Very concerned about admittance to Engineering graduate school & REU program

[boneh3ad]

@TooOld4School

You could also repeat the chemistry class to erase the ‘C’

I wouldn’t waste time with this. It will look a lot better to take higher level courses and do well with them later rather than to waste your time taking general chemistry again.

@Bioenchilada

so just make sure that your overall is above a 3.75.

I don’t agree with this advice either. A 3.75 GPA is good enough that it won’t be disqualifying for essentially any graduate program, and you can still certainly still get into a lot of great programs with lower GPAs (e.g. I got into a “top 10” engineering PhD program with a 3.4 undergraduate GPA).

@Bioenchilada

In reality, your GPA and GRE are the least important parts of your apps, but you don’t want them to negatively stand out. Quite frankly, at top schools, not even a 4.0 will actually stand out. It’s all about research and rec letters.

This right here is solid advice. It’s really a pretty qualitative process when it comes to graduate school admissions.

@xraymancs

However, as you decide where to apply for graduate school, remember that the “top” schools in general terms are not necessarily the best programs for your PhD. You need to consider programs which are academically strong, which have the kind of research that you are interested in and which fit you the best. You can have a great career after your PhD even if the program is not one of those high profile ones. Your research advisor will be equally or more influential.

I am reposting this simply for emphasis.