<p>Hi, I am a senior considering to apply to either mechanical and aerospace engineering or material science graduate school. I was just wondering, in terms of GPA (I know it is not everything), what school would I have a good chance of admission with 3.3/4.0. Any school in top 50? Would GPA from schools with grade deflation help my GPA to be considered a bit better?
Also, I took some courses in a community college before, and I was wondering how would those grades be considered in terms of GPA?
Thank you!</p>
<p>Graduate programs will look at all of your transcripts. With a 3.4 overall, your test scores on the GRE will be a big factor. You don’t say if you are interested in a Ph.D. or a professional masters degree. The admission levels will be different for each. </p>
<p>Frankly, you will have a hard time getting into top 20 Ph.D. programs but if you look at the [PhDs.org:</a> Jobs for PhDs, graduate school rankings, and career resources](<a href=“http://www.phds.org%5DPhDs.org:”>http://www.phds.org) site, you can get an idea of what programs there are in your area of interest and how they stack up to each other. The data on which this site is based are from 2007 but it can still help give you an idea of where to start.</p>
<p>If you are interested in a professional masters degree (no research), then it will be easier to get into high ranked programs but there are usually no assistantships for masters students in these.</p>
<p>Thank you for your quick and kind reply, xraymanc! I happen to have some followup questions from your reply. (Also, the GPA that I mentioned on the original post is 3.3, not 3.4 but I am positive your reply still applies to my case)</p>
<p>1 if I will have hard time getting into top 20 does that mean that I will have good chance getting lower than top 20 program?</p>
<p>2 can I still apply to PhD in the fields I mentioned in my original post after getting my masters? If that’s the case, will they look at my masters grade?</p>
<p>3 finally, I have been doing research about two years. And I am about to be included to a paper soon. How would that affect my admission</p>
<p>Thank you so much again for your help!!!</p>
<p>Your OP stated you’re interested in AE, ME, or materials. Which one is that? Those 3 areas are very broad in itself. You are a senior, shouldn’t you know what area of research best interests you?</p>
<p>Sorry about the long delay for my reply to this. My answers to your questions are below:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Yes, you can probably get into a lower profile program but it is always good to select the places you apply to carefully. Make sure you apply only to schools you are interested in but choose a wide range based on selectivity. Also, “lower ranking” is not necessarily a good indicator. Look into the programs in detail and figure out if they have a concentration that fits you even if it is not a highly “ranked” university. For example, if you are interested in x-ray studies using synchrotron radiation, our program at Illinois Tech is as good as anyone else’s and our students get good positions after graduation.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, they will look at your Masters record as well. Many engineering programs like to admit students who have work experience and a Masters. This should not be an impediment.</p></li>
<li><p>Having research experience and a paper is very good for two reasons. The first is the experience in itself but the second is that you can probably get a good letter of reference from your research supervisor and it will be a highly specific and personalized one.</p></li>
</ol>