Arjun had a high GRE score but a poor GPA. He had some good research background too. Most top schools he applied to rejected his application. One of the profs at CMU whom he contacted said that if he could improve his GPA, they could consider giving him an admit the following semester. So Arjun joined a low ranked university in the USA for his Mechanical engineering program. For a year he worked hard., managed to get a 4.0 GPA and that helped him transfer to CMU a year later. While CMU did give him credit for some courses he had taken at the other university, it still did take him a semester longer than his counterparts to complete his MS. But with a degree from CMU, it’s worth the time.
While everyone wants to get into a top university, always have your plan B ready. Apply to top universities, but also apply to a couple of programs where you have a high chance to get in. If your think “I would rather study at a top university or not study at all”, that at times is not the best decisions in life. It’s always best to pursue your higher education even if it’s not at your most preferred university. There are options of transferring to a better university after a semester or a year that can be explored.
Co-Founder of Academy One