<p>I excelled in high school, was in the top 5% of every class, and have received multiple scholarships and awards for my grades.
My SAT scores weren’t that great though (about 1800 out of 2400), so I decided to go to the UK where SATs obviously don’t matter and they just look at your high school grades.</p>
<p>I got into the University of Manchester to study Engineering, with an international scholarship.
However, I kinda lost track of things in between, was just not serious about stuff, and ended up with a sucky GPA of around 3.3 (my actual percentage was 66.5%) by the end of the degree…</p>
<p>So here’s my problem. I really feel bad about this and feel like I’ve wasted my potential.
Realistically, I’ve got two options right now:
Should I ace the SATs and go for another undergraduate degree in Engineering, maybe at Stanford or MIT? - cause I really think I have a chance here with my academic record in school.
Or should I just move on…try getting a masters degree at an average university?</p>
<p>I’d love to hear your opinion! Thanks a ton for any help guys!</p>
This is a good idea only for that tiny fraction of people who are considering a drastic change of fields (like comparative literature to chemical engineering), want/need the full breadth of undergraduate coursework to be happy or professionally viable, and can afford the time and money this option will take. Most people going for a second degree can jump straight to a masters with a relatively small amount of preparation, anbd that masters will be faster and more professionally useful than another BA/BS. And, as most professionals in any field know, most jobs are specialized and use only a fraction of what you learn in college - a big part of that breadth is about finding YOUR specialty, and if you are willing to undergo the expense and time of a second undergrad degree you should already know what specialty you want. And this option is just painful - it will take 4 years, enough for 2 masters degrees, and will probably be paid entirely out of pocket as most financial aid is unavailable for those seeking a second BA/BS. </p>
<p>
Why does it have to be “average”? a 3.3 is decent, if not fantastic, and if you have decent research experience you may be able to get into a “good” program, it is only the top few programs that will be genuine obstacles.</p>
<p>And even if it is, what is wrong with “average”? In grad studies, school prestige is mostly meaningless, department prestige is not huge (unless you want to be a professor), and even the prestige of the advisor comes second to finding on that is doing something you want to research! There are a lot of great advisors and students at “average” schools who go on to have great careers in the field.</p>
<p>Pursue MS and perform research with a well known professor, then continue to an “elite” university for your doctorate program! That should be reasonable, right?</p>