3.5 college gpa easy?

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if you don't do too many nonconstructive extracurricular activities 🙂
 
If your major is mass com / business / any humanities, it is easy if you only take the pre-reqs.
 
yeah it's easy if you're not a depressed bipolar anti-social mess.
 
LifetimeDoc said:
It should be if you focus on study, don't overextend yourself, and don't encounter any life-altering issues.
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... and as long as you don't attend MIT, CalTech or Hopkins. 😀
 
riceman04 said:
and for that matter why MIT or CalTech?
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um, grade deflation. and having to compete with other psycho geniuses. There is definitely a difference in difficulty among different universities, and med schools (and other grad schools) most definitely realize it. its a truth that some people will not want to accept here 🙂
 
taydoctor said:
Is a 3.5 easy to maintain in college when doing pre-med courses?
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I think it depends on the school...my school its very tough especially in the sciences...the science gpa average is a 2.7....classes outside of science are much easier..if you work hard you should be able to get it though...at my school it is not easy though...
 
The average GPA for applicants is slightly below that, so make your judgement upon that.
 
at Podunk U, yeah sure.

at Top 10 (or 20, or 30...) schools, maybe not so much.

College is vastly different from high school. Getting a 3.5 is not nearly as straightforward as it might seem. Life has a way of sneaking up on you...
 
It really depends on your attention span and personal will power.

If you're the type of person who can't sit still for more than a couple minutes, and can't stand to study for more than a half hour at a time, then you'll have a hard time passing your classes, let alone maintain a 3.5 GPA.

If you can easily spend 5 hours working on problem sets and don't mind turning down a couple parties here and there, a 3.5 will be a breeze for you.

Regardless, maintaining a 3.5 in most majors is a relatively easy task and is definitely not dependent on your intellectual abilities (assuming there's nothing unusually problematic with your mental faculties). It is purely a matter of the will power and discipline you've acquired over the years.
 
taydoctor said:
Is a 3.5 easy to maintain in college when doing pre-med courses?
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If you have a mathy mind and don't have to work a job outside of class it isn't that hard. But for the average person it is hard.
 
As long as you choose your major based on your aptitude. I know I suck at Music, Arts, and English and am good at math and science so I choose my major as Physics. Super easy for me 🙂
 
so easy lol
but 4.0 is a little bit challenging
 
tp709 said:
um, grade deflation. and having to compete with other psycho geniuses. There is definitely a difference in difficulty among different universities, and med schools (and other grad schools) most definitely realize it. its a truth that some people will not want to accept here 🙂
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last time I checked grade deflation was definitely not a problem at MIT or CalTech...but hey if that makes you feel better then keep believing it. I am well aware that medical schools consider such factors as one's undergrad institution...but I can assure you that it is weighted far less than you might expect.
 
riceman04 said:
last time I checked grade deflation was definitely not a problem at MIT or CalTech...but hey if that makes you feel better then keep believing it. I am well aware that medical schools consider such factors as one's undergrad institution...but I can assure you that it is weighted far less than you might expect.
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what riceman said here is "100%" true
 
It depends on what school you go to, what major you're doing, what your work load is like. Also, it will depend on how many premed courses you're taking (FYI, taking orgo + lab, computer science II, calc III, and genetics at a crazy premed school is not the easiest way to get a 3.5 😀 ).
 
Yeah, so freaking easy...unless you also try to do it while participating in all the E.C. stuff that med schools expect...then its pretty damn hard.
 
If you don't have a job and have only a couple of significant (meaning you put in volunteer hours and do something of substance) EC's...then it is easy.

If you plan on juggling 10 EC's, a job, and a 15+ hour load, then, it becomes more challenging.

Take it slow, figure out what your limits are.
 
