<p>I have a few questions regarding the way in which top graduate schools evaluate GPAs. Specifically, I was wondering if these universities take into account the quality of the institution an undergrad comes from. </p>
<p>Some background information: I am an undergrad student at University of Wisconsin Madison studying mechanical engineering. I have a 3.45 GPA here and a 4.0 for 39 credits that I took as a freshman at a subpar university. I was wondering if this GPA is average/sub par for typical students who get admitted to the likes of Berkeley, Stanford, Michigan, and U of I. I have research experience directly related to what I want to do research in as well as have great LORs. I could definitely be admitted to UW's grad program because I am already working with the professor I would do research under if I did. Although UW is a great school and I love the city of Madison, I think I would like to experience a new city and university. Regardless, I will not attend a university that is lower quality than UW and therefore am only looking at a select few. Moreover, I'm wondering what are my chances of getting admitted to Stanford/Berkeley/U of I Champ/Michigan/Cornell? What would my GRE need to be (Ballpark)?</p>
<p>Are you planning on applying for a PhD or Master’s at these universities?</p>
<p>GRE doesn’t matter all too much, it’s basically expected of you to do well (almost perfect quantitive section). A bad GRE will keep you out, a good one won’t get you in though. A 3.45 GPA is certainly below the average for top-ranked grad programs, you are often looking at 3.7+. The quality of the undergraduate institution is usually taken into account when looking at the applicant’s GPA. The admission committee is usually well-aware of which schools have lots of grade inflation and which don’t, etc. A 4.0 from a subpar school will not look impressive to them for example. That’s one of the cases where they may put a little more emphasis on the GRE score. Anyway, that doesn’t really apply to you.</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance though. Excellent research for example can certainly make a up for a below-average GPA.</p>
<p>Are you saying that I have a small chance of being accepted at these universities? </p>
<p>Imo, a big reason why my GPA is somewhat low is b/c I actually didn’t get to include the “easy” courses like Calc 1-3, Differential Equations, Chemistry, Introductory Physics, Statics, and liberal arts. My GPA is only major classes as I took all liberal arts and introductory classes at a different university. If you took into account these classes taken, I’d have more like a 3.7 cumulative.</p>
<p>Also, you state that universities DO take into account the quality of undergrad institution. Will University of Wisconsin Madison be looked at as a respected institution from a Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan standpoint?</p>
I don’t know. Graduate admission isn’t as much about the school name as undergraduate admission. It’s more about program “fit”. I am assuming the programs you are applying to research-focused? If so, do they have professors in your field you would like to work with? Is their research related and relevant to what you are doing? </p>
<p>If you are applying to research-focused programs but the school realizes hat you application doesn’t “fit” the program (i.e. you talk about why exactly you want to attend <em>this</em> school, possibly referring to ongoing research or faculty members you want to work with) you’ll be rejected regardless of your credentials. </p>
<p>Since I don’t know much about these ME programs I really can’t tell you how good your chances are. You will have to do some research yourself and possibly talk to professors in your field. GPA is important, but not the most important factor in graduate admissions. I am sure there are people who get into top-programs and have a lower GPA than you.</p>
<p>All the above is not necessarily true for programs that don’t focus on research.</p>
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It depends on the school but most schools will look at the cumulative GPA. But of course they will also see your UW GPA and take that into account. Don’t worry, it’s not like they will make a decision based on one number. There are actually people reading your application and taking your classes and schools into account.</p>
<p>So these schools would see a cumulative GPA upwards of 3.7 since they look at all grades received throughout college?</p>
<p>Any other input on admissions to these universities? Also, what GRE score is bottom line to be admitted to the aforementioned grad schools provided that other portions of my applications are ‘good enough’?</p>
<p>I do think that they evaluate the GPA in context of what they know about a particular school’s programs - for example, I think Harvey Mudd is known for not participating in the grade inflation other schools use, so they expect that an above average HMC GPA is going to be lower than an above-average GPA from somewhere else. But they would have to have familiarity with the program - I think they would have familiarity with Wisconsin in general, but I can’t speak to whether it would be average, below or above.</p>
<p>So these schools would see a cumulative GPA upwards of 3.7 since they look at all grades received throughout college?</p>
<p>Depends on whether they bother to recalculate your GPA across the two transcripts. Even if they don’t know the exact number, they will see that you did very well in your foundational engineering classes and pretty well in your upper-level engineering classes. That’s what they’re really concerned about, not the exact number down to the hundredths place.</p>
<p>I think most quantitative programs want to see at least a 750 math section, but the verbal section won’t matter too much unless it’s sub-500 for native English speakers. But remember that these are general guidelines; don’t despair if you get a 740 math, because schools look at applications holistically. That’s why people can’t tell you your “chances” or tell you the lower limit cut-offs for GPA and GRE. Usually, they don’t exist.</p>
<p>I disagree that a 4.0 from a “subpar” school won’t be impressive, especially knowing what CC posters consider “subpar” schools. I agree that a 4.0 from University of Phoenix won’t help at all, but a 4.0 from Montana State or Eastern Washington State or something would still be impressive even though the schools are smaller, lesser known universities.</p>