<p>hello, i know this is a rather narrow question but for those in the top graduate programs for applied math (Phd) what was your overall Gpa? Also if you are not one of these people but you have a friend who is in a top program for math please tell me what you know/think their overall undergraduate gpa was. I am open to rough estimates. Thank you</p>
<p>You're going to want a GPA in the 3.7-4.0 range because, well, most people will have that. Anything lower might raise eyebrows, unless you have a 4.0 math GPA and the lower grades came from unrelated courses.</p>
<p>GPA is actually one of the least important things in the graduate admissions process in that it really can't help you. Having a 4.0 GPA is not going to make you stand out in any way, but having a 3.2 is going to make you look like a weak candidate. Much more important are specific things like doing well in upper-level and graduate courses (on one graduate school visit I was told that they generally don't admit students who haven't taken some graduate courses), any research experiences you have, and letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>If you want to go into a PhD program, you're going to be competing with hundreds of people across the country who all have great GPAs (cumulative and math). For instance, the people in my graduating class whose GPAs I know who are going on to math PhD programs have GPAs of 3.881 and 3.901. I'm sure the others have similar GPAs, and this is probably standard among all applicants.</p>
<p>If you go to a top undergrad program, you'll want to aim for a 3.7+, otherwise probably a 3.9+.</p>