Canadian Applying to Tier 1 US Schools for Engineering PhD/MS

[dvfire]

Hi Everyone,

 

I have applied to some tier 1 US schools for EE programs for PhD/MS, and I am more or less concerned about my GPA.  It is only around 3.26, and the most recent semester I got 3.50.  However, I am in a really tough program, called Engineering Science at University of Toronto, which is known for giving harsh grades on courses.  How will this take into consideration of the admission decisions?  Even though my school uses the 4.0 grading scale, I think it is still more or less a different system than in the US?  I think I have strong LORs, SOPs, and I do have research + internship experience in related fields.  My GRE is 157V/167Q/5.0AW.  I also expressed my fit in all the programs that I applied in my SOPs.

Edited December 15, 2013 by dvfire

[hikaru1221]

Everybody has a chance. And top schools are definitely more mindful when judging GPA. Some say GPA doesn't matter much. My professor says, when schools ask for his LOR, he also at times has to answer some questionnaires e.g. on how he thinks the applicant is compared to the rest of the cohort, so your concern is possibly cleared somewhere other than LOR/ SOP, even if the schools don't know much about your program.

 

At this point I believe your application files have been submitted and complete (I'm EE as well ) - so why worry? Chill and focus back on the rest of your undergrad program

[MikKar]

I'm not so sure US Schools really understand how each country's grading system works. Top US Schools get a sea of applications with 3.9+ GPA and solid research experience/LORs. Of course : when they see a stellar application with a so-so GPA they might still pick it but you always need something spectacular about you and get the adcom's attention hooked on that.

 

I would say that you should put more emphasis on writing a really strong SOP and getting some super solid LORs. That's what worked for me, although in my case I have spent almost 5 years in the work place and 3.5 years was at an R&D lab so I actually know what kind of research I want to do, given I get to see them at work.

Edited December 16, 2013 by MikKar

[dvfire]

Thanks guys for some much needed clarifications...at this point I guess I can only wait...and hope that in January I get some interview calls.

[TakeruK]

Although the Canadian grading system is different than the US system*, I still think the US schools, especially the top US schools, have a way to calibrate international applicants. Canada may not be very large, but we still make up a good fraction of international applications! So, I am sure they have accepted students from your program before and they can basically compare your GPA with the others who have applied from your school. 

 

*So far, the biggest difference I've found is that most Canadian programs (at least in Arts & Sciences) will have set percentage-to-GPA intervals -- e.g. 90%+ is A+, 86 to 89 is an A, 80 to 85 is A- etc. Individual courses may grade on a curve and scaling might happen, but the percentages-to-grade-point is usually fixed. In the US, there seems to be no such fixed standard and instead of scaling each student's grades, they will slide the percentage-to-grade-point intervals around. So in an "easy" class, it might be 95%+ to get an A+, 90 to 94 to get an A etc. That is, in Canada, I found that in my classes, scaling/grading on a curve was an exception and only happened in a few cases, while it seems to be the norm rather than the exception in top US schools. 

[dvfire]

mmm...I see. So for US schools, there will be cases where certain "hard" classes will have grading curves like, say, 80+ would = A+ = 4.0?

[TakeruK]

I would presume so, given the information I have seen so far. It would be equivalent to grade scaling practices at some Canadian schools I've been to, where our final grades are multiplied by some factor (which could be less than 1) in order to achieve the distribution desired by the department.

[dvfire]

I see.  Too bad in my program marks are given as is...there are no bell curves