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Graduate school admission question.

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TanisHalfElven

Diamond Member
Hi guys.
I am undergrad in engineering at a top 10 college, and i really wanna come to grad school in this same college. I done research since my 1st year and currently work for the guy who'll no doubt be my adviser for grad school.

however i dicked around too much in the 1st couple of years so my GPA is quite low. The prof i work for knows me be a really smart guy and wants me to work for him however the admissions committee might not accept me.

My gre scores are 690 (V) and 770(Q) so i know that's pretty good. but my GPA is like 2.87

So i was wondering what kind of advise ATOT had for me other than study hard. i could stay in school a little longer and improve my GPA. or i could go to some lower level school and get a master than come back for a PhD (or go some where else).

what do you guys think ?
 
Your GRE score and great letters of recommendation can go a long way. Your mediocre GPA will be partially mitigated since you're from a top 10 university (if there is no fixed minimum). How is your GPA from your junior and senior classes that have to do with your major?
 
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TanisHalfElven said:
however i dicked around too much in the 1st couple of years so my GPA is quite low. The prof i work for knows me be a really smart guy and wants me to work for him however the admissions committee might not accept me.

My gre scores are 690 (V) and 770(Q) so i know that's pretty good. but my GPA is like 2.87
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Does the graduate school have a minimum GPA for admission? Did your boss actually tell you that you may not get accepted, or is this something that you are looking at yourself?

My feeling is that if your professor wants you to work for him, and is willing to throw his weight behind your application, you shouldn't have a problem getting in - unless the graduate school has a hard rule that your gpa needs to be X (usually 3.0?).

Ask your future PI, not us.
 
If your professor is a big shot with clout and really wants you, you'll get in. If not, your chances are very poor. A 2.87 GPA is flat out bad.
 
Yeah, 2.87 is BAD, no matter what university it is. You could always work some first. Experience in industry can help as well and you can get nice letters of rec from your superiors.
 
ask your prof, he should be able to sway the admission, after all, they are just professors reviewing applications.
 
Tanis, you're still in school. I came from a top 3 engineering school and my GPA was a 3.0. I'm applying for grad school. Recs can go a long way. Right now I honestly wish I could restart college, and I honestly would suck dick right now to get a grad admission into my old school. That would seriously rock. But at the same time I gotta be realistic and drop my apps to the Rank 10-20 schools and even 20-30.

It really sucks but having a top notch GPA in high school and being smart enough to probably stay at a 3.8 in college but just dicking around too much really makes me cry. I learned my lesson. Your GRE scores are better than mine so you might be ok. Get those recs and you can do it. I have some friends who are ridiculously smart too and dicked around in college. Though their GPA sucked, good recs got them back into a top 10 grad program.
 
DLeRium said:
Tanis, you're still in school. I came from a top 3 engineering school and my GPA was a 3.0. I'm applying for grad school. Recs can go a long way. Right now I honestly wish I could restart college, and I honestly would suck dick right now to get a grad admission into my old school. That would seriously rock. But at the same time I gotta be realistic and drop my apps to the Rank 10-20 schools and even 20-30.

It really sucks but having a top notch GPA in high school and being smart enough to probably stay at a 3.8 in college but just dicking around too much really makes me cry. I learned my lesson. Your GRE scores are better than mine so you might be ok. Get those recs and you can do it. I have some friends who are ridiculously smart too and dicked around in college. Though their GPA sucked, good recs got them back into a top 10 grad program.
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is this reply about dicks or about admission
 
the prof said he would do what he can. he said it might be troublesome though. i am working on the statement of purpose and getting the recs. i have worked with a lot of people over the years who like me so recs shouldn't be a problem.
 
Oh, BTW GRE scores mean squat in a top-15 engineering program. It's more a checkbox to check than anything else.

A bad quantitative score (probably under 750 would be bad) might hurt you, but a "good" one (800) will not help you. Basically any qualified applicant to a top engineering program will have a q score of about 790-800.

For verbal, anything above 550 or so will work. You're applying to an engineering program. High verbal is nice, but far from required or even looked for.

A direct quote from my PI who was serving as Director of Graduate Studies (and admissions) at the time:
Most of our successful applicants have a verbal score of 550-650.
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All of the above is based on my experiences at top ranked schools in bioengineering.
 
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Wouldn't it be better to get an intern/job and go for your P.Eng, then get the company to pay for your M.Eng if it is a requirement for advancement?

What is your goal with a PhD?
 
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