Why do some higher ranked grad mech engineering schools have lower averages

[Char123]

For example umich's grad school for ME of acceptanced students only has an avg gpa from 3.2-3.5, the school is ranked in the top 5.

Purdue's acceptance of grad students into the ME program's gpa is 3.5. which is lower than schools such as cornell, princeton, carnegie. Is umich and purdue easier to get in than the other schools in the top 10? The test scores are lower too. If so, why?

Edited August 3, 2011 by charlies1902

[HassE]

umich has a hugeeee engineering school, plus it's also a public school. They can accept more students which slightly lowers the average.

[Char123]

umich has a hugeeee engineering school, plus it's also a public school. They can accept more students which slightly lowers the average.

would purdue, umich, georgia tech, university of illiinois be easier to get in than the private schools? I left berkeley out even tho its a public school

[adelashk]

I would imagine so, charlie. Rankings bear no match to admission rate difficulty, perhaps they are factored in but do not comprise of a considerable weight. There are many universities ranked high which are easier to get into (this is more true for undergraduate admissions, getting into purdue engineering might be easier than getting into Harvard engineering even though the former ranks higher). Most people would advice you to ignore general university rankings, some will ask you to ignore departmental rankings, some will call rankings a blasphemy and urge you to focus on a fit instead. That is up to you. Do not read too much into the admission rates. I know people getting rejected by numerous schools only to get into their top/highest ranked choice. Others like me got into the lowest ranked YET most competitive (i.e. difficult to get into) program. Anyway, as hasseye it's more about the resources the department has which allows it to accept more people