Advice...and chances?

<p>Hi! I'm kind of a newbie. :-) I'm a sophomore majoring in applied math/engineering at Harvard. I went into college with no idea what I wanted to study, except that it would be one of the sciences. I've gradually realized that I really want to go to graduate school in engineering, probably mechanical.</p>

<p>The problem is, my GPA is currently a 3.5, and I think there's a chance it might even go down as low as 3.3 after this semester. I've (probably unwisely) taken some pretty hard classes (such as, open only to those with 750+ on SAT subject tests, etc) I also have not done any research, but I will be attending an REU this summer. </p>

<p>It's startling that I'm already halfway through college, and I really really hope the next two years will be better, or at least, not worse as feared. I was just wondering if people have any advice on how I could make myself a better candidate for graduate school, or perhaps assess the chances I have at this point, on what I reasonably could expect. Thanks!</p>

<p>Are you looking at an MS, MEng, or PhD? Your odds are much better for master's programs, of course, and those degrees are more relevant to most MechE careers in industry. If you get a job with your BS (SB?), your employer will usually pay for your master's and you may have an easier time getting into a program.</p>

<p>It wasn't unwise to take "pretty hard" classes - grad schools know and care if you opt for easier courses as an undergrad. You have to take the difficult courses and do well in them in order to get into great Ph.D. programs. The requirements for master's programs are more lenient - you're on track if your GPA is above 3.5 when you apply.</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply! I'm actually thinking about Ph.D ... am I doomed, then?
The worst part is that the classes bringing me down were not engineering classes, but science requirements that I too ambitiously tried to meet with courses higher than the required ones. So instead of being with other engineering students, I found myself taking physics classes with all physics majors, chemistry classes with all chem majors, cs classes with all cs majors, etc. And struggling.
After two bad years in college, have my chances been shot?</p>

<p>Get close to a 4.0 during your junior year semesters (choose engineering courses related to what you want to study in grad school that you know you can do well in) and you will get into alot of top places.</p>