4.0 vs Below 4.0

[BulletproofMONK]

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Simple question i got for ya guys, just in the range of gpa's (excluding mcat etc) what looks better, a 3.5 from harvard or a 4.0 from say a local univeristy that isn't even in the same league as any ivy league school out there. I don't go to harvard so you probably guessed i go to the local unversity. My school is ranked high in the midwest but not nationwide. I was just wondering, thanks!

 

[UCSBMed1]

I assume from your last thread that the school you are talking about is the University of Michigan.

That is a national university, and is a great school. A 4.0 from there is better than a 3.5 from Harvard. Don't sweat it, man. I'd take the 4.0 anyday over the 3.5.

 

[Gleevec]

I think 4.0's from a non-nationally recognized school might actually be counterproductive in other regions. Especially if its a school with few premeds, adcoms might mistake your curriculum to be easier than it actually is. Of course, that is why the MCAT is actually useful and is good at evening the playing field.

 

[Kennysdn]

i bet you're a spartan. a 4.0 from state will give you a lot of options- as you know there are many pre-meds at state and medical schools have a lot of experience with them. i am sure that the answer to your question may depend on where you want to go...- and as you know, other things factor into your app. beside g.p.a.

 

[Kennysdn]

maybe you go to central, western, eastern, oakland etc.????

 

[UCSBMed1]

Its U of M. He "implied" it in his other thread.

 

[Mutterkuchen]

Students with high GPAs (above 3.8) and solid MCATs in my class at my state school, Podunk Missouri State University, received acceptances from Hopkins. Wash U, Vanderbilt, and Yale to name a few.

The private school students may disagree, but I think that going to a state school is generally a great move. My only regret was that I wish I had gone to a school with a better name. People know the University of Missouri or the University of Illinois. When I say Podunk State U, the next question is "where is that?" I don't even think that they care where it is.

Incidentally, I have had reasonably good success this year in the application process. If my MCAT was better, like above 30, I feel that I would have had a really successful application season.

 

[odelay]

how odd. i'd say no matter where you go, anything over a 3.5 is damned fine.

 

[jtheater]

Every school you apply to will be different. Some value school's name over GPA, others vice versa. Also, a lot more is taken into consideration. I think once you hit a threshold, your GPA is no longer a huge issue. They just want to see that you can handle the work.

However, to the rest of the world, any degree at Harvard (with any GPA) will open more doors then a 4.0 at a state school. Top schools have amazing alumni connections throughout the country, rather than just regionally. Generally in the professional world, you already earned someone's respect in your ability to work once you say you went to Harvard, Yale... etc. Of course, you will have to live up to that expectation, but you generally don't have as large a hill to climb as others. And few people ask for your GPA... personally, I think it looks tacky on a resume. Like you have to prove that your degree is worth something.

 

[Desdemona]

I think schools use the MCAT more than grades, because the MCAT is totally objective, whereas GPA depends on the school and the specific classes you take. They don't know whether or not you took the physics class with the hardest professor or with the prof who has an enormous curve and gives half the class an A and the other half a B. It's impossible for them to unbiasedly say that an ivy league 3.5 is better than a state school 4.0 unless they got the same degree as you at both schools and took exactly the same classes in the same semesters with the same professors, etc. I'm from a state school and I've gotten interview invites to really good schools with a high GPA, so going to a state school won't hurt you. I think you should shoot for a really high MCAT to kind of validate your good grades, if you're worried.