Recent content by moretti

Oh no the same applies in engineering but I get a special scholarship if I make it into the top5, that's why I'm really intent on stupid little things like going from a 3.98 to a 3.99. I can't think of any other things I can do to have a better chance of setting myself apart from the rest of the...

Not among the best(ranking wise), I am afraid, that's the reason there's so many 4.0s. But there have been students who have made it from other engineering departments to top 5 grad schools though funnily enough all of them had 4.0s.

Yes I do hope you are right Nano-Passion because in that case telling me not to apply to a top 5 program because I don't have a 4.0 is plain wrong.

Haha, I must come across as some GPA obsessed freak: Ok I've --TA'ed in my preferred area of research (grading and tutoring) --Have around 3 years of research exp with 1 co-authored publication (I'm not sure I have enough time to increase this) --Have participated in ECAs -- Am the...

Yeah you are right but for me like I mentioned the boost in GPA is a boost in my rank. And I needed to make it clear that the odds would be that I'd do well in it because of interest in math. Besides one of my profs freaked me out by saying that if you aren't a 4.0, I have no chance of getting...

Trying to be the devil's advocate here:Trying to have a holistic discussion though I see where the general consensus is leading now.

Yes MIT for instance requires you to mention your class rank and surprisingly with my high GPA my class rank is 5/33. There's even 3 4.0s. I only want to make it a 3.99 for this reason. Then I can always say that I have always loved applied mathematics and took an extra course to develop...

Ok you still don't support the idea that I should still try to take it to increase my class rank? Isn't that an important aspect when applying to a top5 grad school.(putting aside the research experience factor)

Ok ignore for a moment the risk factor for my GPA falling: What's your counterargument for taking this advanced applied math course?

Would it help if the course is an Easy-A course? It also doesn't hurt that I really am interested in it and that I feel it will aid me during my graduate studies?

A little yes but here's the thing: The applied maths course in question interests me but It would be a lot of trouble to add it to the courses I'm already taking unless I had the GPA incentive. I did say however it would help me improve my class rank. I can always say I wanted to use the...

Care to expand a little more?

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]My GPA is 3.98 and I can raise it to 3.985 which is translatable to a 3.99 by taking an extra course. Is it a stupid idea to take it say for a better grad school application? (The benefit is it will raise my class rank) I'm a mechanical engineering student looking to...