<p>Well, here we go again, the title is self-explanatory in itself. It's like the "is it better to get an B in an honor class or an A in a regular class" question. I'm currently a freshman in a "top 25 college," and I've been getting not very spectacular grades in some of the areas of my studies. I know the famous catchphrase that "grades aren't everything," but they do undeniably constitute an important aspect for whatever you are aiming at in the future, whether it'd be graduate schools or occupational fields. So sometimes it makes me wonder if I'm competing with someone who is a from a lesser known college and has a good GPA for a position, what would happen considering that we are pretty much leveled off in other areas. </p>
<p>If it makes no difference in what schools we go to as long we do well, why do people still want to get into good-name schools, knowing that they will probably have a more difficult time learning the materials? Would it have been better for me to have gone to a safe school and get relatively better grades without too much painstaking effort...? Even if I should be motivated that I should always strive for the best, but my "best" doesn't always achieve the most ideal results. And it feels slightly discouraging at times.</p>
<p>I know there are probably some of you who are going to rant about how college rankings don't matter, and some "average" colleges actually have outstanding teaching qualities, blah, blah, blah... I admit that it could be true, but that's not what I really want to hear. I just want some opinions, personal experiences, etc., not arguments about how we shouldn't care about college rankings and things like that. </p>
<p>Anyone else feeling like they are in the same shoes?</p>
<p>The class difficulty usually doesn't vary too much, so someone who could get good grades in an average school could probably get good grades at a good school as well.</p>
<p>I can tell you from experience that there is a huge difference in rigor between different colleges. </p>
<p>If you come out of MIT, for instance, your grades hardly even matter for most jobs. You still got out of MIT. </p>
<p>It's very easy to get a 3.7+ GPA at a third tier school if you happen to be bright enough to go to a first tier school. Most classes have some kind of grading curve and if you're smarter than everyone else you'll be on the top.</p>
<p>I personally went from a 3.9 GPA to a 3.0 GPA after transferring, despite working harder at the school I transferred into.</p>
<p>Having a super high GPA only really matters if you want to go to law or medical school.</p>
<p>^ hmm I don't know about every ivy, but my friends at cornell (who all did really well in HS) say it's really hard there, and they have to work for those B's. most of them are in difficult majors though. I imagine the other ivies aren't exactly cake either since you're competing with other really bright kids. </p>
<p>Rainlotte, I worry about this too. I currently go to a decent private college where my gpa is just over a 3.8, which is good, since i'm pre-Law most of the time. Well i'm trying to transfer to another college (for reasons i wont' get into here) and this other school has a reputation for being difficult, I risk a much lower gpa...i don't know what to do. I guess i'll wait to see if i'm accepted and figure it out.</p>
<p>Think about how much you like you're school. Is it a good fit academically/socially? sure you could probably get easier grades at a less competitive college, but is it worth it to you?</p>
<p>
[quote]
^ hmm I don't know about every ivy, but my friends at cornell (who all did really well in HS) say it's really hard there, and they have to work for those B's. most of them are in difficult majors though. I imagine the other ivies aren't exactly cake either since you're competing with other really bright kids.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Perhaps I phrased that wrong. What I was trying to get at is generous curves more so than "free" grades.</p>
<p>but cornell is infamous for that... easier to get in, HARD to get out! my brother goes to cornell so lol. I'm sure other ivies are the other way around.</p>
<p>The idea that kids at Ivies can just show up and get great grades doesn't hold that much water. Does it happen at times, sure. But if you take a few thousand of the hardest working kids in the country and put them into a school, most of them are going to work really hard.</p>
<p>I don't know about other ivies but Penn is HARD. If there are free B's being given out I apparently signed up for the wrong classes. I am a sciences major though so it could just be that science is not my calling. oh well</p>
<p>Ivies used to have grade inflation--when compared to state schools, I don't know if most Ivies still have this. At Princeton, the administration has made an effort to cap the number of A's--generally 15% of the class gets A's, 15% get's A-'s, etc. So, to get an A at Princeton, you have to be in the top 15% of the students. That's difficult.</p>