<p>I am currently a 3rd year at Caltech studying EE with a GPA of 3.5.
My situation is a bit different in that during my freshman year I finished with a 3.8, and then during a quarter in my 2nd year I was going through personal and health issues and failed a course (solid F). It was the worst grade I had and I had never gotten anything lower than B before or after that instance. Now in my 3rd year, I averaged a 3.82 so far, and hopefully 3.9 after I finished the year. I have only received A's and A+'s on my upperdiv EE courses.
By the beginning of my senior year I will have 3.6 overall if all goes to plan. If I take a year off, I can take advantage of my senior year grades, to reach around 3.7 - 3.8.</p>
<p>I've also done research in my freshman year, and for most of my junior year as extracurricular. </p>
<p>Because of my gpa, I don't feel like that I am competitive enough for Ph.D program at the top EE universities (Stanford, Berkeley, and def not MIT). I am discouraged that the admissions will just look at the overall gpa and not even consider my application, which is why I am thinking about trying to get into Masters programs instead.</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone has had experience in getting into masters EE programs at Berkeley or Stanford? Because I have heard that Berkeley accepts very few graduate students and I am not sure about Stanford. Should I just take a year off before applying for school so that my senior year grades will help?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>