<p>So I just saw something in a thread that contradicted something else I had gotten here so I figure I'll just ask again.</p>
<p>I'm an undergrad at Michigan (in Engineering). There is a program here which guarantees grad school admission here to anyone who has a 3.5 or above, but the standard for regular admissions should be lower. I probably won't have that 3.5, but I would want to go to grad school here. </p>
<p>Specifically I am looking at IOE (Industrial and Operations Engineering, it includes Operations Research). The words from their website:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The minimum grade point average for admission to the MS program is 3.20. This minimum may be adjusted upward or downward based on the undergraduate institution and degree. Also, grades in advanced courses related to those that will be taken in the graduate program may be weighted more heavily than grades in other courses. Your personal statement should include an explanation if there are extenuating circumstances that affect interpretation of your grades.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And that unfortunately doesn't really tell me anything. I know there are factors beyond GPA that are considered, but I am just wondering about GPA here. First question, what sort of GPA is reasonable to expect that I could get in with?</p>
<p>This is something I'm looking at as a factor in deciding my major (I'm only a freshman, so I haven't declared a major yet). I am considering Computer Science undergrad and a Masters in IOE if I think it's reasonable for me to get in. That allows for broader knowledge (hopefully marketable, but if not atleast useful and should open up more if not better opportunities for me). The requirements for Computer Science is very flexible here (lots of elective credit and electives are more flexible) and IOE is very inflexible (electives in the format of "select a class from each of these 4 groups" type of thing). However, if I am unlikely to be able to get into the Masters program, I would rather do IOE for undergrad. Second question, does that sound reasonable?</p>
<p>You should do what you want to do for a living for an undergraduate degree, and only worry about grad work when you are a senior or later.</p>
<p>GPA requirements will vary among different schools and programs.</p>
<p>“GPA requirements will vary among different schools and programs.”</p>
<p>…and additionally depends on how much work experience you have, availability of space, and if you are going as part of some distance/continuing education program.</p>
<p>“You should do what you want to do for a living for an undergraduate degree, and only worry about grad work when you are a senior or later.”</p>
<p>I don’t really know what I want to do, but a lot of the jobs that I looked at on our career recruitment website that sounded like something I would like to do would take either major.</p>
<p>“GPA requirements will vary among different schools and programs.”</p>
<p>I’ve stated the schools (UG UMich, Grad UMich), and the programs (UG Comp Sci in the Engineering school, Masters in IOE).</p>
<p>“…and additionally depends on how much work experience you have, availability of space, and if you are going as part of some distance/continuing education program.”</p>
<p>This would be right out of undergrad, in the standard program.</p>
<p>“This would be right out of undergrad, in the standard program.”</p>
<p>Well yeah, you will need the best GPA you can have, plus all the “fixins” of recommendations, GRE and the rest…from what I hear.</p>
<p>I cannot comment on the fresh-out-of-undergrad route</p>
<p>Well, they guarantee admission with a 3.5 without a GRE or recommendations. And the expectations should be lower for regular admissions, so I don’t see how I should need higher than that. </p>
<p>I probably should have thrown this in the OP but for an idea of how grading works for undergrad, is the median is a 2.9, and the standard deviation is about a .45 (this holds pretty well above the median, I don’t know about below).</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, you’ll probably need GPA > 3.0 or massively good extracurriculars to get in any decent graduate program.</p>