Is GPA the Ultimate Factor for Getting into Graduate School?

[Physwiz]

I'm a 3rd year student of electronics and communication engineering...and as of now my gpa stands at a 3.5 on a 5...seriously beats me how good that is to secure a place in a reasonably well known graduate school...hoping someone would tell me...and is the cut off different according to the subject of choice?

 

[Asphodel]

A 4.0 GPA (i.e. perfect grade in every class you've ever taken, by the scale I'm accustomed to) isn't even enough to secure you a place in a graduate school. The inverse is also true - a low GPA is rarely enough to exclude you. They look at a lot of things.

 

[Physwiz]

how easy or hard is it to make a transition from engineering to pure science at the graduate level?

 

[Asphodel]

That depends largely on your source and destination field. You're going to need the same level of preparation whether you majored in the field as an undergrad or not, this can leave you with a lot to catch up on, or very little.

 

[Benzoate]

A 4.0 GPA (i.e. perfect grade in every class you've ever taken, by the scale I'm accustomed to) isn't even enough to secure you a place in a graduate school. The inverse is also true - a low GPA is rarely enough to exclude you. They look at a lot of things.

I don't understand why it would be so hard to get accepted into a physics graduate program when demand is so low for physics and math degrees as opposed to maybe computer science or computer engineering. In most undergrad physics programs, once you are accepted into university , to be accepted into the physics or math programs, the policy is usually an open door policy since there not that many people who want to study physics or math

 

[bravernix]

I don't understand why it would be so hard to get accepted into a physics graduate program when demand is so low for physics and math degrees as opposed to maybe computer science or computer engineering. In most undergrad physics programs, once you are accepted into university , to be accepted into the physics or math programs, the policy is usually an open door policy since there not that many people who want to study physics or math

The thing is, demand isn't low. By that I mean there are a lot of people that want to obtain physics PhDs. Go to gradschoolshopper and look at some of the data sheets. Many schools have 3-400 people (or more) applying with around 50 admitted. Anyways, Asphodel's point is that just because one may have a perfect GPA it doesn't mean they are a shoe-in. Less than perfect parts of an application can be made up for by doing better on other parts of the application. Likewise, having a GPA of less than 70% (e.g. <3.0/4.0) will certainly give you some trouble, as that seems to be a common cutoff, particularly for well-known schools. However, it isn't the end of the line, but the OP may have to look into lesser known schools.

 

[fizziks]

My cousin works for IBM and is one of the recruiting members for its software development team. He values your personality and work experience far greater than you final GPA. Not everything can be measured by numbers. Sometimes, you have to stop thinking like mathematicians and physicists and deal with the immeasurable.

As for graduate schools, admissions at top schools are looking at applicants with 4.0s and perfect GRE scores. It's at that point where it is impossible to tell who's good and who's not. That's when work/research experience and recommendations come in.

 

[J77]

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=469

"Of course grades don't matter... we only care about the lab work. Grades only serve to feed the ego of the smart students, and break the spirit of the mediocre ones."

 

[Physwiz]

that may be...but how exactly do you get hold of any kind of research/lab work??...it's like they show you the door if you're not some kind of advanced level maniac...

as of now...the only thing I have on hands is a project I'm doing for motorola

 

[J77]

Maybe think about trying to pick up a position in a lab, or at "grad school", outside the US where "GPAs" mean much less.