<p>I just received my complete list of grades from freshman year. I am happy about my performances overhaul but I feel a little bit frustrated about the A minus that I received in writing seminar (English) this spring. Indeed, that grade kept me from maintaining a 4.0 gpa. Currently my actual cumul gpa as a prospective sophomore is now down to 3.967 so my question is: as an EE, which is thought to be a hard major, should this put more pressure on me to work harder? what is a good gpa for EE majors wanting to go to grad school ?</p>
<p>Also, part of my concerns is that I want to transfer to PENN SEAS and my SAT was sub 1600/2400. Therefore I truly want to maintain a high gpa in order to increase my chances of transferring during soph year. I am international by the way and I took 6 months off to learn English before entering college, which explains such a low SAT score. Any input would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>So, what you got an A- in English and As in everything else and you’re worried about that A- being a problem for Engineering grad schools because you had an imperfect SAT?</p>
<p>QwertyKey I just want to know the trade off between gpa and sat for those who want to transfer out later and also the average gpa for graduating EEs. My intentions are far from what you think.</p>
<p>The average GPA is going to vary based on your school. Something like a 2.9 - 3.0 might be typical. For those going to grad school a little higher than that, depending on whether you mean a Masters or PHD.</p>
<p>With a 3.967 I don’t see what trade-off there is. Unless by sub 1600/2400 you mean a 1000/1500, you’ve probably got attractive transfer options. However after a year in college, less emphasis is put on test scores than freshman admits.</p>
<p>Now you go! this what I was expecting as a reply. When I say grad school I mean masters. However, I believe there will be a trade-off in my case since my SATs are really bad. Although it is higher than 1000/1500, it is still in that “vicinity”. Therefore, if I were to transfer out, the difference between my gpa and my test scores would be too flagrant. Now, hopefully, that won’t affect by much my chances as less emphasis is put on test scores just like you said. Anyway thanks for answering.</p>
<p>Normally if you’re transferring by sophomore year, nobody gives a damn about what you’ve done in high school, including tests like the SAT. If you made a crap score on the SAT but you made close to a 4.0 in college then something fishy is going on, and I’m willing to bet any person who’s been given the great gift of reason would assume that the fishyness has to do with the SAT. Definitely no reason to look back on it anyway, it is what it is. Do continue to work hard, never leave any room for doubt. One A- however will do nothing to hurt you…</p>
<p>Yes many thanks hadsed. Actually the reason why my SATs were so low is that by the time I was taking them, I was still in the process of learning English (Like ESL beginner level). So now that I think about it, it was a poor judgment. That said, I will not look back anymore.</p>
<p>I only got 1260 /1860on SATs which is why I ended up at CC. Like you, I got almost straight A’s…and got into every college I applied to with the highest scholarship offered. Colleges don’t look at SATs, so this was a great opportunity for kids who didn’t do so well on the SATs to get into a decent college with scholarship money.</p>
<p>Scorpioserpent, your story is interesting. Although I am currently at a four-year private, hearing stories like yours makes me believe in my chances of transferring out. At this point, I would be so devastated to see my SATs hurt me in the future that I can’t help but stress over my college gpa and activities.</p>
<p>For the top 5 graduate schools, GPAs are roughly 3.9 (MIT, Berkeley, Caltech) and 3.85 (Stanford, UIUC). The next 20 are roughly 3.5-3.75. This is for PhD programs and these are GPAs at the end of the second semester of junior year.</p>
<p>Past 3.8+, GPA are not really distinguished and higher GPA not help you. You need 3 good letters of recommendations and at least two of those should be from academic advisors or research advisors (i.e. not just professors that you took a class with).</p>
<p>GPA is barely useful. What’s important is the kind of classes you take. Anyone can maintain a high GPA by taking the easy classes, easy professors, easy schedule, etc. </p>
<p>I would prefer to be a C student that took the hardest classes over an A student that took the moderately difficult classes.</p>
<p>If you doubt my performances, be straight up and just say it: there is nothing wrong with it. However you need to know that as an EE freshman, I believe I took all the classes that I should have taken ranging from calc 1 and 2 to physics (with calculus), chemistry, intro to problem solving (programming) and much more…If anything, I can’t even lean toward easiness knowing that I want become an engineer. </p>
<p>Oh and one more thing, I said I am EE so any person with little knowledge in the engineering field has to have an idea of what kind of classes I am taking (at least in freshman year).</p>
<p>Is this a ■■■■■? 3.967 and you are worried? Grad schools couldn’t give a crap about SAT scores and neither do most undergrad schools for transfers provided they have enough college credits. No one will ever care about your SAT scores again… ever.</p>
<p>Well, no one except SAT/IQ/GPA conscious snobs. From I have been told repeatedly by some of my professors and science/engineering friends is that letters of recommendation and a good internship/research experience are more important than final GPA (seems not to apply to Law/Medical School?)</p>
<p>@dko:</p>
<p>I do not doubt your performance. I also do not doubt your expectations are unrealistic (you might be a snob yourself, certainly display some of the characteristics). Graduating with a 4.0 only paints a narrow picture about an individual. What that individual does out of the undergrad academic environment is what matters. No one gets a 4.0 on this thing we call “Life.”</p>
<p>Again excusez-moi mais I think there has been a misunderstanding. I do not expect to graduate with a 4.0 GPA. Please reread my first post, I never said so. All I wanted was to finish my first year with a 4.0 knowing that classes to come will be much harder. Hence, my regrets. Also I am fully aware of the fact that GPA isn’t a major factor in one’s application for grad school. Hopefully we are on the same page now.</p>
<p>@ boneh3ad,</p>
<p>This is not a ■■■■■. I remember the first time I ever posted on this forum was right after finding out about my SAT scores and I remember getting bashed as heck. From there, I thought test scores were everything and that one should do well in them no matter what. Obviously I was over-thinking it. I will be applying back to a school that probably rejected me because of those scores. Therefore I just want to make sure if there is any chance that I can get accepted upon my performance after two years at my current school.</p>
<p>I don’t know what scores you got but Princeton is one of those schools that turns away perfect scores regularly in favor of lower scores so it is entirely possible that you were rejected or other reasons. That said, for transferring, college performance trumps all else.</p>