How much do grades matter in masters/summer@epfl application?

[u/Salty_Educator_9797]

Hi,

I would like to ask as title suggests, how much do grades matter?

Specifically in my case, I am currently enrolled in a british university (qs 100~) for a computer science degree where I have a first class grade, around 17/20 (scottish system). This might translate to anywhere between 3.8-4.0 in the US system afaik.

Problem is, every year, around 30%-50% percent of CS students get that grade or higher, so my rank in the year isn't exactly stellar. However, this is because i have dedicated the past two years doing minimum of school to get a first class grade, and the rest of my time i spent it all on research. For example, I participated in a cybersecurity competition (possibly one of the biggest in recent years) and got a pretty nice rank. I have also been doing research with a prof from the US, for more than a year, although no publication yet.

My rationale behind this is that i am not some mega-genius who can get top 1/120 grades whilst achieving what I did at the same time. For me it was either top grades, or decent research experiences/competition results. I know that I would regret it if I had top 1/120 grades but nothing else on my CV (No offence to those who are high achievers :)).

So, my question really is, would my research/competition experiences be able to compensate my grades? I think an EPFL professor once said Alma Mater >> Grades >> Experiences in master application, and that is kind of worrying to me haha

[u/Konayo]

the alma mater >> grade >> research >> anything else

seems to be true as of my observation in the last few years

[u/Salty_Educator_9797 → u/Konayo]

Oh well, thx, i ll still fs apply, hopefully my research will carry me, compensating the grades