<p>Hello, I am currently a top 25, tier 1 liberal arts school student. I wrote this post on science forum(i guess it's better to ask here) I am doing double major in mathematics and chemistry and minor in physics. I was considering about my future plans after my graduation(because I am a rising senior), and I decided to apply material science graduate school this year. But the problem is my degree will be BA in chemistry and math, and my gpa is 3.60(I got all straight A's in my sophomore and junior year ) but, I was a horrible freshman(my freshman gpa is 2.8 with one C+ and one C), is it possible for me to apply top 10 material science PhD? I have two years of research in o-chem lab with honors thesis. Should I work in the industry after my graduation and go to grad? or is it impossible for LAC student to go to material science grad? Please give me some advice. Thankkkk youu.</p>
<p>Just based on what you have told me, I would say you probably could get into a top 10 MSE program. Your GPA seems pretty good, especially if you factor out freshman year (which some schools may effectively do) and you have the research experience, which means you also have good letters of reference. Just nail the GRE and you should honestly be golden.</p>
<p>Thank you! but one more question, I just want to know. Some people say that my BA degree will be disadvantage when I apply graduate school because I am from a liberal arts college, and they said it’s hard to see LAC students to go to MSE or other engineering grad school(well yeah generally this is true). Is it true…? however, I took an engineering class from other universities for each semester from my second semester of sophomore year.</p>
<p>Honestly, while it may be true to some extent, I don’t buy into it as much as some people do. It is all about what classes you took. If you took all the same physics classes and chemistry classes and math classes as a similar student elsewhere but your degree says BA and theirs says BS, what is the difference other than just the letter? Honestly, I think you ought to be fine as long as your record proves that you weren’t in some watered-down program.</p>