<p>Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my blurb or give advice.</p>
<p>I graduated in 2012 from a great engineering school (in USNews's top 10) with BSME but my grades in classes that didn't interest me (or were CS or bio) were low. My overall GPA is 2.77 with major GPA 2.86, with minors in Robotics as well as Biomedical Engineering. I've been working for a year but I dislike the area and industry I'm in. I want an MS focusing in robotics, preferably medical applications.</p>
<p>I've begun the search for grad schools for Fall 2015 and I know I need to spread a wide net with several safety schools. I have great projects, good references, internships and work, and an NI-sponsored conference presentation of my Senior Design project. However, I'm afraid my GPA will make it very difficult to appeal to admissions departments sans-interview (I'm very personable and goal-oriented).</p>
<p>Top: CMU, Duke
Mid: UCSB, UC Irvine, UT Austin (my current top choice, and I have contacts)
"Safety": UC Boulder, KU, WPI</p>
<p>I would love to add a few smaller, lower-grade CA schools with robotics labs to my list that could be considered mid/safety schools, but I'm having a hard time finding anything. Other than that, I'd appreciate some strategies to present myself better; my current battle plan is to find robotics labs and faculty with appealing research and try to make contact with them.</p>