Can someone shed some light on how to get admitted into a good grad school (ENGINEERING)?

Graduate School
1

Hello everyone.

I know its early for me to be thinking about grad school. I’ve recently gotten all of my accepts/rejects from the UCs I applied for transfer. The UCs which I applied for were:

UC: Santa Cruz (Computer Engineering w/ a concentration in Robotics & Control), ACCEPTED
*I won the Karl S. Pister leadership opportunity award to this university (full ride + tons of benefits). It was extremely hard for me to get this and to get a full ride at a UC in itself is almost unheard of. For that reason I am probably going to be attending this university.

UC: San Diego (Structural Engineering), ACCEPTED

UC: Berkeley (Engineering Math and Statistics), REJECTED
*A little background. I just got this one today and this one hurt me personally. I did everything I could so that I would get accepted into this school and specific program for 3 years only to be rejected… I left my home state and my old family behind permanently just for a chance to attend this school only to get denied harshly.

It seems to me that I will go to UC: Santa Cruz since they shown their love for me as a candidate. I know UC Santa Cruz is lowly ranked and probably not as respected for engineering as the other UCs but is there any hope for me to go to a top grad school? Am I finished in general just because I’m probably going to a low ranked school? I was told ranking is very important when applying to grad school which is why I’m asking this now as I still have time to make my decision between UC: Santa Cruz and UC: San Diego.

Also how does grad school admissions even work? I’m sorry for these types of questions. I’m really new to this.

Thank you for anyone who can answer this question for me.

2

First of all, UC Santa Cruz is a fine school and its engineering programs re ABET accredited so I don’t really know why you are calling it a “low ranked” school. The UC system is strong across the board and for undergraduates, any ranking which depends on the research strength of a university is more or less irrelevant.

If your goal is to get into a graduate program, you need to (1) get good grades in your undergraduate courses, (2) do well on your GREs when you take them in your Junior/Senior year, (3) get some significant research experience, and (4) have strong letters of recommendation.

(1) and (2) are up to your ability in academics and how hard you work. (3) and (4) are connected as the best letters of recommendation re those that your undergraduate research mentors can provide. So you shoud start to get involved in research when you step onto campus but don’t let it affect your academics.

3

Hi,

Thanks for your input. I’ve actually have done some research already.

4

“how to get admitted into a good grad school”

Get a lot of A’s as an undergrad, and hardly anything else (other than A+'s). Other things matter, but grades are essential.