<p>that goes to my alma mater. What I can tell you is that we look for practical experience. I have only been involved with Masters level hires and our golden candidate was one who actually did a combintation of analysis and practical lab experience at one of the premiere Fluid Power labs in the nation. He also had intern experience which is very important.</p>
<p>You cannot get past the fact that coming out of college, employers have very few options except the gpa for weeding out candidates. That is why they use the 3.0 which is not easy to get in an engineering program. I am not saying that back doors don’t exist, but it is far easier with a higher gpa. I would almost suggest going into engineering expecting to take 5 years and be very strategic about what classes you take (no more than 3 technical classes per semester for example). Season those classes with easier humanities and business courses. At least for me those were cake compared to the engineering courses.</p>
<p>Good luck to your relative.</p>