<p>For example umich's grad school for ME of accepted students only has an avg gpa from 3.2-3.5, which is ranked in the top 5.
Purdue's undergrad average is 3.5. which is lower than schools such as cornell, princeton, carnegie. Is umich and purdue easier to get in than the other schools in the top 10? Test scores are lower too. If so, why?</p>
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<p>I’m pretty shocked by this - I knew grad students in the ME department at Michigan and I wouldn’t have guessed any of them had under a 3.8 or so. Where are you getting the info? I’d love to see the stat breakdown.</p>
<p>I’m talking about those who get accepted into the ME school from all sorts of diff universities and their averages are a 3.2-3.5 during their undergrad</p>
<p>[Admission</a> Frequently Asked Questions | Department of Mechanical Engineering | University of Michigan](<a href=“http://me.engin.umich.edu/students/admissionsfaqs.shtml]Admission”>http://me.engin.umich.edu/students/admissionsfaqs.shtml)
it’s about a third way down the page</p>
<p>Any knowledge if they don’t admit most of their students directly to the PhD program but instead make them go through the MS first with a high attrition rate? I could see that letting them have a lower GPA requirement.</p>
<p>I’m not sure i haven’t had the time to read the site thoroughly</p>
<p>This is what the website says:</p>
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<p>I don’t think these are averages at all - rather vague “minimums.”</p>
<p>Well the part that said “average gpa in the 3.2-3.5 range on a 4.0 scale” implied that it was an average, i think.</p>
<p>A lot of reasons may explain that low GPA. First, master’s programs, even at the top universities, are easier to gain admission to than top PhD programs, which require higher GPAs and experience. It could be that applicants with higher GPAs apply to the PhD program. Second, in general engineers have slightly lower GPAs overall than other majors, even in the sciences. If you can get a cumulative GPA over 3.6 in a rigorous university, you’re golden in that area of your application. Third, the people who apply may be getting the master’s for professional reasons, so their profiles might be strong in experience and less so in academic performance. Some people need to mature and solidify their interests before they do well in academic environments, and adcoms know that someone who has worked in industry for a few years is probably well prepared for the rigors of graduate school. Next, it’s entirely possibly that they are taking students from top undergraduate institutions where the grading is known to be tough, and they don’t want to discourage those students from applying. For instance, MIT is notorious for grade deflation, yet an MIT grad with a 3.2 may be better prepared than one from a lesser school with a much higher GPA. Last, it could be that GPA simply is not that big a factor in UMich admissions.</p>
<p>But I have to agree with Tetrahedron. I think those stats are not averages for the program, but rather guidelines to let people know whether they are qualified to apply. And when it states “average GPA,” I believe it means “cumulative GPA” because otherwise it doesn’t make sense to be “strong” in that area. My reading of it is that they expect at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and are giving you a range of accepted student GPAs. For all you know, the average cumulative GPA may be 3.5.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that UMich probably has a steady flow of master’s applicants from the auto industry. Obviously, things have changed in recent years, but the major automakers used to (and may still to a smaller extent) pay for their employees to get advanced degrees. Someone who got a 3.2 in undergraduate may have risen up the ranks of engineers by excelling in real problem solving, and UMich wouldn’t want to turn away such an experienced (and paying) person.</p>
<p>Oh I see are these public top tier engineering universities easier to get into than the private top tier ones? What would be the disadvantage of going to a public instead of private in this case?</p>