By graduate school, I mean master’s no PhD.
As far I as I have heard, they see the following things:
I have heard that ECs do not matter at all for admission to a master’s program as much as they did for undergraduate studies. Is it so? Will all the things I mentioned above (provided I do great in all of them) be enough to get into a top grad school? Do I need any extra curricular activities?
Bump!
No EC needed, it is not a factor in grad school. (ps you don’t need to bump when you are at the top already. grad forums are slower here than undergrad.))
It depends entirely on the kind of graduate program - there are lots of different kinds of graduate master’s programs out there. Most programs do have a 3.0 as a sort of unofficial floor, but some programs are so competitive that you need a higher GPA to get admitted, whereas others may be flexible with an otherwise outstanding student.
Most academic master’s programs don’t care about ECs, but some professional programs might - an international affairs MIA might care that you were in Model UN or an M.Eng might care that you were in an application development club in college. On the flip side, most academic programs and most professional programs care about research experience, but it may not matter as much as internships or part-time jobs for professional programs.
Recommendation letters are always important. GRE scores are more or less important depending on the program.
I don’t want to hijack the thread, but note that (as seen by one of his previous threads) @aksrocks111 may be applying as an international from a country with a very large population, both in totality and in the number of students who do apply to US universities. Also, OP’s financial situation doesn’t seem the optimal for an international student.
Just to put things in perspective.
I 2nd the answer that “it depends”. For professional programs that are often cash cows for some schools (like a MA in education or an MBA)) and that don’t lead naturally or at all to the doctorate program, grades and scores are probably most important. But for academic graduate programs that are research oriented, the research background is far more important than grades or scores (above a certain point that is: Grades must show you could successfully complete courses).