<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I have just finished my undergraduate career. I am now looking for a Phd program in Aerospace/Mech Eng. However, as the topic of the thread says I have a 2.9 gpa from one of the top schools in the nation for structural engineering. I know most schools have a 3.0 cut off for apps but I’ve also heard from my PI and other PhD students that the gpa limit is more of a suggested gpa, not so much of stringent requirement. So maybe I can still consider applying, just for the hell of it. Now, I know that there are a couple of things that really weigh the admissions process:</p>
<ol>
<li>GRE scores</li>
<li>GPA</li>
<li>Great Letters of Rec</li>
<li>Research Experience</li>
</ol>
<p>Out of the 4, I have 3. I’m just trying to get a realistic answer of what I can do to make sure I can stand out of the pool of competitive applicants that have all 4. Also, I think it is to my advantage that I am the first out of my immediate/extended family to go to college. Any thoughts, suggestions, comments?</p>
<p>1st In Family probably has little weight for a PhD program. Their primary concern will be, can you do the work? Your GPA, depending on the reason, will be reason for them to think that maybe you can’t. If you really pulled it up junior and senior year, when you were in your major’s main classes, you’ll have a shot. If you were struggling, don’t expect much.</p>
<p>Nothing stops you from moving sideways, however. MBA programs can be challenging, except for engineers, who usually find them exceptionally easy compared to undergrad engineering. Back in the day, I recall a guy a couple years ahead who wasn’t stellar in engineering, but managed to get into an Ivy law program. He said it was the easiest thing he had ever done. YMMV.</p>
<p>At some places, the cut-off is just a suggestion and an outstanding student may gain admission with a lower GPA - but “outstanding student” means someone who has done something truly outstanding, like publications or many years of research - and usually also has some distance between them and their undergraduate GPA. Since you just graduated, your GPA will be taken by the admissions committee as more salient and reflective of what your performance will be in the graduate program (than, say, if you graduated 5 years ago and worked).</p>
<p>At other places, it truly IS a cut-off and they won’t take anyone below that GPA. It just depends on the program.</p>
<p>MrMom makes a good point. Your 2.9 GPA - is your major GPA higher (as in 3.5+)? Is your GPA for junior and senior year higher? If you have a higher, acceptable GPA in those circumstances AND the rest of your packet is outstanding (including your fit with the departments you are considering and your statement of purpose, which you didn’t mention but also heavily influence admissions) then I would go ahead and apply and see what happens. GRE scores are actually the least important part, and don’t outweigh your GPA.</p>
<p>If all components of your GPA are pretty low, then I recommend pursuing a master’s in engineering. Many master’s programs in engineering, especially those at research institutions focused on research, are funded. It’s entirely possibly for you to get into a funded master’s program, do well, and then move into a PhD program after that.</p>
<p>And no, it’s not to your advantage that you are the first to go to college. In many grad programs, that’s a nice perk - but it doesn’t work like undergrad does. They’re not concerned with increasing opportunity for underrepresented groups so much as they are selecting people who will do great work and make their programs look good.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. The advice is much appreciated. I do have a dilemma with my GPA though.</p>
<p>My GPA shot up my junior year. To be exact a total of 1.25 points. Ever since that term my GPA increased every term after that (3.5+). However, in hopes of crossing over to the 3.0 area, I took four 5 week upper division math courses over the summer while working a full time research job. Unfortunately I did not succeed and I actually hurt my gpa by going from a 2.97 to a 2.94. These classes were not requirements and were not even in the same department of my major but I’m sure the admissions board will look at my summer course work as a weakness.</p>
<p>Because of this I am considering what juillet said about applying first as a masters student and then doing a Phd.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that most engineering programs prefer their PhD candidates already have a masters. This might have to do with the internal requirements to teach undergrads, e.g you have to have a masters to be enslaved to teach undergrads. And masters candidates tend to be TAs. At least it was that way back in the Stone Age.</p>
<p>haha yeah things changed a little bit. You can actually pick up a Master’s Degree as you work on your PhD. Some schools use the qualification exams for your PhD as your comprehensive exam to give you the M.S.</p>
<p>If you’re asking anonymous people on the internet for advice instead of the professors who know you and will be writing letters of rec to their colleagues I suspect there’s already a problem brewing.</p>
<p>Next time post in the Graduate School forum. You can also do some reading/searching there and find past answers to similar questions.</p>
<p>Don’t worry MikeMac I already have spoken to them and my past PI’s. They’ve known my issues about my GPA. I’m just trying to increase my sample space of opinions :)</p>
<p>Some schools will have a hard 3.0 minimum, many won’t look at your app now. I agree with the above info, you can rehabilitate your application with a masters especially if you do some solid research. A PhD is all about the research, so prove you have an interest and ability there, get all As in the classes, with strong LORs you have a much better chance at a PhD than you do now.</p>
<p>What kind of “top” programs are you shooting for?
Even in the top 10, there’s a notable gap between schools in terms of selectivity. Rankings may be deceptive in that some of the lower ranked schools (e.g., Princeton) are much more selective than some of the schools ranked higher.
Caltech is the most selective program in engineering. Next up is Princeton/MIT (I’m tempted to say Princeton is more selective than MIT due to how small Princeton’s program is). Next up is Stanford/UCB/Cornell, although Stanford’s MS is not terribly difficult to get into since they expect you to bring in funding. At this moment, I suggest that you do not apply to these schools, but instead look at some of the other schools that are not as selective but still in the top 10 (e.g., Purdue, UIUC, TAMU,etc…).</p>
<p>I’m a mechanical&aero undergrad senior @ Princeton. Unless you have a very good reason for the low GPA or are absolutely stellar in the other areas, then the hard truth is your chances are extremely slim at the ‘very selective’ top 10 schools. Where did you do your undergrad? Even then, a 2.9 from the most rigorous engineering schools is still quite alarming to an adcom. </p>
<p>Edit-just saw that you didn’t say you only wanted to apply to top schools in the field. A 2.9 from a reputable school will get you into lower ranked programs much easier.</p>
<p>I went to Lehigh out in Pennsylvania. I was actually looking at schools like Texas, Austin or Michingan, Ann Arbor.</p>