Will my GPA prevent me from getting into grad school?

[sweetpotato]

Looking at some of the older threads, I've gotten the message that with my major gpa of 2.8 (in electrical engineering) and overall gpa of 3.12 I don't have a good shot at getting into grad school. However, a few professors that I have taken classes from and done research for are encouraging me to apply. So I was just wondering-- am I likely to be rejected by all grad schools, even the "bad" ones? I don't care too much about what grad school I get into, I just want to get into one. I know I don't have a chance at the prestigious or even middle-range grad schools.

Edit: I've told these professors my gpa so they see the whole picture

 

[story645]

You have a good shot of getting into your current school's grad school if any of these professors want to take you on as a student and you have a have decent shot if any of your recommenders have a great reputation in the field/are well known by someone at one of the schools you're applying to.

Also, masters programs are far easier to get into.

 

[General_Sax]

If your profs are encouraging you to apply, and you want to go to grad school, then apply man!

 

[twofish-quant]

However, a few professors that I have taken classes from and done research for are encouraging me to apply. So I was just wondering-- am I likely to be rejected by all grad schools, even the "bad" ones?

If you have professors that want you to apply and you can get good recommendation letters from them, then that will make up somewhat for a bad GPA.

 

[eri]

There really aren't any 'bad' grad schools - they are what you make of them. I've attended two unranked (rank > 100) grad schools in physics, and people from those schools have gotten jobs/postdocs at Harvard, other top schools, large national labs, NASA, faculty jobs right out of grad school, etc. Rankings are very much related to how many PhDs you graduate a year, so a small program may be low-ranked by have some great faculty members and opportunities. In fact, because my current grad program doesn't have a ton of it's own resources, we've been working with collaborations at Berkeley, a few national labs, NIST, Max Planck, and many more top programs to get the resources we need. Just because a school might be easier to get into than a top program doesn't mean you can't do very well there.

 

[flemmyd]

if your professors are encouraging you to apply despite your lackluster GPA, go for it! sounds like a very good recommendation in my book... (also, you want to go to graduate school, right?)

and talk to your professors about which schools are on your level and what not.