Getting into top 20 grad school still possible?

[Mdhiggenz]

Hello guys,

I just want to share my situation, to see if I can still get into a really good grad school.

For the most part of my 3 years in college I have gotten straight A's however in fall of

2011 my grandfather and one of my best friend died suddenly. I was mentally broken,

and took the easy way out and dabbled in drugs and hung out with bad people. I ended up in that semester with a D in organic B+ in calc and B in intro to engineering.

Fast-forward to spring of 2013 I have gotten straight A's from fall 2011 to spring 2013, but

then a horrible mistake happened that destroyed this semester. My computer was

stolen the night before my project was due worth 45% of my grade, I spoke to the

professor who aloud me to turn it in later in the week so I spent the next few days

trying to work on a project that originally took me over 100 hours to do in 3 days.

So in short I had to sacrifice all my other finals ended up getting B+ in intro to stats B

in linear algebra and a D in that engineering class. Even though the professor felt bad,

since I had an A originally I could not qualify for an incomplete, which I completely

understand, but still. As of now I have a 3.58 gpa, and he said I can retake the course

and use the forgiveness policy " counts the higher grade but still shows the D on my

transcript" and it should boost my gpa right back up.

But still seeing those two D's would look horrible, would I still have somewhat of a shot

to go to a great grad school for engineering?

 

[wotanub]

I can't guarantee you a spot, but here is what I would do:
-If you really think you can't do a top 20, apply to more than just top 20
-Talk about your struggle in your personal statement, but emphasize that you have grown since then
-Get very good letters.