<p>I am about to apply to graduate schools, mainly for PhD.</p>
<p>My question is twofold:
1. I have only a 3.33 GPA, but some research experience (not spectacular but about 2.5 quarters worth at a couple different labs, no publications), solid letters of recommendation, good gre's, and good relevant work experience. I know my GPA is pretty low. Should I even bother applying to top-20 programs like carnegie mellon, michigan, ucla, usc, etc for PhD? Or am I just kidding myself? Should I get a masters instead and get into a ton of debt just to strengthen my application with a thesis? Please be honest with me because this is really important and I don't want to get rejected to every school because i'm delusional about my prospects, when I know if I cut my losses I can at least get into some good MS schools! </p>
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<li>Georgia Tech says for their PhD "Students with bachelor of science or master of science degrees as described above with a minimum grade point average of 3.5 out of 4.0 from a recognized school of engineering are eligible to apply for admission." </li>
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<p>Should I even BOTHER applying then, if am a little below the cutoff? Or is it a loose cutoff and my application will be considered in light of my good LOR's and work experience? </p>
The odds look very slim although it depends on your undergrad school. A 3.3 from UC Berkeley is certainly viewed in a different light than a 3.3 from Northern Arizona University. I think that while a 3.5 is suggested as a minimum, a 3.7/3.8 is probably the average. And research experience can offset a poor GPA although to offset a GPA lower than the suggested requirements, it seems that you would need a publication in a high impact conference/journal or truly exceptional letters of recommendation detailing other exceptional research work.</p>
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<p>Ph.D. admissions is very competitive at that level (or even at a top 50) although you might be successful applying for a Masters, though funding will be uncertain and you may not get to do real research work as an MS student due to competition with Ph.D. students. My advice would be to try a few lower tier Ph.D. programs and some lower tier masters’ programs that would give you funding. Then if you really impress, you might just get to go to GT for Ph.D. </p>
<p>By the way, someone from my school had a 3.17 UG GPA, did masters at the same school and published/had a 3.9 GPA and got into UC Berkeley EECS Ph.D. (though he left to work at a startup).</p>
<p>Schools invest over $150k into each Ph.D. student so they have to be 200% sure about each admitted student. Plus, even within this pool a lot drop out.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I will apply for GT, for a masters instead.</p>
<p>For other schools that I was intending to apply directly to PhD:
CMU, UCLA, Washington,UCSD,Michigan,USC</p>
<p>In summary I shouldn’t bother? No realistic chance?
Even with 6 month internships at HP, and 6 months at Intel, and 3 solid LORs (2 from professors I did research with, one from Intel) and GRE of 770q/600v?</p>
<p>These guys are painting a much grimmer picture than reality.</p>
<p>I would first go talk to a prof you or close with or an advisor and ask their opinion of applying to PhD programs vs a masters with intent to do PhD in your situation.</p>
<p>Personally, I had a 3.3 when I graduated plus good LoRs and research experience and an 800Q/550V on the GRE and I got into several top 10 and top 20 masters programs and one top 10 and one top 20 PhD program. The only liturgy rejections came from Berkeley and Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>It helped that I had better than 3.3 within my major as well.</p>
<p>In a way you should be treating this like when you were applying for undergrad. You should have reaches, matches, and safeties. I would apply to a variety of different schools for PhD programs, then do a few masters programs too if you want. Getting into masters programs is a lot easier than for a PhD. My GPA was worse than yours and I got into a top 5 school and a top 10 school in my field for a masters. I had great scores, recs, and internships but still.</p>
<p>Also, if you get in for a masters, you can always convert to a PhD track if you want (and can convince a professor to advice you and fund you). It happens in my department sometimes. People will come in as a masters student, but they do independent studies with professors, then the professor may offer them funding and the opportunity to continue (or they ask). It is going to be different everywhere, but in my department, if you say you want to continue for your PhD and a professor says they’ll advise you, you sign a form and you are officially a PhD student. You still have to take the qualifying exams though.</p>
<p>Sorry for painting such a grim picture. I guess I shouldn’t have been the first to comment since I haven’t yet applied to graduate programs. However, my academic advisor told me that a 3.7 is required to go to graduate school outside of the combined masters’ program. I have a feeling this is an exaggerated statement as there are other factors besides GPA such as internships and research experience.</p>
<p>This may be true for int’l students but I believe that domestic admission and aid is probably a little more relaxed especially if the committee is familiar with your school.</p>
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<p>I think Masters + AID at a competitive institution may be more competitive than the Ph.D. since it is like saying I want to stay for only two years and enter a lucrative job but still want the funding offer of a Ph.D. applicant who is willing to make a large commitment. Of course a Ph.D. student can still leave early.</p>
<p>That is absolutely true. GPA is a major factor, but the single biggest way to make up for a GPA deficit is research experience. You won’t get into MIT with a 3.3, but a lot of other top 10 schools will look past that if you have shown that you have high potential to succeed in graduate school in other ways. The best way to do that is research. The admissions process is all about showing the committees that you A) have a desire to be there and B) have high potential for success.</p>
<p>Research helps you in two ways. First, it obviously gives you that experience in the lab that shows that you actually have done research and are interested in pursuing it further. Perhaps more importantly, it builds a connection with a professor or two that is much, much stronger than you would get from class. The letters from those professors will be much better, as they can not only comment on academic ability but also your research ability/potential. This effect is magnified if you work with a professor who is well-known in his/her field and the admissions committees recognize that name who is endorsing you.</p>
