I am currently a junior undergraduate student majoring in electrical engineering. I am just about to start preparing for my grad school application. I can applied for my own school’s BSMS program, which do not require GRE or letter of recommendation and is among the top 15 in US. However I wish I could get into one of the top 10 (maybe top 5) master program for EE. I don’t have any research experience but I have a high GPA (3.9 for major). Suppose I can get letters of recommendation from some prestigious professors, but they would only be able to mention my performance in class, would such lack of research experience be a critical factor that would affect my chance of getting into the top Master program?
Thank you very much.
I am not certain, but I think it is a factor. DWIC (Did Well In Class) letters are not very useful in PhD programs, but I suppose less so in MS. They already see DWIC from grades. It is not too late to get involvement in research. Some programs will surely care. It seems like a glaring omission. I wonder why you think you need a MS at this time if you graduated from such a top program.
Just to add, I believe it is a factor in the top end Comp Sci programs but not sure for engineering.
If the program is a professional Masters, with only coursework, then research is not as important but your GPA and GRE scores are. It sounds like you have a good back up option at your institution too. Good luck!
@BrownParent Thank you for answering. To answer your last question, I found it hard to find undergraduate research opportunities especially for international students, since all REU or summer research programs require US citizenship. And this is one of the reason that I aim for master degree first. Maybe I can do some research in grad school and I will know if I want a PH.D or not.