Will a "C" in major upper level class kill my chance of getting into graduate school

<p>Hello people,
i am Civil engineering major and I am applying graduate school next fall, currently i have a 3.6 GPA but i had a grade of C last year in a upper level class in my field, i can not retake it because school does not allow to retake class higher than C, so How bad it can be if i am apply top 30 civil programs?
any common would be appreciated!!!
Thank you</p>

<p>One grade is not that big a deal. Grad programs (like everyone else) know that you can have a rough time in a particular class without it meaning that you are a bad student. The only problem I would see is if that class directly ties into your planned research area, and even then you could mitigate the effect by rocking other courses in that area to show your ability level.</p>