<p>I am about ready to apply for grad school but I want to see if these schools are reasonable. I have a 3.23 GPA in EE at an ABET-accredited program (this will go up after this semester as I have straight As this semester so far, but they won't look at these last two semester, right?), I did a co-op at IBM and designed a hardware tool that has full support of a IBM WorldWide Design Center, and I would say that I have quite a bit of hardware/software experience on my resume so far. I haven't taken my GRE yet.</p>
<p>Supposing the GRE goes decently (hoping for a 700-800 quant score), is it reasonable to apply to these schools: University of Minnesota, Iowa State, Ohio State? What are some good schools that I might have a shot at?</p>
<p>I heard that it helps to try to contact a professor from a grad school in the area of your interest, and that can help your acceptance chances. However, I also heard that the professor will most likely just tell you to apply online anyway. Any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>They will look at whatever semesters you show them, so if you wait to click submit until after your December grades are in, they will use this semester. In fact, grad schools like seeing good grades at the end more so than good grades at the beginning (though both would obviously be preferable). Also, M.S. programs are generally easier to get into than Ph.D. programs. Talking to professors can definitely help as well.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, I had a 3.33 GPA overall as an undergrad (3.55 or something in my major) and got into 3 or 4 of the top 10 schools as ranked by USNWR. Just make sure your GRE is above average and you recommendations are good and all of that, and if you have research experience, that is a big plus. GPA is only one piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>i’m in the same boat pretty much…I got to ISU for undergrad…i know u could get into those schools like minn and wisc etc… but the question is are u looking to get an research or teaching assitanship…that’s kinda the hard part…</p>
<p>Well, there is a qualitative difference between >3.5 and <3.5. It’s silly, but 3.4 and 3.6 are a lot further apart than, say, 3.9 and 3.7 or 3.1 and 3.3.</p>
<p>If I had to guess, it’s because that’s the dividing line for an “A” student and a “B” student under the simple A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0 system (easily extended and still relevant for the more differentiated ones).</p>
<p>3.53 is alright, because that means you’re an A student who made some Bs. 3.47 isn’t horrible, but you are a B student who made As. Silly, stupid, arbitrary, but I don’t think this is so uncommon a view.</p>
<p>That being said - GPA is only one piece of the puzzle. The trick is that the puzzle looks a lot better if all the pieces fit.</p>