How bad will one C look when applying to grad school?

Applying to College
1

<p>My goal is to get into the computer engineering program at UIUC, which is a top ranked program. I asked them and someone there mentioned that the average GPA for their admitted grad student is 3.5, and they look at the last 60 hours. My average GPA for the last 60 hours is about a 3.8. I pretty much got As in all my engineering classes except one C in digital signal processing. There are a few reasons for this:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The course was very heavy on Matlab and I had no prior Matlab experience prior to that,so I had to learn Matlab concurrently. The professor expected us to have Matlab experience because he also teaches an intro ECE class that covers Matlab. I however, transferred from another school and did not have such a strong Matlab background.</p></li>
<li><p>During our semester, the professor was attempting to write a textbook, and we used the textbook that he was writing, chapter by chapter throughout the course. IMHO, it was a poor textbook, very confusing and make simple things hard. Very little examples.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Again, I got As in all my other engineering courses and I can get very good recommendations. I also designed an electronic device on the side and started a small business selling it, and it's selling decently well.</p>

2

<p>There is a separate section for grad student questions. However, you answered your questions in the very first paragraph. Recommendations and research experience are other important factors in grad admission. Also your personal statement, especially if you are applying to a PhD program. Then there is GRE too. Because grad school admissions are competitive you need to apply to several.</p>