MERGE Program
Fall 2023 Events
Virtual event: September 22
In-person visit: October 26-27
Grainger Engineering is one of the world's top-ranked engineering colleges. Our students, faculty, and alumni set the standard for excellence. We drive the economy, reimagine engineering education, and bring revolutionary ideas to the world.
Each fall, the MERGE Program invites a group of prospective students which includes women, persons from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in STEM, and people of all physical abilities to connect with representatives and current graduate students from their programs of interest, learn about our application process, and explore grad school funding.
MERGE 2023
Virtual event: Friday, September 22 at 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm CST
- Live virtual visit for all participants
On-campus visit event: October 26-27
- A select group of MERGE participants will be invited to attend an on-campus follow-up visit, sponsored by The Grainger College of Engineering.
All MERGE participants are eligible for an application fee waiver when applying to a Grainger Engineering graduate program.
MERGE participants who enroll in a Grainger Engineering graduate program will be eligible for $700 of professional development funds unless they participated in the sponsored MERGE campus visit in 2023.
Apply by August 15 for full consideration.
Not ready for MERGE this year? If you want to connect with a program of interest, contact us.
Want to hear about upcoming MERGE events?
Contact us to be notified of future events, or to ask questions about the program.
Application Information
Eligibility Criteria
To apply to the MERGE program you must be:
- A U.S. citizen or permanent resident
- Currently enrolled or recently completed an accredited curriculum in engineering, computer science, or physics
Preference will be given to individuals who will be graduating in the coming year, with a GPA of 3.2 or higher (on a 4.0 point scale), and individuals whose cultural background will increase the diversity of the graduate student body - for example, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latina/Latino/Latinx, Native American or Alaska Native, Other Pacific Islander, women, or persons with disabilities.
Application Requirements
To receive full consideration, we advise that all application materials should be submitted as soon as possible. The following items must be provided within your application:
- An unofficial transcript
- A statement of no more than two pages addressing your plans for graduate study, including research interests, career goals, relevant coursework completed, and other educational experiences
- A detailed resume that outlines research experiences, internships, publications, and leadership experiences
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We're home to numerous research centers, multidisciplinary research efforts, and many advanced laboratories. Interdisciplinary discovery is a topic of conversation at every university today. At Illinois, it isn't just talk. It's a way of life. Here it's possible to redefine success, and invent new ways of working with colleagues from across campus in almost any field, for almost any reason.
Graduate Program Rankings
The graduate engineering program at The Grainger College of Engineering is ranked #11 overall in the U.S. News & World Report (published April 2023). The following list includes our ranked graduate engineering degree programs and specialties. Note: U.S. News & World Report does not include Computer Science graduate degree programs in their rankings.
- Ranked Degree Programs
- #7Aerospace Engineering
- #4Agricultural Engineering
- #19Biomedical Engineering
- #12Chemical Engineering
- #2Civil Engineering
- #5 Computer Engineering
- #4 Electrical Engineering
- #4 Environmental Engineering
- #15 Industrial Engineering
- #2 Materials Science and Engineering
- #5 Mechanical Engineering / Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
- #8Nuclear Engineering
- #9 Physics
- Ranked specialties
- #5 Computer Science - Artificial Intelligence
- #3 Computer Science - Programming Language
- #4 Computer Science - Systems
- #5 Computer Science - Theory
- #13 Physics - Atomic / Molecular / Optical
- #5 Physics - Condensed Matter
- #5 Physics - Living Systems
- #6 Physics - Nuclear
- #12 Physics - Quantum