What are my chance of getting into a top graduate school for MS in Aerospace or Mechanical?

[aerospacengineer]

- Class standing: Soon to be senior
- My Undergraduate school: Second best engineering school in Florida
- Current Overall GPA: 3.76 (Top 10% of engineers at my school)
- Current Aerospace Major GPA: 3.78
- Research Experience: Currently doing research, nothing special though
- Work Experience: Intern at best/second best rocket company in the United States
- GRE: Haven't taken yet
- L.O.R: They will be standard letters, nothing special

One caveat; I just received a C in a Fundamentals of Aerodynamics class. This, along with a C in Calculus 1, are the only Cs on my transcript. However, a C in a major course (Fundamentals of Aerodynamics) will destroy my application, correct??

What are my honest chances of getting into the following schools for MS in Aerospace (or Mechanical for group X)?
Group 1: MIT, Stanford
Group 2: Ga Tech, UMich, Purdue, UIUC
Group X: UC Berkley, Harvard, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell

If I applied to all of these schools, would I get into at least one? Which ones possibly?What about schools like UT Austin or really any other Top 20? Thank you so so so much for any insight that can be provided!!!

Edited April 7, 2016 by aerospacengineer

[fernandes]

Although I have applied applied to Mechanical Engineering PhD programs, my experience during the application process might help you. It seems like you have a great academic background, so that's a positive thing. Unfortunately, having a high GPA won't guarantee you a spot in graduate programs. I would say that having a good GRE score and a great (not standard as you mentioned) letter of recommendation are the most important things considered by the applications committee.

For the GRE scores you should have a good overall score and a great score on the quantitative section, i.e. 90th percentile. Having a great L.O.R. and Statement of Purpose will help the committee understand who you are and how people (especially professors) see you as a student/researcher.

I don't want to tell you that you will be accepted to these schools even if you have met all the required criteria and have awesome L.O.R., S.o.P. and GRE scores, because the application and selection processes do not always turn out as we expect. Maybe someone else will be able to tell you what schools you might get into.

Anyways, good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

[aerospacengineer]

On April 8, 2016 at 1:24 PM, fernandes said:

Although I have applied applied to Mechanical Engineering PhD programs, my experience during the application process might help you. It seems like you have a great academic background, so that's a positive thing. Unfortunately, having a high GPA won't guarantee you a spot in graduate programs. I would say that having a good GRE score and a great (not standard as you mentioned) letter of recommendation are the most important things considered by the applications committee.

For the GRE scores you should have a good overall score and a great score on the quantitative section, i.e. 90th percentile. Having a great L.O.R. and Statement of Purpose will help the committee understand who you are and how people (especially professors) see you as a student/researcher.

I don't want to tell you that you will be accepted to these schools even if you have met all the required criteria and have awesome L.O.R., S.o.P. and GRE scores, because the application and selection processes do not always turn out as we expect. Maybe someone else will be able to tell you what schools you might get into.

Anyways, good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

Thank your for your response! This is the type of answer I was hoping for; I just needed to know that I have a chance.

[fernandes]

Not a problem, mate!

[mteng]

On 07.04.2016 at 10:49 PM, aerospacengineer said:

- Class standing: Soon to be senior
- My Undergraduate school: Second best engineering school in Florida
- Current Overall GPA: 3.76 (Top 10% of engineers at my school)
- Current Aerospace Major GPA: 3.78
- Research Experience: Currently doing research, nothing special though
- Work Experience: Intern at best/second best rocket company in the United States
- GRE: Haven't taken yet
- L.O.R: They will be standard letters, nothing special

One caveat; I just received a C in a Fundamentals of Aerodynamics class. This, along with a C in Calculus 1, are the only Cs on my transcript. However, a C in a major course (Fundamentals of Aerodynamics) will destroy my application, correct??

What are my honest chances of getting into the following schools for MS in Aerospace (or Mechanical for group X)?
Group 1: MIT, Stanford
Group 2: Ga Tech, UMich, Purdue, UIUC
Group X: UC Berkley, Harvard, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell

If I applied to all of these schools, would I get into at least one? Which ones possibly?What about schools like UT Austin or really any other Top 20? Thank you so so so much for any insight that can be provided!!!

Try group 2.it will be good choice for you but for phd application,LOR is very very important and focus on GRE.your cumulative is pretty good.