Discrepancy Between Overall and Major GPA

[Fiora]

I am majoring in electrical engineering at a public university ranked in the top 50 nationally, and plan on applying to graduate school next academic year (Fall 2017). It should be noted that I am only interested in Master's programs, and not a PhD. So far the only real concern I have is regarding my GPA, which is comfortably above a 3.0 but certainly nowhere near where I would like it to be. On the other hand, my GPA in upper division electrical engineering courses (which I understand are the most relevant courses for grad admissions) is significantly higher than my overall GPA.

For what it's worth, I have been thinking of ways to counteract this weakness in my application. I already have good GRE scores (164 V, 166 Q, 5.5 AWA) and obtained a paid research fellowship last summer, through which I am confident I can get 2 strong recommendation letters (both from accomplished EECS faculty members) as I have also continued the research work through the school year. Would it be a good idea to ask my recommenders to point out that my performance in upper division courses in my major is significantly better? I am also open to other suggestions you may have as to how else I can improve my chances for admission. Thanks in advance for your time!

[rising_star]

If you provide your recommenders with your transcript, then it should be easy for them to talk about your performance in upper division classes without you having to specifically ask them to do it. The question I'd have (were I reviewing your file) is what courses those lower grades were in and whether the concepts covered in those courses are crucial for your understanding of the field or performance in some graduate courses you may be required to take. For example, if you performed poorly in calculus and our program requires two semesters of calculus for all students, then that would be a concern. There's really nothing you can do to make up a low GPA. Everything you're doing will help but you can't change the grades you've already earned. 

Good luck!

[Fiora]

8 hours ago, rising_star said:

The question I'd have (were I reviewing your file) is what courses those lower grades were in and whether the concepts covered in those courses are crucial for your understanding of the field or performance in some graduate courses you may be required to take. For example, if you performed poorly in calculus and our program requires two semesters of calculus for all students, then that would be a concern. There's really nothing you can do to make up a low GPA. Everything you're doing will help but you can't change the grades you've already earned. 

Thanks for your input! That makes a lot of sense. The thing about me is that most of the lower grades I got were either in courses not related to my major, or confined to a certain sub-field of EE that I was not as personally interested in. I still worked hard in all my classes, but ultimately I really excelled in those classes related to the sub-field of EE (semiconductors, IC design, microelectronics) that I want to study in grad school, and the research I have done is also related to that area. Given that grad school is supposed to be more "specialized" relative to undergrad where you take a wide range of courses from all areas of EE, I'm inclined to think that this can only work in my favor.

Of course, the most ideal situation would still have been to do very well in all my classes in the first place, but unfortunately that didn't work out, so right now I'm just thinking of ways to mitigate the negative effects as much as possible.

[rising_star]

1 hour ago, Agent_Crimson said:

Given that grad school is supposed to be more "specialized" relative to undergrad where you take a wide range of courses from all areas of EE, I'm inclined to think that this can only work in my favor.

While this is true, it's also true that graduate programs want you to have a broad understanding of the field you're in, including areas that you aren't actually work in. There are typically courses that everyone, regardless of their subfield/interest/specialty has to take. A quick google search led me to the program at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, which has a list of courses of areas in which students need to have demonstrated certain proficiencies. That list includes electrical circuits, electronic design, and other areas. If a school has something like that required for admission, then they're going to be paying close attention to more of your grades than you might think/wish. This is something to look for when reviewing potential programs and to think about as you're deciding and strategizing about where to apply.

[Fiora]

1 hour ago, rising_star said:

If a school has something like that required for admission, then they're going to be paying close attention to more of your grades than you might think/wish. This is something to look for when reviewing potential programs and to think about as you're deciding and strategizing about where to apply.

This is very insightful - I hadn't considered it before, but I think it would definitely help me in narrowing down my list of prospective schools (i.e. places where the weaknesses in my academic record will not affect me so severely). Thanks for all your replies so far!