<p>Hello, everyone! I'm currently a senior in UC Berkeley, majoring in physics. I am planning on going to an engineering graduate school, specifically in either mechanical engineering or material science or its related fields, realizing that I would prefer that field instead of straight-up physics graduate school.
And I was just wondering what you, as in people who oversee graduate school admissions, graduate students, or anyone familiar with graduate school admission process, think about my chances in getting into an engineering graduate school. I am not looking to get into top graduate schools (maybe upper half, or if I can, upper quarter of grad schools in the US), but feel free to talk about my chances into those schools if you prefer it as well. </p>
<p>I have GPA of 3.348 with my major GPA little bit lower than that (about 0.1 so 3.25 ish). I have had one C in lower div physics and one C+ in non-physics related course.
I have had about 2 years of research experience in physics/material science/mechanical engineering fields under two different professors. First research dealt with superconductivity and second microfluidics.
I have not taken GRE yet, which I am planning on taking it this summer, and I believe I have about 2 or three professors who can give me fair to good letters of recommendations.
I understand that UC Berkeley is known for its grade deflation, but I have been constantly worried about whether my bad grade or any other aspects in my college academics would prevent me from getting into a grad school. Hopefully, hearing some advices from people who have experiences about graduate school admission will help me towards better selection and better steps towards applying and getting into graduate schools, and not just freaking out over it.
I would appreciate any comment of any length. Thank you!</p>
<p>-- skip this part if you want a short overview: this part is my justification on why I received those grades in the courses--</p>
<p>(Since one of the suggestions for these kind of cases is to explain why I got them so I'll explain: the lower division C was due to my inability to spend too much time in schoolwork in general due to family situation that I would prefer not to talk about in public, and C+ in non-physics related course, which is statistics, is because I took the course purely out of interest and C+ and B- was the average grade in the course. So, I guess it's a bit of my fault for not researching the difficulty of the course and simply took the course because I like the topic. I later realized that I could take the course for Pass and No Pass, but when I realized it, the deadline to change the grade option passed :(( )</p>
<p>--End of the part--</p>