<p>I am a Junior at Berkeley in Engineering Physics; I am doing okay (3.2 GPA and do have a research project in nuclear engineering dept.). What kind of GPA is expected to be admitted to schools like Cal Tech, MIT, UCSB for a Ph.D in Materials Engineering or Physics. I hope to get my GPA up to a 3.4-3.6 by graduation. Any information or thoughts?</p>
<p>For a direct track from BS to PhD I would say at least 3.5 to let your application enter the pot. To be competitive I’d say 3.6/3.7 and a good GRE (quantitative > 770) since your undergrad institution is very high ranked and it’s better such a GPA from UC-Berkeley than a 4.0 from Nowhere University.
LORs and SOP are also very important, good luck!</p>