How do people get 4.0's?

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How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

This.

It is close to impossible. Welcome to SDN!

1) They go to an easy school
or
2) They are insanely smart/hardworking

Originally Posted by Plue00

1) They go to an easy school
or
2) They are insanely smart/hardworking

Probably mostly the latter. Undergrad isn't that hard and being smart can get you a long way. I would have had a 4.0 if I didn't blow off 2 classes freshman year. But being smart only gets you so far....you have to combine that with hard work. In med school, it's much more important that you are a hard worker, than you are smart - so long as you are "smart enough."

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

In my opinion I don't see why you would worry about something like that. Constantly comparing yourself to other people isn't going to do wonders for your self-conscious That being said, it IS extremely hard to do, and the people that are able to do it are very hard workers and more likely good test takers that don't need much time in advance to prepare for difficult tests. Don't worry about it bro

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

I credit my 4.0 (at least on my app) to a favorable grading system (no minuses and no A+) and luck.

(sent from my phone)

Originally Posted by FSU2013

Probably mostly the latter. Undergrad isn't that hard and being smart can get you a long way. I would have had a 4.0 if I didn't blow off 2 classes freshman year. But being smart only gets you so far....you have to combine that with hard work. In med school, it's much more important that you are a hard worker, than you are smart - so long as you are "smart enough."

Mad props to you

I go to a school with no A+ or A- so a 90.1 is still an A. It can work against your favor as well. Getting a 89.4 is a B.

I have a 3.98 (That's one A- in a 5 credit class), so I guess I'm not perfect, but I think it's partly going to a school that isn't over the top hard and partly working harder than a lot of others do for classes.

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

Freshman year I got like a 3.75... since then I've 4.0'd the past 4 semesters. I think the difference is my mindset and determination. I feel that if you CAN get an A in a class, then why would you let anything stop you from doing such? If med school is your goal, don't let grades get in your way. Nothing worse than settling for A-/B just because you are a little lazy in a class you know you could've gotten an A in if you would've really pushed yoruself. GPA for my Application is what drives me to study/work harder so that I don't look back and regret an A- or B... (stupid history class)

Either an easy major or easy school, or hardworking , or smart, or both, or all of the above.

I had a 3.185 when i graduated last year, so pretty disappointing. Planning on making my post bach a 4.0 though. It really isn't that hard. Smarts can work in your favor, but it's mainly hard work/ being hungry for that "A." Funny that my college GPA was so bad, because in high school I got a 3.98 . lol

Luckily for me ( im not a genius, and I didn't read much when i was young) hard work pays off...almost every time.

Also, I should say that checking the classes grade distribution beforehand has helped me avoid obnoxiously hard professors. I don't always have a choice, but when I do, I pick the one with more As.

Originally Posted by bensmith91

Also, I should say that checking the classes grade distribution beforehand has helped me avoid obnoxiously hard professors. I don't always have a choice, but when I do, I pick the one with more As.

This might be a bad decision for the long run. I chose a molecular biology class that everyone said to avoid because the teacher moves fast and the curve is rough. I barely missed out on an A but we covered a ton of stuff in that class and a lot of what we're covering in biochem now is pretty much review for me. Grades are very important but you're attending college to be educated.

Imho having no A-s helps attain a 4.0 tremendously. I go to a A, B only school and I've seen it work in my favor a lot.

Originally Posted by NickNaylor

I credit my 4.0 (at least on my app) to a favorable grading system (no minuses and no A+) and luck.

(sent from my phone)

They should have that for many schools. A- hurts more than helps.

It's really about the time you put in, no matter what school you go to. I have kept a 4.0 through two years of school as a Biomed science/classics major at a large state institution, but I had to put the time in. You'll have to put in more time if you go to a school with grade deflation (hint hint many ivy leagues), but it's not like you can just get drunk every night at a public university and expect to maintain a 4.0.

That said, I do study a lot less than many other people who achieve similar grades as me in certain classes. Luck of the draw in that respect.

In the end, everyone gets a degree and is supposed to have learned similar material. The difference between a 3.8/3.9 and a 4.0 should be negligible, even if ADcoms don't see it that way.

Originally Posted by Bangersandmash

In the end, everyone gets a degree and is supposed to have learned similar material. The difference between a 3.8/3.9 and a 4.0 should be negligible, even if ADcoms don't see it that way.

They do see it that way.

Originally Posted by mimelim

They do see it that way.

I won't disagree with you there.

My school uses +\- which is kind of a pain but yeah just a lot of hard work and studying. Nice that my gpa for med school is set. Senior year grades are so much more relaxed. Dont feel like I have to get that 4.0.

Incredible luck.

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

Hard work, getting your priorities straight: remember, when you are a college student, treat it like a full time job. Very few students actually put in eight hours of study/work into their academics. Some people might not need to, but really, you are not required to do anything in school but get good grades (sure you can do extra like research, shadowing, etc.) but those are ECs! Get your priorities straight.