Depends a lot on the person. My friend (bio degree at U of SC), really struggles through his classes with only a few ECs. I'm doing a bio degree at University of Colorado, and do a number of ECs, plus spend time with my boyfriend and am starting a part time job, and I'm still doing really well in all my classes. If you're the type of person that gets concepts easily, you'll get a 3.5 no problem. If you have to study more, then it might be a little more of a struggle for you. It also depends on the rigor of your degree and school, and what other things you devote your time to. Good luck.
 
I struggle to get B's in my science courses (don't work, have few extracurriculars). I study anywhere from 7-8 hours a day on a weekday, and some weekends, I'll just go all day. Most people at my school are very satisfied with a 3.3. Anything above that and you're in real good shape.

Going to a good school can really be a pain in the ass sometimes, when you're pretty much average compared to everyone else.
 
Well after my first year at college I had a 2.9 and now I'm up to a 3.5, so it's not that difficult. As long as you focus and try hard, anything is possible.
 
ssquared said:
at Podunk U, yeah sure.

at Top 10 (or 20, or 30...) schools, maybe not so much.

College is vastly different from high school. Getting a 3.5 is not nearly as straightforward as it might seem. Life has a way of sneaking up on you...
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Whatever, Harvard is easy. Read: grade inflation.
 
Mr. Tee said:
Whatever, Harvard is easy. Read: grade inflation.
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Numbers would say otherwise. If you check out Harvard applicants on Mdapplicants.com, you don't find any high GPA/low MCAT applicants from Harvard. Conversely, you do see a significant number of low GPA/high MCAT applicants. As we know, the MCAT is the great equalizer between schools. Harvard may be grade inflated but it's students still shine when compared to students from other schools.
 
BigRedPremed said:
Numbers would say otherwise. If you check out Harvard applicants on Mdapplicants.com, you don't find any high GPA/low MCAT applicants from Harvard. Conversely, you do see a significant number of low GPA/high MCAT applicants. As we know, the MCAT is the great equalizer between schools. Harvard may be grade inflated but it's students still shine when compared to students from other schools.
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Too many lurking variables. Not even gonna bother.
 
i feel like i busted my ass for a 3.5 at cornell
 
You realize when you say the average science GPA is a 2.7, that means the average grade is a B- That's actually pretty high.

Most classes I'm in shoot for a C+/B- average.

I've actually heard that it's harder to get higher grades at smaller/less acclaimed schools. Now I recognize that the talent may not be the same... but a smaller percentage of the class gets As than at a school like Harvard. But I'd imagine almost all the students at Harvard would be getting A's at Cal State San Marcos so it's a push really.
 
RokChalkJayhawk said:
But I'd imagine almost all the students at Harvard would be getting A's at Cal State San Marcos so it's a push really.
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Not really...half of Harvard students got in through legacy/connections, while the other half got in through sheer intelligence.
 
I just want to point out that college is much more difficult than high school (assuming you're in high school). AP classes may prepare you for college, but are nowhere close to simulating the difficulty and rigor of classes in most 4 year universities (i.e. getting an A in an AP class in high school may be easy, getting an A in the equivalent class in college is rather challenging).
 
ssquared said:
at Podunk U, yeah sure.

at Top 10 (or 20, or 30...) schools, maybe not so much.

College is vastly different from high school. Getting a 3.5 is not nearly as straightforward as it might seem. Life has a way of sneaking up on you...
Click to expand...

*shrug* much easier for me to get better grades in college than it was in high school... then again, I went to a top high school and then Podunk U 👍
 
riceman04 said:
last time I checked grade deflation was definitely not a problem at MIT or CalTech...but hey if that makes you feel better then keep believing it. I am well aware that medical schools consider such factors as one's undergrad institution...but I can assure you that it is weighted far less than you might expect.
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everybody I know would say that MIT is hard. Can't say I've heard of grade inflation there.
 
