simply attending a "difficult" school?

[blackarrowmoose]

Ok well im sure some of you could relate to this issue. I come onto SDN and find many people scoring significantly high on their undergrad coursework than i am. Im not saying im doing "bad", i haven't gotten anything below a B, but i haven't got anything above an A- either.

Alot of my peers claim my school is incredibly difficult to attain good grades at, and im starting to believe this. No matter how much i study, i feel like theres just a limit to how well i can do. Anyone else feel this way about their school?

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[Perrotfish]

I don't know your school, but yes some schools are harder than others and some majors are harder than others. I know multiple people in my Undergrad who literally failed out of certain engineering degrees only to get straight As as Management students. I also know people who failed out of that management program that got straight As at a lower ranked school. They didn't suddenly learn good study habits. At one extreme of the spectrum there was at least one engineer major at my school that not only had an insane washout rate (>90%) but even amoung the few that made it through no one got a high GPA, which we all knew because Magna Cum Laude was a 3.4 and no one from that department ever recieved it. It keeps the degree valuabe but it does sort of hurt you if you end up wanting to go to graduate schools.

As a general rule public schools grade harder than private schools (normalized for admissions criteria) and engineering grades harder than pure sciences grades harder than the liberal arts. If you want medical school and you're surrounded by hard working geniuses making 2.5s switch majors or transfer before you dig yourself a hole you can climb out of.

 

[Narmerguy]

Only real way to "get even" or to show that your GPA is not indicative of your abilities is to kill the MCAT.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Only real way to "get even" or to show that your GPA is not indicative of your abilities is to kill the MCAT.

Exactly. Score well on the MCAT or attend an easier school.

 

[Perrotfish]

Exactly. Score well on the MCAT or attend an easier school.

Don't count on a good MCAT to salvage a below aveage GPA. That was my strategy and it still took a miracle and an SMP to get in. If you're sure you want to go to medical school then game the game now, don't play catch-up later.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Ok well im sure some of you could relate to this issue. I come onto SDN and find many people scoring significantly high on their undergrad coursework than i am. Im not saying im doing "bad", i haven't gotten anything below a B, but i haven't got anything above an A- either.

Alot of my peers claim my school is incredibly difficult to attain good grades at, and im starting to believe this. No matter how much i study, i feel like theres just a limit to how well i can do. Anyone else feel this way about their school?

it might not be the school.

 

[blackarrowmoose]

it might not be the school.

maybe not, but i do consistently score above the average.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I don't know your school, but yes some schools are harder than others and some majors are harder than others. I know multiple people in my Undergrad who literally failed out of certain engineering degrees only to get straight As as Management students. I also know people who failed out of that management program that got straight As at a lower ranked school. They didn't suddenly learn good study habits. At one extreme of the spectrum there was at least one engineer major at my school that not only had an insane washout rate (>90%) but even amoung the few that made it through no one got a high GPA, which we all knew because Magna Cum Laude was a 3.4 and no one from that department ever recieved it. It keeps the degree valuabe but it does sort of hurt you if you end up wanting to go to graduate schools.

As a general rule public schools grade harder than private schools (normalized for admissions criteria) and engineering grades harder than pure sciences grades harder than the liberal arts. If you want medical school and you're surrounded by hard working geniuses making 2.5s switch majors or transfer before you dig yourself a hole you can climb out of.

 

[Lil Mick]

Increasing the amount of studying doesn't necessary mean increasing one's grade. I'd suggest testing other methods of studying if you are consistantly getting lower grades than you expect (i.e. doing problems instead of memorizing notes or vice versa).

Also, your major and your school may be to blame. At my undergrad, engineering, math, and physics were known for low gpas (no one graduated with a 3.9 or higher), while these weren't as hard at other schools in that city. If you happen to be at a good engineering school and picked chemical engineering as your major, you might want to consider switching majors if changing study habits don't help.

 

[movax]

Don't count on a good MCAT to salvage a below aveage GPA. That was my strategy and it still took a miracle and an SMP to get in. If you're sure you want to go to medical school then game the game now, don't play catch-up later.

What was your "below average" GPA if you feel like sharing?

 

[Negrodamus]

Ok well im sure some of you could relate to this issue. I come onto SDN and find many people scoring significantly high on their undergrad coursework than i am. Im not saying im doing "bad", i haven't gotten anything below a B, but i haven't got anything above an A- either.

