Engineering Graduate Seeking Advice For Building A Competitive Ph.D. Application

[uprobot]

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.

Edited August 2, 2011 by uprobot

[starmaker]

Your GPA is not a killer if the rest of your app is good (good recommendations, good previous research experience, good SOP, good GREs). There may be some schools that count it heavily against you, but there are others that will care little or not at all (including, and in some cases especially, top schools).

Since grad apps are fickle, and there may be some places that consider your GPA too low for comfort, I'd say apply for a mix of MS and PhD programs. You may not even have to do much extra work for this - some engineering schools will have a check box on their app that says something like "Yes, I want to be considered for the MS program if I am not accepted to the PhD program."

Taking a few non-degree classes will help somewhat (as long you do well), but may not be necessary. I'd try going for MS and PhD admissions first, and only do the non-degree classes if you get shut out.

By the way, I had a 2.5 GPA in undergrad, am in a part-time MS program, and am applying for PhD programs this year. There's a whole thread, somewhere, that is mutual encouragement and commiseration for people with undergrad GPAs below 3.0. You're not quite there, but you might find it inspiring anyway, since some of the people who have posted on that thread have gotten into grad programs.

[uprobot]

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!

[ktel]

Personally I don't think you should take an MEng program if you want to move onto a PhD. If you want to do a PhD, you should take a research-focused Master's, not a course-based Master's. In addition, while MS programs don't often get funding, MEng programs typically never get funding.

[starmaker]

We might be having terminology confusion here. My undergrad school (for instance) had MEng programs where students did a thesis and were sometimes funded (and some of them went on to the PhD).

I don't know, in your field, which top universities are which, but as a very general rule of thumb, universities where the graduate school (as in "Graduate School of Arts and Sciences" or "Graduate School of Engineering") has more input into the admissions process of individual departments, tend to be less friendly to students with lower grades but otherwise-good apps. Apply widely, if you don't have geographical or other serious constraints. If you know current grad students at any of your prospective programs, ask them what they know about the admissions process.

In general (in STEM fields), my impression is that if you have at least a 3.0 from a strong undergrad program, you are not screwed, in the sense that they won't toss your app based on low GPA alone. You're on the border, but you're there. If you have any useful sub-GPAs (e.g. your in-major GPA, your sci/eng GPA, your GPA from the last two years of college) that are noticeably higher than your overall GPA, you should bring them up in your statement of purpose or elsewhere in your application, because that can help.

Also, connections/networks can have huge power. Occasionally someone who likes you will actually be willing to call up a colleague on your behalf, but that's not common - they have to really like you and care about your future, as it's a big favor to you. However, to get into most grad programs, you need three recommendations, and a glowing recommendation from someone that members of the admissions committee know and respect is a huge plus, and asking someone to write a letter for you is a much less drastic favor than asking them to call people up for you. If you can get the director to write you a strong letter of rec, and you apply to those top places where the director has connections, this will be a big help.

My MS program is going fine. I'm trying to assemble a thesis committee and put together a proposal right now.

[uprobot]

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.

Edited August 5, 2011 by uprobot

[ktel]

Yes, maybe there is some terminology confusion, as some schools will have unexpected names for their degrees. Typically I think of an M.Eng. as course based with some sort of final project, which obviously requires some research, but isn't thesis-type research.

It sounds like the M.Eng. programs where you do research would be no less competitive than M.Sc/M.A.Sc. programs where you do research, so the point is probably moot for the OP.

[uprobot]

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.