Hi Grad Cafe,
I've read through a bunch of posts on this forum and other sites already but am still unsure of which schools to apply to.
I am graduating this May 2012 with a B.S. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley. I will have a cumulative GPA of 3.33 and an upper div technical GPA of 3.63. I would like to note that I had a 3.00 my first two years, but have been getting 3.8 my last 2.5 semesters. Also, I have not taken the GRE yet but am expecting something like a 780Q, 600V, 4.5W (convert this to new scale) just to be conservative.
I have relevant research experience in one lab (2 years duration; submitting a paper of which I am the first author for publication; presenting my work at an annual bioengineering conference). I have had relevant and very strong industry experiences for two summers. I am seeking patent application for a medical device that I worked on stemming from a class project. I will have 2 very strong LORs and 1 good LOR.
In the one year that I am taking off before grad school, I am doing research at UCSF with a very recognized PI (who is an MD, PhD surgeon) and hoping to submit/publish another paper from this.
I am applying this coming fall 2012 to PhD programs and want to know if I should even be hopeful of getting into top bioengineering programs (Ie. Duke, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCSD, etc.). The main concern is GPA since all of the top schools post 3.8-3.9 averages and everyone says that a 3.5 cumulative is a bare minimum.
Thanks!