Grade Deflation/Easiest undergrad year

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ParthVader

ParthVader

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So I was wondering, what do you guys think is the easiest year of undergrad..? I'm talking GPA wise btw... I'm a freshmen right now, and most of my classes are "weed out" classes... sucks because about 85% of the kids who started down the premed path at my university got brought down by really harsh grades from these classes...


also... another question:

When you apply to med school, do they consider your undergrad institution... Because most people agree that my current undergrad institution has grade Deflation.
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If you apply after your third year and get into med school, then I'd wager that your 4th year is definitely the easiest :p

About the consideration of undergraduate institution, it is taken into account--but not as much as people think it will. Going to MIT and getting a 3.8 is harder than getting a 3.8 at most places--but the effect will be minimal (I'd estimate a .1-.2 leeway at MOST).
 
ParthVader said:
So I was wondering, what do you guys think is the easiest year of undergrad..? I'm talking GPA wise btw... I'm a freshmen right now, and most of my classes are "weed out" classes... sucks because about 85% of the kids who started down the premed path at my university got brought down by really harsh grades from these classes...
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I actually found junior year to be the toughest year for me with freshman to be one of the easiest. For my school, freshman year was more about whether you can adjust to the pace of college classes and put up with a heavier workload. Those classes just set the science foundation for the upper level classes.


also... another question:

When you apply to med school, do they consider your undergrad institution... Because most people agree that my current undergrad institution has grade Deflation.
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I'm not an administrator, so I really can't give a good answer to this question. I can tell you that I go to a state university, and I still got interviews at top medical schools. I'm know it helps to go to a better college, but I'm not sure to what degree it does.

Good luck.
 
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The (more or less) general consensus here on SDN is that going to a notoriously hard school might help you a bit if you still keep a high GPA, but it won't help at all if you don't keep your grades up. In other words, a 3.7 from [Difficult Institution] > 3.7 from [Easy Institution], but 3.5 [Difficult] < 3.7 [Easy].

Just do your best to keep your grades up; remember, it is often said that medical schools like to see an upward trend in grades over time (assuming there was some deficiency at the beginning of the college career).
 
ckenne6 said:
I actually found junior year to be the toughest year for me with freshman to be one of the easiest. For my school, freshman year was more about whether you can adjust to the pace of college classes and put up with a heavier workload. Those classes just set the science foundation for the upper level classes

Good luck.
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Yah, the manner in which they teach freshmen science courses at my college is borderline ******ed... I've got an A- GPA, and I'm strong in science. Luckily I took all the APs in high school and faired better than most. The professors that run the program at my school give ridiculously hard tests.. by that i mean the average always less than a 50%... and the only way to get an A is to get about 85%.. Most end up with Cs and B-'s.. with a handful of B and B+s and the rare A- and A's. I've always thought that these courses should be well taught so that they act as a foundation upon which students can build upon...I mean I know they're weed-out courses... but the ones who are actually good at science don't really learn much..
 
ParthVader said:
Yah, the manner in which they teach freshmen science courses at my college is borderline ******ed... I've got an A- GPA, and I'm strong in science. Luckily I took all the APs in high school and faired better than most. The professors that run the program at my school give ridiculously hard tests.. by that i mean the average always less than a 50%... and the only way to get an A is to get about 85%.. Most end up with Cs and B-'s.. with a handful of B and B+s and the rare A- and A's. I've always thought that these courses should be well taught so that they act as a foundation upon which students can build upon...I mean I know they're weed-out courses... but the ones who are actually good at science don't really learn much..
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The only science classes we have where the averages are often (but not always) above a B-/C+/C are the upper division courses. I'm pretty sure this is the norm.
 
most people think senior year is easiest (even if you dont apply beforehand)
and they think sophomore year was their hardest (sophomore slump)
 
mind revealing the school? it doesn't sound like MIT/harvard
 
My freshmen year was the easiest by far.
 
