<p>wow your situation was similar to me when I applying the first time</p>
<p>I disagree with Oyama on working experience to compensate meaningful research exp. In the academia world they know well the difference between a student taking an internship/co-op to make some cash versus working in lab to gain research experience and prepare for grad school. I had one year of full time co-op experience when I applied the first time, and that was working in the R&D department at GE—didn’t help at all.</p>
<p>they gonna question your GPA and GRE score first, I don’t mean to be rude but 3.0+ is too low for a good program. If you have 3.8+ GPA then sure, working experience is nice to have, but GPA is the #1. Make sure you make a realistic school list.</p>