uprobot

Thanks for the replies. sabdo, the 157 is for the verbal section. Your table (what I used for comparison as well) is for quantitative. Just as a background: I am in the process of applying for admission into Fall 2013 mechanical engineering doctoral programs. I graduated from Boston University with a dual BS in biomedical engineering & mechanical engineering; my cumulative undergraduate GPA is not great (overall: 3.17, engineering: 3.08, the GPA factors in transfer coursework done at a state school prior to transferring to BU). I'm primarily looking to specialize in mechanical engineering for specialization in orthopedic biomechanics, polymeric biomaterials, and mechanics of soft tissue. I am also in my 3rd year as a research technician for a leading orthopedic lab, doing full-time biomaterials research on polymers. I am in the process of writing two 1st authored papers. I already have one publication (although it's not 1st author). I am getting my recommendations from a BU professor with whom I've done well in an introductory course, as well as being the customer for my senior design course in ME; my PI/supervisor who has mentored me the past two years; and the co-director of the laboratory (among the top in his field). My current list of programs: 1. CCNY 2. Dartmouth 3. Drexel University 4. SUNY Buffalo 5. SUNY Stonybrook 6. Boston University 7. Columbia 8. Cornell 9. Duke 10. Georgia Institute of Technology 11. Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute 12. University of California, Berkeley 13. University of Michigan 14. University of Pennsylvania 15. University of Washington

I just took the new GRE today and received a score of 157 (560, 73rd percentile) for the verbal section and a 159 (750, 77th percentile) for the quantitative section. I know it's too late to retake them in time for upcoming application deadlines but am I overworrying? Is this too low for engineering? I understand that it's not an elite score but I'm just trying to put things in perspective. I guess my performance on the quantitative section looks better when using the older scale.

Nevermind I found the thread, sorry for the post.

Thank you ChristN. for the input! Does anyone have any idea as to how the adcom process works? Will I get filtered out immediately since I do not have a high 3 GPA? Do professors within the department have any influence or say on who to offer admission? Also, any suggestions for schools (ranking ranges or actualy names of programs) would be greatly appreciated!

I'm sure others would be interested in seeing these as well. If anyone has them, could they please copy and paste the most recent rankings? Thanks!

Sorry about that, I just wasn't sure which section was more appropriate. I also would like as much feedback as possible. I'll keep that in mind for future postings.

I am in the process of applying for admission into Fall 2013 PhD programs. I graduated from Boston University with a dual BS in biomedical engineering & mechanical engineering; my cumulative undergraduate GPA is not great (overall: 3.17, engineering: 3.08, the GPA factors in transfer coursework done at a state school prior to transferring to BU). I am studying for the GRE and I am confident that I can do well on the quantitative section. I am also entering my 3rd year as a research technician for a leading orthopedic lab, doing full-time biomaterials research on polymers. I am in the process of writing (and hopefully submitting soon) two 1st authored papers. I am getting my recommendations from a BU professor with whom I've done well in an introductory course, as well as being the customer for my senior design course in ME; my PI/supervisor who has mentored me the past two years; and the co-director of the laboratory (among the top in his field). I would like advice as to whether or not I should even look at any (at all) top 10 schools for PhD programs in biomedical engineering. I recently networked with a professor and her graduate students (last February), who are from UC Berkeley, at a research conference and I think we clicked pretty well since we do work on the same material and therefore have a lot of overlap in research interests. I feel that my low GPA (due to lack of maturity in college) is holding me back. Do I have absolutely no chance of receiving an offer an admissions from any top program (e.g. Berkeley)? Would I be given serious consideration at all, or would it rather be a waste of application fee? Also, I wonder if professors who are willing to accept me for their lab actually interact with the admissions committee to push for offering acceptance. Any encouragement, school suggestions, or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Ktel, as always I appreciate your feedback! I've asked others on another forum (collegeconfidential) and I was told: "I think if the gpa was from a top 10 institution then they will be more lenient, but if it's not i think it will be an impediment to get through the 1st admissions committee (people who only view your gpa and gre scores.) Your other areas are very strong and will definitely be eye catching to the professors, but it might not make it to them due to your gpa." I did not know there was more than one committee. Can anyone vouch for that? I also wanted to mentioned that I went to Boston University. I know its BME program is consistently ranked within top 10 in the nation for both undergraduate and graduate. Also, I believe BU has a reputation for rigorous engineering curricula and grade deflation. I hope they will take this into consideration. I also hope anybody who've had experiences with UC Berkeley Engineering could provide input as well.

