How hard is it to get in masters program as a Chem.E?

Student Lounge International Students
1

I currently have 3.55 GPA in chem. E, and am considering taking masters or masters/phD in Chemical engineering or chemistry.

Do grad schools care about residency as much as undergrads do? is my GPA in good range?

2

What do you mean by hard? L

3

If you are currently attending college in the US (I thought you did but now I’m not sure), your professors are your most valuable resource. They are in a much better position than us to judge which programs you might be a good match for. (They have historical context to know which programs students from your school have or have not gotten accepted to in the past, and how you compare to those other students. They might also be familiar with specific graduate programs and know which ones will align with your background.)

It’s also important to loop your professors into your graduate school considerations early in the process so that they can help you. Their letters of recommendation will be the most important element of your graduate school applications, and they need time to work with you to get to know you well enough to write meaningful letters.

Without further context there’s really no way to judge how your GPA might be perceived. How do your grades compare to your classmates? How selective is the college you are attending? How selective of a graduate program do you wish to attend? Which courses are the lower grades in?

Graduate schools care about a few different things related to your nationality, immigration status and where in the world you are applying from.

  • Your nationality is important because some sources restrict funding to US citizens or permanent residents.
  • If you apply to public universities, it is important whether you would qualify for in-state tuition status. Out-of-state PhD students are more expensive to fund because the department has to make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition.
  • Your English skills are important and may be in doubt when you apply from abroad. If your English is not good enough to teach, you lose access to an important source of funding. (It's also harder to collaborate with someone who struggles with the language.)
  • Applying from abroad may put the reliability of your transcripts and letters of recommendation into question. (E.g. in some countries applicants are routinely instructed to write their own recommendation letters.)
  • Applying from abroad may also put you at a distinct disadvantage if your references are not known to the people evaluating your applications. The research community is comparatively small and lots of professors know each other, at least in the US. A recommendation from a colleague they trust carries a lot more weight than a recommendation from a random stranger.
4

Thank you Barium.
1)I attend University of Alabama. I don’t know average GPA of chem. E students.

2)KOrea

  1. I am considering my school for Chem. E grad program(3.0 GPA minimum).

  2. I have been in USA for 8 years so far, so English skill shuldn’t be a problem.