Freshman year was the easiest, although I managed my lowest GPA (3.4ish) because of lack of motivation. Switched to pre-med and the A's started racking up. Junior year was the toughest for me. Biochem and the rest of my upper div. bio classes were a pain.
 
Well, I never took an elective until my senior year. I kind of did this by mistake. My mentality when registering for classes was, "what do I need to take next?" and took it. I pulled through pretty well, but man, some semesters were rough. That aside, now I'm taking only one "tough class" and the rest are easy BS classes... so, senior year by the mile!
 
i would say easiest year for me was freshman year because that's when i was taking all the basic science classes. once you get into upper division classes, it gets harder.

senior year is not really "easy" in my opinion. i'm still taking upper div classes that are hard as ****, but it's just "easy" in that i don't give a **** if i get a B/C as long as i pass, lol.
 
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Senior year isn't easy, at least not at my school. Depending on your major, you either have to pass a series of grueling exams, or write a long thesis, in order to graduate. All on top of a full course load.

In terms of easiest year... I dunno dude. The only time school will be easy is if you let it be easy. For some reason I always tend to overcommit myself so school has never really been "easy." I think in general freshman year isn't the best for grades. It takes a while to get used to college, and I remember life being more difficult before I figured out how to work the system and study effectively. I work harder for my grades than I did freshman year, but really as long as I work hard I get a good grade in the class. It took me until later on to figure out how to correlate effort with course grades.
 
thegetupkid said:
About the consideration of undergraduate institution, it is taken into account--but not as much as people think it will. Going to MIT and getting a 3.8 is harder than getting a 3.8 at most places--but the effect will be minimal (I'd estimate a .1-.2 leeway at MOST).
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It is a common misconception that coming from a school like MIT means a sucky GPA won't hurt you. I spent the entire cycle listening to my mom and non-premed friends say "but you go to MIT, they will take that into account, you can get in anywhere"...

I'm not sure how big your school is/how many people go premed, but at MIT for example where about 8% of ungrads consider themselves premed (and then add alum applicants as well), you aren't just competing against the premeds from other schools but also those from MIT. A med school might look at your lower stats and still be impressed by them because of your school, even though they might be lower than someone from a smaller university. But, if they have already accepted n people from your school with better stats, they aren't going to take a whole class filled with MIT/Harvard/Yale etc so they may accept someone from another school over you.

So- if there are a number of students from your university who have a higher gpa and you apply to the same med schools (and for the purposes of this exercise the rest of your app is identical) they will be the ones accepted while you might get waitlisted. I'm not sure if this holds true everywhere, but I know a number of schools look at how many students they are taking from which undergrad universities.
 
Freshman year is obviously the easiest because all of the *****s who got "weeded out" are gone thereafter and so is the curve.
 
Snarkalark said:
Freshman year is obviously the easiest because all of the *****s who got "weeded out" are gone thereafter and so is the curve.
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I disagree with this because though it might be the easiest academically, it's also a huge adjustment coming from high school.

That's why I got my worst GPA during my freshman year, then stepped it up as a sophomore and junior (with the exception of one class), before coasting through half a semester as a senior before graduating.

So in order from easiest to hardest: sophomore, junior, freshman (senior doesn't count for me since I was hardly in school at all).
 
Easiest year- Freshman. People get weeded out for a reason, and it's not an issue with the classes themselves.

Toughest year- Junior. In one quarter in particular, I took:

- Gene Regulation (had a really high A, got D- on final, got a B+ lol)
- Physiology II (got an A)
- Physiology Lab II (it's own class; ton of work) (got an A)
- Biochemistry II (got an A)
- Inorganic Chemistry (got an A)
- Independent Tutorial (10hrs/week in lab & 1-on-1 discussions) (got an A)

This was the only time in my undergrad years when I ever did anything on weekends or put in more than maybe an hour or two per day. Also, I've probably missed as many classes as I've attended in the past few years :)
 
Its difficult to say which is easiest because I tend to think of what I am doing currently as the hardest. I guess my freshman year was the easiest, followed by sophomore and then junior. I cannot say about senior year until next year:). Freshman year I actually did PSEO, so I was a high school student, but I was taking non-science classes for my high school requirements made it easier. After freshman year, multiple science labs, upper division, writing intensive, etc. Whether freshman year is easy will depend on your motivation and how well you adjust.
 