Alot of my peers claim my school is incredibly difficult to attain good grades at, and im starting to believe this. No matter how much i study, i feel like theres just a limit to how well i can do. Anyone else feel this way about their school?

Maybe it's time to transfer to an easier school?

 

[DancingThruLife]

Your Pre-med advisor should have better information on how medical school admissions committees view your undergraduate's curriculum. At my undergrad, we were told that med. schools knew of our curriculum and we could "mentally" add extra GPA points to correct for grade inflation (or grade DEflation, in our case) when we were deciding which schools to apply to.

 

[NickNaylor]

Wah wah I go to a hard school wah wah.

 

[Perrotfish]

Your Pre-med advisor should have better information on how medical school admissions committees view your undergraduate's curriculum. At my undergrad, we were told that med. schools knew of our curriculum and we could "mentally" add extra GPA points to correct for grade inflation (or grade DEflation, in our case) when we were deciding which schools to apply to.

I would go ahead and not listen to this advice. I strongly doubt your premedical advisor has an inside line to all of the medical school ADCOMs across the nation.

 

[2012mdc]

I would go ahead and not listen to this advice. I strongly doubt your premedical advisor has an inside line to all of the medical school ADCOMs across the nation.

To an extent it's probably true. My GPA was 3.15 and MCAT was solid at 33 but not spectacular. Didn't have trouble getting into med school because I came from a top 5 UG. If I had that GPA at an average state school I would have been in trouble probably.

 

[Perrotfish]

To an extent it's probably true. My GPA was 3.15 and MCAT was solid at 33 but not spectacular. Didn't have trouble getting into med school because I came from a top 5 UG. If I had that GPA at an average state school I would have been in trouble probably.

I'm that there are a few very top colleges where this advice is true, but the advice itself is so common as to be an Urban legend. In any event I wouldn't take a premedical advisor's word for it.

 

[IlDestriero]

I would go ahead and not listen to this advice. I strongly doubt your premedical advisor has an inside line to all of the medical school ADCOMs across the nation.

I would doubt most pre med advisors have an inside line to any adcom at all, including one at a medical school affiliated with his/her university.
My school is really hard = my grades suck => DO if you're lucky.
Change majors or change schools. Don't count on a 40 on the MCAT, and don't expect a high score to make up for a GPA <3.5.
Though it did seem to for me. But, my undergraduate university was pretty well known.
Good luck, and seriously look into an easier major. It's not a sign of failure, it's a smart decision. What's your goal? ChemE or MD?

 

[DancingThruLife]

I'm that there are a few very top colleges where this advice is true, but the advice itself is so common as to be an Urban legend. In any event I wouldn't take a premedical advisor's word for it.

Right, these are generalities, of course. I am not sure what college the OP attends, so I was suggesting that he might be in a college with a similar reputation (I also went to a top 5 UG). I wasn't trying to sound like a douche, just suggesting that this might be the case for him.

But your point is well taken: if you have a 2.8 from a top 5 and a 3.9 from not-a top 5, well, things probably won't pan out too nicely b/c of your 2.8, regardless of the name recognition. It gets difficult to estimate the effect of UG name recognition when it's a 3.7 from a top 5 vs. 3.9 from not a top 5... it's all such a crapshoot anwyay.

Similarly, the recognition of your undergrad should come from people that matter (adcoms, interviewers, rankings? etc.), not solely from your student body (read: everyone thinks their classes are hard. lol).

 

[Perrotfish]

Right, these are generalities, of course. I am not sure what college the OP attends, so I was suggesting that he might be in a college with a similar reputation (I also went to a top 5 UG). I wasn't trying to sound like a douche, just suggesting that this might be the case for him.

But your point is well taken: if you have a 2.8 from a top 5 and a 3.9 from not-a top 5, well, things probably won't pan out too nicely b/c of your 2.8, regardless of the name recognition. It gets difficult to estimate the effect of UG name recognition when it's a 3.7 from a top 5 vs. 3.9 from not a top 5... it's all such a crapshoot anwyay.

Similarly, the recognition of your undergrad should come from people that matter (adcoms, interviewers, rankings? etc.), not solely from your student body (read: everyone thinks their classes are hard. lol).

And the ironic thing is that the schools with that amazing name recognition that might make up for a poor GPA are almost all private schools that are well known for grade inflation. Meanwhile it's mostly the public schools that people role their eyes at that have problems with relatively low GPAs (normalized for admissions requirements).

 

[torshi]

what school you go to?