Originally Posted by Moosepig

Imho having no A-s helps attain a 4.0 tremendously. I go to a A, B only school and I've seen it work in my favor a lot.

After one year of college so far, I've gotten 6 A-s... I very much regret not working that extra amount to push those to As. My GPA would probably be .1-.2 higher.

Originally Posted by Hopeful101

Hard work, getting your priorities straight: remember, when you are a college student, treat it like a full time job. Very few students actually put in eight hours of study/work into their academics. Some people might not need to, but really, you are not required to do anything in school but get good grades (sure you can do extra like research, shadowing, etc.) but those are ECs! Get your priorities straight.

I'm finally understanding this concept.

Originally Posted by circulus vitios

Incredible luck.

Always a cynic....

Originally Posted by tentomruler

How do people get 4.0’s in undergrad? Do people literally get A’s in every single class since freshman year? No A-‘s? It seems close to impossible. I’m in a state of incredulity; help me out here.

By being more awesomer than you

90% of the people on SDN that have 4.0's 1. go to an easy school or 2. are lying. The other 10% are hard working or intelligent

Or they have an easy major like communications, marketing, or art history.

Originally Posted by FSU2013

Always a cynic....

Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.

Originally Posted by gmcguitar4

Or they have an easy major like communications, marketing, or art history.

Comm. majors at my school have 4 required communications classes to graduate. The rest is gen. ed / elective courses.

Originally Posted by Bangersandmash

Comm. majors at my school have 4 required communications classes to graduate. The rest is gen. ed / elective courses.

I've always been curious... what do comm majors do with their degree?

Originally Posted by kpcrew

This might be a bad decision for the long run. I chose a molecular biology class that everyone said to avoid because the teacher moves fast and the curve is rough. I barely missed out on an A but we covered a ton of stuff in that class and a lot of what we're covering in biochem now is pretty much review for me. Grades are very important but you're attending college to be educated.

+1. Don't worry about 4.0 stuff, you don't need a 4.0 to shine academically to an adcom.

Everyone has pretty much identified the different things needed to get a 4.0 (luck, intelligence, hard work, course difficulty, grading, etc). Who knows what combination any particular applicant with a 4.0 had. I think we focus too much on grades and it takes away from taking hard courses for the sake of learning. I understand, I did it a lot too when I started college, but at some point you have to just forget all that stuff and just take courses that are intellectually challenging and do your best in them. My grades actually increased once I started doing that.

Originally Posted by Hemorrage

90% of the people on SDN that have 4.0's 1. go to an easy school or 2. are lying. The other 10% are hard working or intelligent

I always had a tough time of understanding what "easy school" means. Perhaps there may be something like "harder than the rest"...with the rest being the "norm"... but there is definitely no such thing as an "easy" school.

Where ever you go, bio, chem, and physics is going to be AT LEAST equally hard. It can only get harder from there (say, if you attend Hopkins, or UChicago)...but the bare minimum standards never drop..so there is no such thing as "easy".

We have no lives. Simply that

Ugh, I wish my school that no -/+ system. I'm a "straight A- student," which totally drags my GPA.

I mean I was always told that you dont have to worry about the smart people or the hard workers.... you have to worry about the smart people who are hard workers. Those are the kind of people that get 4.0s
However, from a guy who is not a hard worker but has done pretty well.... OP just PM if you actually want to know more... The easiest thing is consistent attendance to class. And by this I mean actually paying attention and learning in class. This cuts down on studying time and allows for you to be successful in many classes at the same time rather than selecting which test to study for, or what not.

There are a couple thousand colleges in the country, and not all of them have the level of academic rigor that some of the more well-known colleges may. Also, as everyone else emphasized, lack of +/- can help.

But really, a LOT of people have 4.0's in college. It's only rare if you go to a school where it's especially difficult.

In general, it is absolutely not "close to impossible." That's laughable.

Originally Posted by Thego2guy

I always had a tough time of understanding what "easy school" means. Perhaps there may be something like "harder than the rest"...with the rest being the "norm"... but there is definitely no such thing as an "easy" school.

Where ever you go, bio, chem, and physics is going to be AT LEAST equally hard. It can only get harder from there (say, if you attend Hopkins, or UChicago)...but the bare minimum standards never drop..so there is no such thing as "easy".

The material is the same no doubt but the quality, consistency and expectations from professors is much higher at highly ranked schools

I think planning your classes well should help too...

Originally Posted by Thego2guy

I always had a tough time of understanding what "easy school" means. Perhaps there may be something like "harder than the rest"...with the rest being the "norm"... but there is definitely no such thing as an "easy" school.

