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Worth studying masters in the USA?

I want to eventually get into formula 1 and I know this is hugely competitive. Hopefully i will get an internship next summer with an aerospace/motor company. I was wondering if getting a masters at a top university in America maybe Caltech or MIT would this have a big impact on my job prospects or would a masters at Lancaster where i am now be recognised as much?

Also, if anyone knows would I have to get a 1st to get into an American uni or could i scrape in with a 2:1?
Reply 1
Fees are a bit eye-watering. An MS Finance from MIT costs around $100,000 I believe.

What exactly do you want to do in Formula 1?
Reply 2
how many yanks work in Formula 1? I have no doubt a majority of them are educated in Europe. The US is interested in the same cars in one field going around an oval.
Original post by *absinthe*
I want to eventually get into formula 1 and I know this is hugely competitive. Hopefully i will get an internship next summer with an aerospace/motor company. I was wondering if getting a masters at a top university in America maybe Caltech or MIT would this have a big impact on my job prospects or would a masters at Lancaster where i am now be recognised as much?

Also, if anyone knows would I have to get a 1st to get into an American uni or could i scrape in with a 2:1?


Isn't Cranfield or Imperial offering good motor-sport degree ? As Formula 1 being mainly a European thing, I suppose studying in Europe is a safe bet.
Original post by *absinthe*
I want to eventually get into formula 1 and I know this is hugely competitive. Hopefully i will get an internship next summer with an aerospace/motor company. I was wondering if getting a masters at a top university in America maybe Caltech or MIT would this have a big impact on my job prospects or would a masters at Lancaster where i am now be recognised as much?

Also, if anyone knows would I have to get a 1st to get into an American uni or could i scrape in with a 2:1?


A 2:1 from a redbrick won't get you into a Masters program in the unis you listed unless you can show some very good work experience or something very significant to offer.

A very high 2:1 from Oxbridge may get you in if you're really good. But for the most part if you are trying to do F1, a UK degree would be better as vast majority of F1 teams are based in Britain :biggrin:
Reply 5
Original post by Jez RR
Fees are a bit eye-watering. An MS Finance from MIT costs around $100,000 I believe.

What exactly do you want to do in Formula 1?


I really want to be an engineer, maybe the aerodynamics designing.
Reply 6
Original post by *absinthe*
I really want to be an engineer, maybe the aerodynamics designing.


What about the MSc in Advanced Computational Methods for Aeronautics, Flow Management and Fluid Structure Interactions at Imperial?. It seems to be perfectly suited to you. AND it costs around 4 grand if I'm not mistaken
Reply 7
Original post by *absinthe*
I want to eventually get into formula 1 and I know this is hugely competitive. Hopefully i will get an internship next summer with an aerospace/motor company. I was wondering if getting a masters at a top university in America maybe Caltech or MIT would this have a big impact on my job prospects or would a masters at Lancaster where i am now be recognised as much?

Also, if anyone knows would I have to get a 1st to get into an American uni or could i scrape in with a 2:1?


Having a 1st will not guarantee anything. You will definitely need to take the GRE test and even a subject specific GRE test depending on whether it is required by admissions. Furthermore, I considered applying to M.I.T and checked out the forms to be filled out by your referees. First of all, they are asked to ranked you within your year (e.g. 5th out of 89), then to rank you as a student (from truly exceptional to good) and lastly, to rate you compared to all students they have ever taught; along the lines of "the best I have seen, a student like this comes a long every 5 years" etc...
Original post by felixbr
Having a 1st will not guarantee anything. You will definitely need to take the GRE test and even a subject specific GRE test depending on whether it is required by admissions. Furthermore, I considered applying to M.I.T and checked out the forms to be filled out by your referees. First of all, they are asked to ranked you within your year (e.g. 5th out of 89), then to rank you as a student (from truly exceptional to good) and lastly, to rate you compared to all students they have ever taught; along the lines of "the best I have seen, a student like this comes a long every 5 years" etc...


This is quite funny as I have heard numerous moans that it is very un-British for a referee to big-up their students like an American referee would.

Which leads to the administrative norm that most selection committees in the US would be fully aware that every single student is a brilliant ray of plasmodic sunshine. They would then either look out for the lukewarm references as a true to bad sign or just jump to the name of the referee to see how important they are to make such grand-standing claims. Of course they would then also consider if this must be the tenth student this application cycle that Prof. Big Name says is great. So out of all those, they probably would trust the year or class-rank question and then compare it against the other more numerical/"objective" qualifiers like GRE and your exact weighted grade point average.

Note: Most US applications also ask that foreign qualifications be sent to an agency that specializes in converting foreign marks to US GPAs (grade point averages, out of 4.0). This costs money. On top of all the mailings of the GRE that you'll be sending out and the GRE itself, and the application fees, the question of "worth" takes a more literal meaning in the application process as well!
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by WaltzvWendt
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Note: Most US applications also ask that foreign qualifications be sent to an agency that specializes in converting foreign marks to US GPAs (grade point averages, out of 4.0). This costs money. On top of all the mailings of the GRE that you'll be sending out and the GRE itself, and the application fees, the question of "worth" takes a more literal meaning in the application process as well!


Not with British university grades in my experience.

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