PhD admissions with low UG GPA

[collegebum1989]

Say you have a decent (but not amazing) UG GPA from a state school, but an excellent graduate GPA from a top university, how will this affect admissions for PhD programs in top universities?

Undergrad: State School - 3.21

Grad: Cornell M.Eng

If I do well in the M.Eng and get valuable research experience, will my UG GPA hold me back during admissions, or will they focus more on the M.Eng GPA?

Thanks

[starmaker]

No (to your first question)

As long as your GPA is good enough not to raise any flags, most STEM PhD programs don't consider it top priority. They care more about your research experience and your recommendations.

[collegebum1989]

Thanks, so I should focus more on research and recommendation letters for this following year in the MEng. My adviser said it would be possible to do a 12 credit research project (out of 30), which would be similar to a mini-thesis. I'm assuming, although it is not a formal MS thesis, this would be beneficial to a PhD application? Also, does it help that it is from Cornell?