and have already begun speaking with professors that I will be doing research with and they seem as eager as I am. Let me know if you have any other questions I will try to answer them from my limited experience.

 

[sol66]

Wow thank you so much for answering this post. I'm super interested in going, in fact it's sort of my dream college. How was the internship? I'm going to apply this year and try to get in. I'm sure that the interns for cnse are first pick people for the graduate program. What are you interested in doing for a career? Unfortunately I do not come from NY; I'm going to University of Reno which is a 2nd rate research school. I hope that will not impede me in getting into the program. I'm also a physics major and I'm probably going to dual in electrical engineering, not that I care for you to asses my chances in getting in.

Given that you did the internship, what sort of level were the other students? Did they all have previous research experience and such? Were any of them from so so universities or are they all from the Ive's and such schools? Thanks for anything you can tell me about the internship.

 

[fasterthanjoao]

So I'm wondering what the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Grad program is like? I'd like to know what it takes to get in, what the professors are like, what kind of research is going on

Surely you should go and visit the department? Speak to the professors yourself. You can also have a look at the department website, and should be able to get a list of recent publications so you can get an idea of the kind of research they are doing.

 

[biophysnano]

How was the internship?

The internship was amazing. I worked closely with various graduate students and professors. I was lucky in that I got to use very expensive equipment that almost surely I wouldn't have been able to use had I gone anywhere else for an internship. i.e. electron beam, AFM, SEM

What are you interested in doing for a career?

I want to get into the field of biomedical micro/nano devices, basically anything that combines nanotechnology and biology.

Given that you did the internship, what sort of level were the other students?

The other students backgrounds were varied, anything from a sophmore in state school to a graduate headed to an ivy league school.

Did they all have previous research experience and such?

Some of them most certainly did. I would recommend doing research at your school ASAP if you have not already started. Just talk to professors in an area of interest of yours and see if they have anything that you can work on in between classes and such.



I forgot to mention that they have open houses for prospective graduate students at various times throughout the year. I would highly suggest this (as has fasterthanjoao) to visit and meet with some of the available professors.

 

[jletha]

I just started there. I will be a first year student in the fall but came early to start my research. I really enjoy it here so far. The facilities are incredible and there's access to so much equipment which is cool. One thing I've heard is that the classes are kind of lacking in quality of teachers cause teaching is not the main focus for the professors. Also there is a lot of good research going on and it is easy to get involved in a good research group but I think it is possible to get stuck with an adviser that will have you do work without you knowing exactly what your doing. Youre going to want to talk to your adviser and make sure he/she is focused on the students benefits in research. I got selected to join a research group by an adviser that I am very happy with, this doesn't happen to everyone but it worked out for me. Also they pay all of their students 20000+ a year which is pretty comparable to other schools grad programs. About qualifications, I don't think its as competitive as a lot of schools because it is newer; it is still competitive though. I had a 3.4 GPA and 740 qual. GRE score, neither of which are astounding. I did a year of research with nothing published. I was a physics major with a math minor. My undergrad school is known for really good physics and physics research so I had that going for me but other than that my statistics were descent but not really incredible. I got into a couple other places but chose Albany.

 

[sol66]

Hey thanks for the input, I feel much better about this.