GPA at prestigious colleges

[WedgeDawg]

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The answer is, of course, more nuanced than that but your question isn't, so for now the answer is "no"

 

[libertyyne]

Do not think for a second that being an Art Major is easier than being a science major. You try writing an essay every two weeks on subjects like:
Review of the Monet exhibition at the Met
Influence of the Hudson River School on modeler American painting
The art of Picasso's Blue Period
Cross-cultural frameworks in Byzantine art
Why are the Impressionists so popular?

and on top of this have the regular pre-med pre-reqs.

Plus the subjective grading scales of professors vs hard sciences which are multiple choice questions.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Plus the subjective grading scales of professors vs hard sciences which are multiple choice questions.

There are a lot of schools (well some at least) where most science courses have 0 multiple choice questions.

 

[libertyyne]

Shouldnt adcoms think more negatively about GPA's from private schools / ivies considering grade inflation.
National Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities

 

[libertyyne]

There are a lot of schools (well some at least) where most science courses have 0 multiple choice questions.

Sure, but the tests/ answers are in all likelihood more objective compared to the arts.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Sure, but the tests/ answers are in all likelihood more objective compared to the arts.

Can't really argue there

 

[Hkkhan]

Can't really argue there

How has this discussion not been closed as the second half has literally devolved into how Art History is as hard/harder than science majors which has nothing to do with if different GPAs matter at different colleges lol.

 

[Goro]

How has this discussion not been closed as the second half has literally devolved into how Art History is as hard/harder than science majors which has nothing to do with if different GPAs matter at different colleges lol.

Majors vs GPAs vs different colleges; they all flow together.

Shouldnt adcoms think more negatively about GPA's from private schools / ivies considering grade inflation.
National Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities

It's not my job to research who has grade deflation vs inflation. It's the applicant's job to do well, period. And there are literally tens of thousands of kids who do just that.
SDNers should always remember that it's not what the applicants want, it's what the schools want.

 

[libertyyne]

Majors vs GPAs vs different colleges; they all flow together.

It's not my job to research who has grade deflation vs inflation. It's the applicant's job to do well, period. And there are literally tens of thousands of kids who do just that.
SDNers should always remember that it's not what the applicants want, it's what the schools want.

I mean theoretically it is the adcoms job. But it is a Herculean task to do, so I wouldn't expect any adcom to actually accomplish it. It's much more straight forward to simplify the task by ignoring major/school differences in gpa , and theoretically the MCAT should be a good tool to remove any difference in evaluation due to differences in grading.i am a proponent of heavily weighting the MCAT in determination of academic ability vs gpa which is prone to institutional factors and other vagaries. I believe the research also bears this out where the MCAT is a better predictor of completing medical school.

 

[WedgeDawg]

In the spirit of transparency, member Hkkhan was banned because he/she was determined to be a reboot of a previously banned member.

Please direct all criticisms, questions, and/or complaints to @Lucca. All compliments may be directed at me.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

In the spirit of transparency, member Hkkhan was banned because he/she was determined to be a reboot of a previously banned member.

Please direct all criticisms, questions, and/or complaints to @Lucca. All compliments may be directed at me.

your mother smells of elderberries

 

[Sai111394]

Fellow state school peasant here - what an honor it is to interact with Ivy league gods on this website! 🙄
You should go to a school where you'll succeed, whether it's at a state school or an Ivy league. I certainly wouldn't have been as successful at an Ivy league school as I have been at my school (which is a flagship, so not some podunk school) and that is putting me in a good position. Know thyself should be a premed law, lol. Also, a lot of Ivy schools inflate grades to begin with, so I have a harder time taking people seriously when they complain so heavily about this. State school peasants can be just as hard working and intelligent - especially those of us who maybe didn't want to be saddled with a lot of undergraduate debt.

I went to a State U with a full scholarship over a more "presitigious" university because I nor my parents could afford the tuition at the latter. It didn't make sense for me to take in so much debt so early when I knew I would be going to med school. Best decision I made, because I didn't have to deal with so many neurotic premeds and also got to have better relationships with my professors. I worked extremely hard for my grades and don't think I should be judged over someone who went to an Ivy because they could incidentally afford it.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I went to a State U with a full scholarship over a more "presitigious" university because I nor my parents could afford the tuition at the latter. It didn't make sense for me to take in so much debt so early when I knew I would be going to med school. Best decision I made, because I didn't have to deal with so many neurotic premeds and also got to have better relationships with my professors. I worked extremely hard for my grades and don't think I should be judged over someone who went to an Ivy because they could incidentally afford it.

+1 here... growing up in a poor farming community didn't exactly set me up for HYPS schools. Hell, it hardly set my classmates up for any four year institution. The meritocracy of only allowing Ivy-esque applicants into medical school is a recipe for SES disparities and reminds me of how medicine used to be a fairly exclusive club (especially for people of color, females, LGBT, etc.).

