Hi, I was hoping I could get some insight into how my grades translate in the U.S. as I am hoping to apply for grad school in the coming months. My undergraduate GPA (3.3-3.6 ish) is a little low due to illness in my last year. I dropped from a 4.0 though, didn't want to retake anything as I was still sick at the time and knew I had got my MSc. I am looking like I will get a merit 60-70%, with my research project grades around a distinction (we do a lot of practical group work which can be a mixed bag, depending on who I am with) I also work on top of the full time MSc so some grades are a little lower. I am looking at continuing on in the U.S., how would this look? My GRE practise grades are in the top 25%-ish but I haven't revised at all yet (just beginning, I was doing the tests to evaluate what I need to work on) and I expect to do fairly well. In terms of my application how does the MSc translate? Should I be able to get onto a decent programme?

Most people on here are not from the US so you might not get a great response.

Found the page linked below, might be some use?

It all depends which school you apply and which country you got your bachelors or masters . I assume you are applying for PhD. If so, the top tier schools usually consider 3.85+ with a very good GRE score and strong letters of recommendations or good publication records. They may say 3.5 is acceptable to apply but that's because they want to have a pool of applicants to choose from and also the application fees are another source of income for the schools... the acceptence rate for the top tiers is 5% to 15%.

Second tiers usually are around 3.6 to 3.7+ with a good GRE but it also depends on the department and supervisor.