<p>I've noticed something about this board that has me scratching my head. It's how college GPAs are characterized on here. </p>
<p>I have seen a 3.7ish (overall GPA) range on here mentioned as being "good" not "excellent" but just "good/okay but could be better". This is curious to me and I need some perspective here. For most purposes, a 3.7 is an (A-) average and lands you on the college honor roll.</p>
<p>Is it just the culture of this board where anything less than a 3.9+ is a lauce? </p>
<p>Now, I understand that for certain fields a 3.7 wouldn't get you into a great program (ex: PhD in philosophy), and I also understand that GPA ranges vary by discipline for grad admissions. So I get that. But overall, a 3.7+ college gpa should be impressive, no?</p>
<p>Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I only visit the Grad forum sometimes the Law forum.</p>
<p>You don't need to say " 0.0-2.5=Bad" and blah blah because I don't want anyone to feel bad about their performance. I'm just trying to understand something I see frequently on the board.</p>
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<p>Yes. </p>
<p>You are seeing several things at work on CC: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many of the people here are among the most ambitious, high-achieving students at their college. Most students who apply to grad schools don’t know half of what CC posters do about the process. Remember that CC posters are a minority of applicants.</p></li>
<li><p>Some feel (perhaps culturally) obligated to downplay their achievements. A student might say, "I know my 3.7 GPA is poor, but . . . " when really he is saying that he is not perfect.</p></li>
<li><p>Excellent students at weaker universities or at heavily grade-inflated schools may feel that it should be easy for everyone to get a 3.9 or 4.0. </p></li>
<li><p>People are messing with heads.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Yay! Clear cut answer! Lol! Thanks.</p>
<p>Yes, i’ve noticed this too…when i was applying for grad schools and frequently checked this board (and gradcafe) I tended to feel pretty much average and/or discouraged because of (what i found out was later) the culture of the board. My overall GPA was something like a 3.55 and my major GPA something like a 3.8…I ended up getting into most the programs I applied for and I’m currently at UChicago on scholarship. Don’t let people get you down :-)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t ignore the role that the “I wouldn’t join a club that would accept somebody like me” mentality plays on this board. Everybody imagines that because they didn’t get 4.0, they aren’t the best yada yada. Also, people lie and embellish because of insecurity or to intimidate others. If you want to see a comical amount of this nonsense check out forum boards for premeds on student doctor network [What</a> are my Chances? | Student Doctor Network](<a href=“Medical Student Communities | Student Doctor Network”>Medical Student Communities | Student Doctor Network) This is full of obnoxious college students attempting to undermine one another’s confidence and derive some perverse joy out of making others feel inferior.</p>