 

[RogueUnicorn]

+1 here... growing up in a poor farming community didn't exactly set me up for HYPS schools. Hell, it hardly set my classmates up for any four year institution. The meritocracy of only allowing Ivy-esque applicants into medical school is a recipe for SES disparities and reminds me of how medicine used to be a fairly exclusive club (especially for people of color, females, LGBT, etc.).

disagree on tense

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

disagree on tense

Fair enough

 

[chemdoctor]

Personally, I think that the institution you went to does have SOME value. It won't completely go to waste.

In my opinion, I feel that one shouldn't go to a school where they're struggling to keep a 3.2. At the same time however, one shouldn't go to a school where they easily get good grades. I think it's important to have a good understanding, learning the material, be able to apply it, it'll help you in the future and it'll help on the MCAT as well. Also you may get better research opportunities and have greater ties with networking.

Not saying to go to an Ivy and get a 3.2, but if you could go to a decent school and pull a 3.75/3.80, then it'd be better. Just my two cents personally. Coming out of a 3.75/3.80 at a decent school, you'll be getting lots of opportunities and information!

 

[PreMedMissteps]

Shouldnt adcoms think more negatively about GPA's from private schools / ivies considering grade inflation.
National Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities

There's grade inflation at many schools, public and private. Schools fear that parents won't continue to pay for sub 3.0 GPAs. Being able to report a high retention rate is important.

 

[863168]

There's grade inflation at many schools, public and private. Schools fear that parents won't continue to pay for sub 3.0 GPAs. Being able to report a high retention rate is important.

The students are even worse than the parents. Have you seen ratemyprofessor? Professor didn't give me an A, what a bad professor!

Ironically my university just sent me an email saying that they now offer "mini courses" to assist students with maintaining 12 credits (minimum amount of credits for federal loan assistance/financial aid) if you want to drop your current course you are failing with that awful professor who is going to give you a B. There are 1.5 credit options and all of them count towards your GPA despite not meeting any degree requirements, basically a GPA booster pack that you pay while remaining stagnant in the university system.

 

[libertyyne]

There's grade inflation at many schools, public and private. Schools fear that parents won't continue to pay for sub 3.0 GPAs. Being able to report a high retention rate is important.

Private schools are more likely to have larger grade inflation, at least according to the source i linked.

 

[TurtleyReady4Med]

This stinks

 

[lancecorpsman]

We get it, you go to an Ivy League school.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

The students are even worse than the parents. Have you seen ratemyprofessor? Professor didn't give me an A, what a bad professor!

Yes, and it probably starts in K-12. Students get used to getting "completion grades" and study guides that tell them exactly what will be on the tests. Plus, "extra credit" is often available to bring up grades. All of this along with the assumption that if you show up for class, you're essentially assured an A all leads to these "I deserve an A" expectations.

 

[21Rush12]

I strongly disagree. People who work hard from the beginning deserve additional opportunities and benefits over someone who screwed around during their teens and matriculated into a no-name school.

Heaven forbid someone be so irresponsible to have parents who divorce or overcome a learning disability after treatment. Send those applicants to the Carib--oh wait.


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[Goro]

Heaven forbid someone be so irresponsible to have parents who divorce or overcome a learning disability after treatment. Send those applicants to the Carib--oh wait.


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👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

 

[altblue]

Heaven forbid someone be so irresponsible to have parents who divorce or overcome a learning disability after treatment. Send those applicants to the Carib--oh wait.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Or work during school, take care of the young/old, or treat mental or physical illness lol

 

[calivianya]

There's grade inflation at many schools, public and private. Schools fear that parents won't continue to pay for sub 3.0 GPAs. Being able to report a high retention rate is important.

This is exactly why I really, really like my alma mater. It's a large school, greater than 20,000 students, and consistently ranks in the best values in the Southeast because it's dirt cheap.

End result?

No need to pad anyone's grades. If someone leaves, nobody cares because it's only $3-4k of tuition per semester anyway and there are thousands and thousands more students still going. The price point means that people who just want a degree but are poor would probably go even if the retention rate was astronomically low. It also has a very good local reputation for its science graduates because of the rigorous nature of the program. I have no doubt there was zero degree inflation.

 

[Dylanation]

If you have a 3.5-3.6 at a prestigious college (Little Ivy or regular Ivy) compared to someone who has a 4.0 at a mediocre school, does the former outweigh the latter?

No.

I strongly disagree. People who work hard from the beginning deserve additional opportunities and benefits over someone who screwed around during their teens and matriculated into a no-name school.

No.

There are some seriously bitter Ivy league graduates in this thread! Of course, as a mere mortal from a state school, I should be honored that they descend from their higher intellectual plane of existence to interact with people like me.

Yes.