Hi,
So I am a freshman pursuing a B.S at Purdue in Applied Physics hopefully concentrating on some engineering (Aerospace probably) but my goal in life is to become an astronaut (I know…lofty expectations). My first semester here hasn’t gone so well. I hope to get a ~3.4 at the end of the semester but can get as low as 3.02. Next semester I will be done taking all my weed outs and as a result there is a good chance I can get a 4.0 which will bring my gpa around 3.54. I understand how competitive it is to be an astronaut and was wondering do you think that NASA will pick someone with a 4.0 gpa over someone with a 3.6-3.8 gpa all the time. I am involved in a lot of clubs (one that simulates a robot on mars even) and plan on doing REUs this summer and next summer and hopefully get an internship at JPL or some other NASA organization my junior year. I plan on going to graduate school in some sort of engineering (depending on what I track in in applied physics) and eventually getting my PhD. My major GPA will be very close to 4.0 if I really put the work in. I also have my piloting license and am a proficiently good programmer. I feel like all astronauts are very diversely skilled and are very talented in a lot of things. I read the profile of an astronaut (and maybe I am being biased) but I feel like I genuinely fit their billing. I have gone through a lot but I still manage to shock myself and hopefully that will be the case with my gpa and hopefully joining the esteemed astronaut corps.
Yours truly,
Astroboy
You seem to have gained a lot of things and experienced a lot as well I think they’d be thrilled to have you on board.
I highly recommend pursuing a Master’s in Electrical Engineering to complement your undergrad background. A program I would seriously consider is the MS Electrical Engineering from DeVry University. It’s a top notch school from what I have heard. http://www.devry.edu/degree-programs/engineering-information-sciences/masters-degree-electrical-engineering.html