Hello,
I would like to apply to these universities for a MS in Electrical Engineering:
- NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
- Columbia University (The Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied science).
- Carnegie Mellon University.
- Boston University.
- University of Southern California, Viterbi.
My profile is:
- Four-year long Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering and Automation from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Madrid, Spain).
- From Madrid, Spain.
- 23 years old.
- TOEFL: 94
- GRE: 149 Verbal. 156 quantitative. 3 writing.
- GPA: 3. (Translated from spanish grades. Problem is, the translation is always lower than American GPAs because the spanish system is more strict, so I really hope they take this into account).
- One year internship for General Electric.
- Currently working at a techology consulting company as a programmer (will they actually give value to this? I dont know).
- Final degree project accomplished in an international program in England, at Birmingham City University (10 out of 10).
- If some other information is needed please let me know.
I know I dont have the best grades at all, but you guys think I have any chances to get into one of those programs? I really hope they give value to things like proffesional experience or internships. Any advice or opinion will help. Thank you very much!
sorry, but a 3 gpa wont even give u a shot at any of these, good luck though
You mentioned:
“…is always lower than American GPAs because the spanish system is more strict…”. But what makes you believe that the American system is less strict, at least for these elite schools which you wish to attend?
My assessment: reach for all
@uclaparent9 A lot of countries’ grading system don’t work like the US system. I can’t speak to the Spanish system’s finer points, but a few acquaintances studying there say it’s much like the French system - where 15/20 is a very strong GPA. Unlike the US, where many students graduate with a 4.0 and more still attain a 3.9+ GPA, if anyone in France achieves a 20 (or even a 19) that accomplishment is liable to make the newspapers, locally and often regionally.
The Spanish system, though it operates on a 10-point scale, is geared towards grade deflation at the upper end of the spectrum, as few teachers give out 10’s with any frequency.
My advice to OP would be this: e-mail the admissions departments of the schools you’re looking at, and ask them how they would translate a Spanish GPA to a 4.0 scale. It’s quite possible that your GPA would be different following their recalculations.
My advice would be to do nothing of the sort.
I can’t speak to all the universities on the list, but IIRC, none of them ask you to reconvert GPA, so don’t. Unless a college asks you to convert a GPA to a 4.0 scale (which is highly unlikely), report your grades so that they match your transcript. Any college that want GPA’s converted will give specific instructions as to how to convert.
The OP should also correctly assume that each of these universities has at least one admissions officer focused on international applications and that s/he is aware of the grading scale of that country, which would be the case for some less populous countries, so certainly would be the case for a country like Spain. Good luck.
Numbers have different meanings depending on the country and culture.
What your guidance counselor does (or you):
- indicate what percentage of each class (12th grade) get which score, score by score.
- indicate what percentage of 12th graders typically get each score, nationally, and does that mean your school is especially strong or typical for Spain or lower-performing? In that case, are you an outlier?
- what score results in regional honors? in national honors?
- if a student gets score X, does it result in score X, score X-2, scoe X+1… during national exams?