Freshman year was probably my hardest. I was honors Chemical Engineering and taking all my calc, ochem, physics, bio, at the same time to fit things into my schedule. I switched to a Chem major, and it's been easier since. Also, I think I got more used to college after freshman year, and I think that's been a part of it too.
 
i was a biomed engineering major.... for me senior year was easiest (i took two years before applying to med school so it counted), followed by freshman year, sophomore year and junior year was by far the hardest and it didn't help that i took the mcat that year too (i was originally planning on taking the "traditional" route)

TooMuchResearch said:
The (more or less) general consensus here on SDN is that going to a notoriously hard school might help you a bit if you still keep a high GPA, but it won't help at all if you don't keep your grades up. In other words, a 3.7 from [Difficult Institution] > 3.7 from [Easy Institution], but 3.5 [Difficult] < 3.7 [Easy].
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i was with you until there....i think the gap has to be much bigger for the GPA from the "easy" school to be considered more favorably than the GPA from the "difficult" school. i would say more like a 3.3 vs. 3.7 or 3.5 vs. 4.0 ....something like that. however, as has been discussed numerous times in other threads, the prestige of your undergrad institution does play a role and it might not always be in the form of GPA forgiveness.
 
skinMD said:
i was a biomed engineering major.... for me senior year was easiest (i took two years before applying to med school so it counted), followed by freshman year, sophomore year and junior year was by far the hardest and it didn't help that i took the mcat that year too (i was originally planning on taking the "traditional" route)



i was with you until there....i think the gap has to be much bigger for the GPA from the "easy" school to be considered more favorably than the GPA from the "difficult" school. i would say more like a 3.3 vs. 3.7 or 3.5 vs. 4.0 ....something like that. however, as has been discussed numerous times in other threads, the prestige of your undergrad institution does play a role and it might not always be in the form of GPA forgiveness.
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Thx for all the input guys.. I think that its just that I had a hard time adjusting my freshman year, like some of the posters have said.. Hopefully my GPA goes up from a 3.68... I was just afraid that most people's grades go down after freshman year.. and I really hope thats not the case for me.. becuase if it is a 3.68 is not a good start off point.. 0.-


Btw: I'm a Biomed Eng major too actually... Do you mind telling me if your grades went up or down skin?
 
a 3.68 is perfectly fine...especially seeing as you are a BME since we are required to take lots of science classes all at once right at the start (and it obviously doesn't change). in addition to getting a boost because you go to a "difficult" institution you also get a boost for being an engineer. despite my GPA of just under 3.6 not a single one of my interviewers questioned my ability to succeed in med school, several said "you shouldn't have any problems" with med school coursework and one even said that med school should be easy after BME.

according to AMCAS my GPAs were (to the nearest 0.05):
Freshman: 3.6
Soph: 3.65 (took a total of 40 credits)
Junior: 3.3 (ouch)
Senior: 3.7
 
Easiest yer would be fourth after you got in or freshman year (eventhough this was my lowest GPA)...just because the classes are easiest
 
freshman year was hard for me because it was the first time away from home, having to get adjusted to living on my own, etc... the classes were the easiest and least intense, but outside concerns made my first year hard.

sophomore year when I took ochem, physics, and genetics and biochemistry was the toughest academically, but i was used to living college life so it wasn't that bad.

this year is my final year and definitely the hardest because of senioritis. The sad thing is i can't afford to slack off since i haven't applied to med schools yet. Though my classes are definitely not as intense as last year i just don't have the motivation.
 