Because if you aren't going to Harvard, Yale, etc., then your education is just inferior. People feel the need to justify their poor performance. I didn't go to a top undergrad by ANY means, but getting an A in most courses required very hard work and genuine mastery of the material (at least in the sciences). That fact is true no matter what university you attend. I suppose you might argue that expectations might be higher at HYP-like schools, but that doesn't cheapen the work required to get an A at a "lesser" university.

Originally Posted by gettheleadout

There are a couple thousand colleges in the country, and not all of them have the level of academic rigor that some of the more well-known colleges may. Also, as everyone else emphasized, lack of +/- can help.

But really, a LOT of people have 4.0's in college. It's only rare if you go to a school where it's especially difficult.

In general, it is absolutely not "close to impossible." That's laughable.

Do you have a 4.0?

Originally Posted by nicknaylor

because if you aren't going to harvard, yale, etc., then your education is just inferior. people feel the need to justify their poor performance. I didn't go to a top undergrad by any means, but getting an a in most courses required very hard work and genuine mastery of the material (at least in the sciences). That fact is true no matter what university you attend. I suppose you might argue that expectations might be higher at hyp-like schools, but that doesn't cheapen the work required to get an a at a "lesser" university.

+1

Originally Posted by gettheleadout

There are a couple thousand colleges in the country, and not all of them have the level of academic rigor that some of the more well-known colleges may. Also, as everyone else emphasized, lack of +/- can help.

But really, a LOT of people have 4.0's in college. It's only rare if you go to a school where it's especially difficult.

In general, it is absolutely not "close to impossible." That's laughable.

Some of the most "well known" colleges are also well known for grade inflation.

Originally Posted by Hopeful101

I've always been curious... what do comm majors do with their degree?

They do drugs.

Originally Posted by NickNaylor

Because if you aren't going to Harvard, Yale, etc., then your education is just inferior. People feel the need to justify their poor performance. I didn't go to a top undergrad by ANY means, but getting an A in most courses required very hard work and genuine mastery of the material (at least in the sciences). That fact is true no matter what university you attend. I suppose you might argue that expectations might be higher at HYP-like schools, but that doesn't cheapen the work required to get an A at a "lesser" university.

This is absolutely true, but then again Nick you did Biochemistry which is hard no matter where you really do it. The typical communications or english major at any school will have a fairly easy time maintaining a 3.6+ cGPA. Once again i suppose the most important factor amongst this is not having the +/- at all, which guarantees you 4.0's in a class so long as you do well.

Oh man, do people still think all schools are equal?

You have to work so much harder at a top college than you do at a regular college. My chem class limits As to 12%, and I'm sure many other colleges out there do around the same. What people are forgetting is who you have to compete with to get into that 12%. You can compete with a bunch of average kids at an average school or you can compete with hardcore HYP (I don't go there, just making a point) kids.

Which school would it be easier to get an A at? Even if schools like Harvard are known for grade inflation, so what? These kids probably would have gotten As at most other schools.

Originally Posted by Plue00

Oh man, do people still think all schools are equal?

You have to work so much harder at a top college than you do at a regular college. My chem class limits As to 12%, and I'm sure many other colleges out there do around the same. What people are forgetting is who you have to compete with to get into that 12%. You can compete with a bunch of average kids at an average school or you can compete with hardcore HYP (I don't go there, just making a point) kids.

Which school would it be easier to get an A at? Even if schools like Harvard are known for grade inflation, so what? These kids probably would have gotten As at most other schools.

Except setting bell curves for grades (grade DEFLATION) is ridiculous in my opinion. Everyone who works hard enough to get an A deserves it. If the school sets a limit on who can get an A, you're bound to be screwing over SOMEONE.

Originally Posted by Samiamm

Do you have a 4.0?

No, but literally hundreds of students across all years at my school do.


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Originally Posted by FSU2013

Some of the most "well known" colleges are also well known for grade inflation.

That's why I said "may" in reference to "well-known schools."


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Many schools, even top schools, have grade inflation, which makes getting high GPAs easy.

Other schools, notoriously JHU, have extensive grade deflation, which makes getting high GPAs extremely difficult.

The other thing is knowing how to play the college game. My first two years, I skated by with a 3.5-3.6, but then in my last two years, something clicked and I was able to rock JR/SR year despite taking an extremely heavy courseload (molecular biology/chemistry majors). I averaged a 3.8-4.0 in my last two years because I understood the college game much better than in my first two years.

What I noticed is that the kids who got 4.0s were pretty insular and willing to study 8 hours a night to ace their classes, while I was more content with banging 3 bitches in a night and getting that A- instead.

Originally Posted by Hopeful101

I've always been curious... what do comm majors do with their degree?

They go to law school.

Honestly, a 4.0 is overrated. Sacrifice a few tenths of a point and go have fun every once in a while. College only happens once in your life (unless you're the 53 year old sitting in a freshman class), so make the most out of it.