Does strong fit along with overlapping research interests with a particular faculty member carry a lot of weight in the admissions process? I am currently doing full-time research in orthopedic biomechanics & biomaterials at a top hospital in the country. I graduated with a dual BS in biomedical engineering & mechanical engineering; my cumulative undergraduate GPA is not great (overall: 3.17, engineering: 3.08). I ask this because I am very passionate about this field of research and upon browsing faculty profiles, my interests strongly overlap with 2 professors from UC Berkeley. I would love to pursue graduate studies at an institution like Berkeley and I strongly believe I would be able to make significant contributions to either lab with my background (education, lab skills, research experience, etc.) I am confident that I'll receive 3 strong letters of recommendation, do very well on the quantitative section of the GRE, write a strong statement of purpose, and have a few publications by the time I leave. I feel that my low GPA (due to lack of maturity in college) is holding me back. Do I have absolutely no chance of receiving an offer an admissions? Would I be given serious consideration at all, or would it rather be a waste of application fee? Also, I wonder if professors who are willing to accept me for their lab actually interact with the admissions committee to push for offering acceptance. Any encouragement or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I keep hearing that research is more essential for prospective doctoral students. However, that should not discount its value in master's programs right? I will be doing research related to my discipline full-time for 2 years. Does research experience have any value for those applying to programs such as MEng or MS? I'm assuming that it would just be looked upon positively as work experience? Or would I need to accumulate experience in industry? Also, if one were to have a low 3.0 GPA, how could one go about improving his/her application for competitive (top 10, 20) MEng/MS programs? Assuming a stellar statement of purpose, quantitative GRE's & recommendations, would it be more beneficial to take graduate level courses as a non-degree special student and excel in them or build work experience? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Just to rebump my thread, I'm aware of the statistics regarding applicants admitted to top 10 institutions like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc. What I'm wondering is have there been successful applications with a GPA similar to my mine that have able to gain admissions to such said programs? I know the odds are stacked against me, but I'm curious to know if there's still any shot in the dark to even apply to those type of highly ranked programs. If not, what sort of things would I need to accomplish in order to be given serious consideration? I'm definitely the determined and hard-working type of individual just trying to look ahead and make up for my missed opportunities (grade-wise) back in college.

Ktel & starmaker, thanks again for your advice. Sadly, my GPA does not show an upward trend. If anything, I started off really strong at the public state university where I took a lot of my core engineering courses (received a lot of grades B+ or better) and then decided to transfer to BU's rigorous BME program. I would say that my grades are kind of all over the place since I did better in courses that I found interest in, which were at the intersection between BME and ME (e.g. Engineering Mathematics, Fluid Mechanics, Solid Biomechanics, etc.). I did not do as well in courses such as Cellular & Molecular Biology (emphasis in genetic engineering) & Control Theory. So I'm perfectly fine with just accepting what I have represented by the overall cumulative GPA. I just hope that these admissions committees are aware of schools with reputations for tough grading. Out of curiosity, which M.Eng. program are you referring to, allowing students to do a thesis and were sometimes funded? I heard that Cornell's M.Eng. programs encourage research activities as well as allowing the completion of a research-based project rather than a design project. Given this option, would you say pursuing an M.Eng. (with research-based project) would be worthwhile? I'm hoping I can barely make into that program to at least give myself a shot at redemption (grade-wise). Well, one of my intended recommenders is a professor involved in cardiovascular tissue engineering at BU. I believe she happens to be on the graduate admissions committee. I am confident my director will write me a strong letter of recommendation since he knows that I work my butt off. I even met him to discuss my career endeavors, and he said how he'll help me prepare good material for the applications. He is an MIT alumnus (Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering) though I believe his ties are with: (a.) one colleague in Mechanical Engineering at MIT; (b.) a colleague who graduated from Chemical Engineering and is currently director of Cambridge Polymer Group. I know my GPA is low when compared to the statistics, but I can't help but wonder if it's even worth a shot (in the dark) to even consider sending an application to MIT. Once again, thanks for your input. It really means a lot! Nothing feels worse than the "what if's" or "should of's". I'm hoping I'll get into a great program sooner or later.

