A wide variety of questions about grad school and undergrad research?

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm an engineering major planning on applying for a PhD program next fall.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I see a lot of people talking about their GPAs on here. Doesn't GPA depend a lot on the school you're going to? For example, some schools have grade deflations/inflations with certain programs. Some school in my major might have undergrads average 2.5 and some schools may have averages of 3.0s. How do people compare a GPA as high/low without knowing the rigor of someone's undergrad institution? </p></li>
<li><p>Do you list your class rank or what percentage (top 5%, top 10%, etc...) of the class you are in when applying for grad school? It makes sense to me if you put it on there. What if someone had a 3.5 and was top 5% as opposed to someone who had a 3.5 but was like top 20%. </p></li>
<li><p>For all you graduate students who are funded (TAs or RAs), do you have enough money to live and some to spare without help from family or loans? </p></li>
<li><p>When you guys did undergrad research, were you guys paid or volunteering? And do you have to list whether you were paid/volunteering? I feel like when one is a volunteer they're not given as much responsibility. I was paid in one lab, but not in another.</p></li>
<li><p>How many hours would you guys say you spent per week on your undergrad research? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Even at grade-deflated schools, a 2.5 is well below the performance standard for graduate admissions.</p>

<p>The source of a GPA is considered in the process, but it’s holistic, like virtually everything else in graduate admissions.</p>

<p>Class rank is meaningless and not considered in graduate admissions - most universities don’t even do class rankings.</p>