How much does GPA matter? Can research experience outweigh it?

[robotsareourfuture]

Hi,

I'm a sophomore electrical engineering student .

I go to school in Canada at McGill University. My GPA so far isn't the best, it's around 3.53 due to unfortunate results in some courses but I'm trying to get it higher. I am confident I can bring it up to a 3.7 in the next 2 years, but even if I don't, will that seriously affect my chances of getting into a school in the US? (Hoping for a UC or even better UT at Austin).

Im already trying to get some research experience this summer either funded or volunteering and I plan to continue doing that in the next summers.

I'm really worried though that universities in the states will not know how hard it is to get a good GPA at a school like mine compared to other schools that have grade inflation and will discriminate due to GPA.

Could research experience and letters of recommendation overshadow this? What is my chance of getting accepted right to PhD track and how hard is it to get funded if you dont have an excellent GPA? (like 3.8 and above).

Also what else can I do to make myself more competitive?

Thanks.

[SANDIEGO]

I think research experience is your best bet to make yourself more competitive, which you said you're already doing.

3.53 really isn't that bad, it certainly doesn't disqualify you from any schools, but it doesn't help at really well ranked ones either. Getting accepted on a PhD track is about a good fit, not really your GPA. Just continue to do your best, try to raise your grades, but realize that it's still very possible to get into great programs (like UT Austin) with what you have + research experience.

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

At least in my field, research experience matters much more than GPA. Mind you, GPA matters as does the quality of your UG school. Some universities have firm cut-offs for PhD applicants, usually around a 3.0.

[robotsareourfuture]

Thanks for the replies They gave me some confidence!

By the way, what is there reputation (if any) of Mcgill in the US? I know sometimes for graduate admissions they look at the quality of the school someone went to. Is it considered a good school to accept someone from? Because with such huge grade deflation that exists here at least I hope admissions officers would recognize that it's harder to have a 3.9 GPA here compared to another less competitive university.

Also does funding depend largely on someone's GPA? Because attending a grad program without funding would be out of the questions from someone from a poor family like myself.

Edited November 19, 2012 by robotsareourfuture

[Quant_Liz_Lemon]

Well, McGill is the only Canadian school I had heard of before I started looking at graduate schools.

[sabdo]

Hi,

I'm a sophomore electrical engineering student .

I go to school in Canada at McGill University. My GPA so far isn't the best, it's around 3.53 due to unfortunate results in some courses but I'm trying to get it higher. I am confident I can bring it up to a 3.7 in the next 2 years, but even if I don't, will that seriously affect my chances of getting into a school in the US? (Hoping for a UC or even better UT at Austin).

Um... Excuse me? UT Austin even better than a UC? Thank god I wasn't drinking anything while I read that sentence or it would have been sprayed all over my monitor.

I may be biased by having gone to a UC for my undergrad. However, Berkeley is in the top 3 best electrical engineering schools in the country while UT Austin isn't even in the top ten.

I realize every thing in the end has to with fit, blah, blah... However, I still wouldn't see people normally looking at UT Austin over Berkeley unless there was a very specific PI they were looking to work with. Plus, Berkeley is in California.

[victor.s.andrei]

Hi,

I'm a sophomore electrical engineering student .

I go to school in Canada at McGill University. My GPA so far isn't the best, it's around 3.53 due to unfortunate results in some courses but I'm trying to get it higher. I am confident I can bring it up to a 3.7 in the next 2 years, but even if I don't, will that seriously affect my chances of getting into a school in the US? (Hoping for a UC or even better UT at Austin).

Im already trying to get some research experience this summer either funded or volunteering and I plan to continue doing that in the next summers.

I'm really worried though that universities in the states will not know how hard it is to get a good GPA at a school like mine compared to other schools that have grade inflation and will discriminate due to GPA.

Could research experience and letters of recommendation overshadow this? What is my chance of getting accepted right to PhD track and how hard is it to get funded if you dont have an excellent GPA? (like 3.8 and above).

Also what else can I do to make myself more competitive?

Thanks.

1. Your GPA is fine, especially considering that you are in EE.

2. McGill is a known university here in the States with a good reputation.

3. Get research experience now. Make sure you write an undergraduate thesis if that's part of your program.

4. When you pick a graduate program, pick based on which one supports your research interests. UT Austin has a great social scene - which may matter to you - but if the research there doesn't fit with what you want to do, no dice.

[ankurshah]

Reagrding GPA for UT austin, am a chemical engineering major, and from the website what they mention is, on an avg the GPA of incoing PhD class is around 3.9. With that in mind, i do know a lot of people who make sure they have loads of research experience (UN lab rotation, Industrial and national Lab Internship which inturn gets them at extra reco ), plus one of the best thing you can do when you are still in coll for your UG, pick up couple of graduate courses and ace them. That will be an added advantage

Now whatever i have said pertain mainly to the chemical engineering domain but it would be universally true for any department you are looking in any of the top rung universities

[ankurshah]

ITs not UN but UG