How to shortlist grad schools

[bottled_nostalgia]

Hi,

 

I just graduated college with a degree in chemical engineering, and I intend to go to graduate school for biomedical research/bioengineering. The plan was to apply for Fall 2021 (COVID-19 has messed up things a bit). My GPA isn't great- I have a 3.1. I have a lot of leadership/extracurricular activities in college, but no publications. I would eventually like to get a PhD. 

Given all this info, I'm a bit confused on how to shortlist grad schools. I know I should apply broadly. I would eventually like to get my PhD from one of the top 10 schools for BME. But other than rankings and other factors like location, how can I choose and shortlist schools?

Thank you

[Bernt]

I recently applied to top 10 BME programs, so I have some experience with this! Take my advice with a grain of salt though. If you have any questions feel free to respond/DM me. 

Because of your GPA, I would recommend looking at schools lower ranked than the top 10 programs. Top BME programs are extremely competitive, having hundreds of applicants with strong profiles. If you look at the successful application profiles for the BE programs at MIT, Stanford, BU, etc., their GPAs are typically above 3.75 and they have extensive research experience. You can see some of these profiles on the BME threads or results pages. This doesn't mean you shouldn't apply to top 10 programs - it's good to have reach schools, but given your profile you should look more at schools below the top 20-30.

If you're 100% dead-set on top 10 schools, you need to boost your profile through additional research (during undergrad and after graduation, such as a research assistant position in a well-known lab) or a MS with a high GPA.

When you're deciding what schools to apply to, your main focus should be research fit. Research fit/environment is more important than rank IMHO. There should be 2-3+ professors that do research you're interested in. I would recommend looking at the school's professor's websites (many are organized by broad research areas). You can also look at the author lists of relevant papers, as they will list the universities the authors work(ed) at. Other factors you should consider beyond research, location, and rank are diversity, outreach/leadership opportunities, size of the program/school, etc..