Hi collegebum! I'm a fellow BME myself. I think that if you really excel in your M.Eng. grades, that would definitely have an impact on your application. Admissions committees will still see your undergraduate record, but will definitely take into account what is most recent. Unfortunately for me, my grades are all over the place However, I'm sure most people would suggest that if you could take the M.S. path, then go ahead since it's a thesis-based program which would further bolster your research experience. I'm really surprised to hear that Cornell allows M.Eng. students to participate in research activities (is this more informal and on the side?) as well as a research-based project instead of a design project. Where did you hear about this? I could not find it on their website. Also, do you think it's substantially easier to gain admission into M.Eng. programs rather than M.S.? I'm thinking about completing a master's program to make up for my unimpressive undergraduate record. I went to a rigorous BME program but I know I slacked off and could have done better.

Thanks for the feedback starmaker, I really appreciate it! I'm really trying my best to maximize and excel in all other areas of my application. Would you happen to know of any examples of top programs that will care little or not at all (assuming that the rest of my application is superb)? I definitely will consider MS programs in addition to PhD programs. I'm wondering if I should even consider MEng programs since I am already building up significant research experience now, why not just maximize the number of courses that I can take in master's program to excel in? How's the MS program going? I wish you the best of luck in both the application process and graduate school. Definitely let me know how it goes!

I spent my undergraduate years at 2 different universities (transferred at some point) but I graduated in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering (top 10 program) & mechanical engineering. My cumulative undergraduate GPA is a dismal 3.17 (engineering GPA = 3.08) with no undergraduate research experience. I was very involved in extracurriculars (dancing has been a passionate hobby of mine) and I'll admit it got carried away at times. Consequently, my grades did suffer and I do regret not investing as much time into my studies. After struggling to find a job for about a year, I was fortunate to land a research technician position at a leading orthopedic research lab in Boston. I'm currently doing cutting-edge polymer research. After doing some soul searching, I've realized that I enjoy the excitment and innovation with developing new techologies that comes with doing research. Hence, I'd like to pursue a doctorate degree in either chemical engineering or materials science & engineering. I'm currently first author on 2 abstracts and hope to have a few publications by the time I leave. I guess that given my background, I have a few questions: 1. My first question concerns my GPA, I computed it factoring in the grades from my other university (state school where I did much better since there was practically nothing else to do upstate) along with a community college where I took two engineering courses. Without factoring this, my undergraduate GPA is a lowly 3.02. Just to reconfirm, graduate programs look at grades that I received at every institution right? 2. Do I have any shot at any reputable graduate programs? I am in the process of studying for my GRE's and am confident that I can score very well on the quantitative section. I am well aware that my GPA is not stellar. I plan to receive recommendations from: (a.) my current PI; (b.) director of the entire lab (my lab group does work with polyethylene; there are other research groups with ongoing projects, e.g. hydrogels, computational biomechanics) who oversees all the projects and is well renowned in his field; (c.) a professor from college who advised me throughout my undergraduate career - I took an undergraduate class with her, I worked on ME senior design project for her (being the customer) by building a bioreactor for tissue engineering research 3. I'm debating if it's worthwhile for me to take graduate engineering courses in hopes of acing them to enhance my graduate application. Do graduate programs favor this? I'm well aware that tuition is expensive and that I'd be paying out of my pocket (unless I move onto another research technician position at university to take advantage of tuition reimbursement). Is this a worthwhile option? 4. Should I just excel in a master's program (whichever will take me) and reapply? I understand that master's programs will most likely be unfunded (I'm contemplating an industry job that will pay for part-time). 5. Do connections/networks have any significance in the admissions process? I've been told by a co-worker that my director has some ties to labs at top institutions (e.g. UCLA, MIT). I know I should not count on it, but I can't help but wonder if he would have the power to pull some strings or at least talk to some people. Just curious what your thoughts are on this. I would appreciate any input you guys can provide. Even words of encouragement or success stories would be great! In regards to my undergraduate years, I understand what's done is done. I guess I'm just hoping that there's still some hope for me to turn things around since I know I am capable of succeeding in a top graduate program if given the opportunity to do so. I've definitely matured after college and reestablished my priorities. I just need to know what I can do to maximize my chances of getting into a top (or at least reputable) program.