RokChalkJayhawk said:
Isn't this whole conversation based on hearsay? good lord.
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well I'd say it's a little bit of hearsay mixed in with a couple of genuine, thoughtful suggestions and a lot of chest-pounding.

is a 3.5 hard? no, not really. are there a lot of things out there that will distract you from putting the work in to get a 3.5? YES.

it's all about hard work and priorities. if you're willing to work hard and make it a priority, you can probably keep a 3.5 pretty easily if you're of above average intelligence and the school isn't ridiculously hard.
 
i couldn't pull it off, and i consider myself pretty smart. i didn't have any life altering experiences - i just choked during a lot of finals.
 
taydoctor said:
Is a 3.5 easy to maintain in college when doing pre-med courses?
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It is easier if are surrounded by people who have the same priorities as you. If you go to a college where there is a party atmosphere, you are going to need to motivate yourself. I went to a small, liberal arts college where people value good grades and studied hard. For me, a 3.5 was easy and I had a great undergrad experience because of the people I was surrounded by.
 
Hassler said:
I just want to point out that college is much more difficult than high school (assuming you're in high school). AP classes may prepare you for college, but are nowhere close to simulating the difficulty and rigor of classes in most 4 year universities (i.e. getting an A in an AP class in high school may be easy, getting an A in the equivalent class in college is rather challenging).
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Which is why using AP credit to place out of pre-reqs is a major no-no.

All I know is that my AP Calc class was a joke compared to my college calc course.
 
more than 4 nights each week. If you can stay sober and get to the library twice each week (and really study) and sleep one night a week, then a 3.5 is no problem. If you are a frat boy, it could be a problem to maintain this schedule. I recommend tuesday and wednesday for library time and sleep sunday night. Just get blitzed on the other 4 nights and you should be good to go.
 
It depends on your major, what you are doing outside of just going to class, and most importantly on you. Some people will make it through school on pure aptitude. They'll never study, absorb information like a sponge, and kick ass in every class they take. Then others will have no academic ability to speak of whom will make it through purely on will power and determination.

So it can be hard, it can be easy, or it can (and most likely will be) somewhere in between...
 
Mr. Tee said:
Not really...half of Harvard students got in through legacy/connections, while the other half got in through sheer intelligence.
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And then there are people who get in through hard work. All the students I knew who hit the ivy leagues (including two Harvardites) were super duper overachievers in high school and got in b/c they kicked ass on their ultra-loaded AP classes, the SAT I, SAT II, and ECs, did research at Johns Hopkins/MIT/etc, published papers, graduated valadictorian etc. Don't discount all those hardworking overachievers that may end up at Harvard! 😀

dontwakeme said:
Which is why using AP credit to place out of pre-reqs is a major no-no.

All I know is that my AP Calc class was a joke compared to my college calc course.
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I thought my calc class in high school was pretty hard, and I thought I was a good math student with my 5 on the AP exam....until I got into college where I was struggling to maintain my B. Then I found out I was a dummy in math. 🙁
 
dontwakeme said:
I struggle to get B's in my science courses (don't work, have few extracurriculars). I study anywhere from 7-8 hours a day on a weekday, and some weekends, I'll just go all day. Most people at my school are very satisfied with a 3.3. Anything above that and you're in real good shape.

Going to a good school can really be a pain in the ass sometimes, when you're pretty much average compared to everyone else.
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you can not even consider what most student satisfied and be okay with it. you must be doing something wrong in your studies. try to read more than two text books for a subject and siting in your science courses that you are not taking if possible. 🙄
 
im always confused when there's such an uproar when someone says a higher ranked undergrad is harder than a no-rank state school. Isn't that a no brainer?

When many classes are graded on a curve, that means you're competing with the people in ur class. The make-up of a competitive undergrad that only lets students who are high achievers in is clearly going to have a high number of smart students.

And even if we're talking about uncurved classes, professors at competitve institutions are used to teaching a certain caliber of student and thus will expect that level of work from everyone and have high standards.

I mean, these things seem as plain as fact to me. duh. lol.
 
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