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Upenn MSR

Program Overview​

Before coming, I imagined this program as "super hardcore, super competitive, labs grinding around the clock"... But after arriving, I realized: ROBO is truly one of the most flexible and "do it yourself" robotics master's programs in the US! You can also dual with MCIT/MCIS and others.

One-sentence summary of my biggest takeaway: "High freedom = unlimited possibilities, but it also means you must be very clear about what you want." There's no set path -- you study what you want, find the right expert for whatever research direction interests you, and can completely shape your master's experience according to your interests and career plan.

Philadelphia cost of living: medium-high, lower than NYC/Bay Area but higher than Houston/Midwest cities. Rent (shared room): $900-1400/month; cooking at home + occasional eating out: $500-800/month. Daily schedule: Without research: Monday to Friday classes + homework. If you're efficient, there's plenty of free time to attend various events. With research: classes + homework + lab. Research takes about 10-20 hours per week, so your schedule is fairly packed. But Penn Engineering has various research seminars almost every week, so students interested in exploring directions can fill their free time.

Admission Threshold & Data Points​

Each fall cohort is around 30 students, with typically 6-8 Chinese students. Backgrounds are very diverse: there are direct applicants from top Chinese undergrad programs, US undergrad transfers, and people returning after working for several years. Admission is indeed competitive, but there's a notable "back door" -- if you first enter another Penn Engineering program (such as EE, SE) and are genuinely interested in robotics, transferring to ROBO is actually much easier. Many senior students have done exactly this.

  1. UMass Mechanical Engineering undergrad, multiple robotics-related internships
  2. Worcester Polytechnic Institute Robotics undergrad, GPA 3.95
  3. IIT Automation undergrad, GPA 9.04/10, three years full-time experience
  4. Indian undergrad, GPA 8.72/10
  5. NYU CS+DS, GPA 3.87/4

Job Outcomes & Data Points​

The most common direction is Computer Vision + Coding-related positions (FAANG/big tech AI divisions, autonomous driving, robotics companies, etc.), with many others going into Control, Planning, and Manipulation roles.

Company types: Tesla, Waymo, Aurora, Boston Dynamics, Amazon Robotics, Apple, Meta Reality Labs, Google X, etc. Common titles include Robotics Engineer, Perception Engineer, Software Engineer - Robotics, etc.

Salary range (based on data from recent years): Starting compensation is generally between $150k-220k (base + bonus + RSU), varying significantly by company and location.

  1. Upenn EE undergrad, landed small company hardware internship
  2. Upenn CE undergrad, landed Amazon hardware internship
  3. IIT Automation undergrad, GPA 9.04/10, three years full-time experience, landed Amazon DS
  4. Indian undergrad, GPA 8.72/10, multiple internships, landed SF small company CV Engineer
  5. Upenn EE undergrad, had internship experience, landed SpaceX SDE Test Intern
  6. NYU CS+DS undergrad, had small company DS intern, landed Amazon DS internship

Distinguished Professors​

GRASP Lab is one of the top in the nation. Here are just a few prominent names:

  1. Vijay Kumar (the legend of drones and aerial robotics)
  2. George Pappas (control and optimization expert)
  3. Mark Yim (modular robotics pioneer)
  4. Kostas Daniilidis (computer vision + robot perception)
  5. Jianbo Shi (classic figure in CV)

These professors have many master's/PhD students doing research under them almost every year, with plenty of opportunities. As long as your research direction aligns and you proactively communicate, the probability of finding a PhD student to mentor you into a lab is very high.