<p>You don't even wanna know Brian Harvey's opinion about that...</p>
<p>Yeah, at MIT anybody can be admitted as long as you maintain a 4.12 cumulative GPA. A's at MIT are 5 points so I like that system better than the one at Cal.</p>
<p>btw, Student, what was your GPA at cal may I ask?</p>
<p>What's Professor Harvey's opinion? :)</p>
<p>3.6x. If I recall correctly, the guideline is a 3.5 minimum for higher chances of acceptance.</p>
<p>But at the end of the day, GPA isn't everything. The guy who was admitted to the five-year program had been TAing and researching for top faculty members since his second year. He's truly outstanding, so I can't argue that he didn't deserve to get in (or anywhere else, for that matter.) All I'm saying is that based on the "true" admission rates I've been hearing, the numbers presented at the infosession were extremely misleading. That's all.</p>
<p>Of course, if you're a top-notch student with a 3.9 GPA and 2-3 years of research, and faculty members know you as well as they know their significant others, you should definitely apply for those 2-3 slots. But if you're that qualified, you might as well be applying directly to a top-tier Ph.D. program.</p>