ParthVader said:
Thx for all the input guys.. I think that its just that I had a hard time adjusting my freshman year, like some of the posters have said.. Hopefully my GPA goes up from a 3.68... I was just afraid that most people's grades go down after freshman year.. and I really hope thats not the case for me.. becuase if it is a 3.68 is not a good start off point.. 0.-


Btw: I'm a Biomed Eng major too actually... Do you mind telling me if your grades went up or down skin?
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Yeah, I'm a biomed engineer too. While the classes (and workload) got harder as the years went by, my GPA went up. If nothing else, I just liked the classes better, and I was less annoyed with studying for them. Also, I got good friends in my major. By working together, it made easier to put up with the long hours that's required to work.
 
Easiest year: Junior year. I'm in physics, Orgo, Cancer Bio, and and a philosophy class. Philo is my minor (and the teacher loves me) I've done research with cancer, so Cancer Bio was a joke. My physics teacher is an old priest who puts together one of the easiest classes I've ever taken. Orgo, for whatever reason, just comes natural to me.

Hardest year: Sophomore year. I took spanish, gen. chem, genetics, and cell bio. Genetics and cell bio were easy, but i took B's in my spanish and gen chem classes. Stupid spanish classes....
 
-
 
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People keep citing that a harder school gets you more benefit of the doubt. The only thing is, aside from name, there is no way to tell which is a harder school. Name is not a strong guideline for it either. Most studies have shown that the vast majority of undergrad institutions have some sort of grade inflation. The schools that are toughest to get into tend to be some of the worst. There were only like 2 or 3 schools in the country that had the same averages that they had for decades before the 80s when it really began.

I have friends that graduated with mediocre gpas from Princeton, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Harvard, Columbia and Cornell. They all had to do a second or third application cycle with a 3.3-3.4 range. There is more to it than just the grades and name of the school. It is also hilarious to me that a 3.3 is mediocre considering my dad got into every medical school he applied to in the 60s with a 3.0 and was later on top of his class.
 
So simply put: freshman year I thought was hard while I was in it, taking the classes...:rolleyes:

Little did I know it only gets worse. Much worse. But although workload gets worse, your study skills and time management so get better (of they should...) so you adapt to it pretty quickly. So don't freak, your GPA is still decent, just keep at it.
 
so freshman.soph.junior.senior is what im betting my money on
 
Senior year was the toughest for me because I was determined to graduate with a 3.8+ gpa so I would get into Phi Beta Kappa and graduate Magna Cum Laude with honors in my science major (biochemistry and molecular biology). I also was a varsity soccer player and competed in snowboard competitions, regionally and nationally, so I had little time to relax and chill.

I did not apply to med school until after I graduated from college ( two gap years) so I was determined to finish undergrad on a very high note, which I did. I wanted my transcript to look as good as possible when I eventually applied to med school.

So the answer to the question of this thread really depends upon your own individual goals and motivation. Lots of people slack senior year, especially if they have a med school admission in hand, which is understandable, but my situation was different and I pushed the envelope as hard as I could. I am glad I did because I achieved all of the goals that I set for myself.
 
My sophomore year was pretty tough. My freshman year was definitely the easiest. Junior and senior years have been about the same.
 
I thought my first year was the easiest. Second year was slightly harder, third year (this year) has been significantly harder - not really because of the courses, but because I'm involved in more things and have less time to do the same work.
 
Freshmen-Junior year: each semester was harder than the last.
Senior year, Fall: one class made my life a living hell. Lazier than ever before.
Senior year, Spring: this better be the best semester ever.
 
I have to say it gets easier with each year, to the contrary what most believe upper level classes means harder. Freshman year was most difficult for me just for adjusting to the whole college life and tricky course syllabus for each class. It got easier each year with increasing GPA as I developed better study strategies and figured out how to use time effectively. Senior year should be the easiest since the pressure will finally be off your back once you get accepted. Anything that happens between the time you get accepted and matriculation no longer needs to be explained to any med school during interviews or whatever.
 
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