<p>hi...i am a junior doing good but i really wanted to know if it's better going to a mediocre school, (one that isnt the best but its not that bad either) and getting around a 3.8/4.0 gpa....or a really great school (ivy league or just about) and a 2.8/3.3 gpa?</p>
<p>Whats better to get into law school/med school/ graduate school or just betteer overall?</p>
<p>The average med school acceptee has a 3.5 gpa, so a 2.8 just won't cut it. But, then, neither will a mediocre school with a 3.8. For example, med and law schools prefer a UC degree over a Cal State degree, even if the Cal State degree is a 4.0.</p>
<p>average school and top grades.</p>
<p>That is not a comparison that is necessarily valid because different schools have different levels of grade inflation or deflation. For instance, an engineer might have a much harder time getting a 3.8 GPA at Purdue than at an Ivy.</p>
<p>Going to a top school doesn't mean you'll get lower grades. Ever hear of "grade inflation"? If you're smart enough to get into a top school, you're smart enough to figure out "the game."</p>
<p>I disagree with the assertions that a 4.0 at a "lesser" school matters to medical schools. And bluebayou, your second sentence is an out and out falsity.</p>
<p>For the most part, it simply doesn't matter that much (I'm only talking med school admissions here b/c that's what I know) what name you have on your diploma. At least not in a way that you can quantify in a direct comparison. Especially if we're talking in the 3.5+ range. Perhaps for those borderline candidates with a 3.25, name might matter, but there are going to be a lot of things that are discussed before they talk about institutional quality. </p>
<p>And the classic example everyone brings up: who would you pick if everything about two candidates were the same is purely hypothetical. Certainly there must be some conversation about who is going to get the last spot in a medical school class, but with only 125 medical schools in the US and over 37000 applicants, the likelihood any applicant is going to be in that situation is infinitively small. There are always going to be things that separate candidates so that no two are ever exactly equal in all areas...especially because med school admissions are a very holistic evaluation of the applicant.</p>
<p>Lastly, I think the OP is seriously overestimating the difference in difficulty between a top school and even a severely below par school. Middle to top...maybe .2 points on the GPA difference. And that's an amount that is met simply by comparing known inflationary and deflationary schools of similar quality.</p>
<p>Define "okay" college.</p>
<p>on okay college is one that is pretty easy to get into (like siena college, temple)...a college that someone with a highschool gpa of 3.3 and averagea sat grades</p>
<p>To position yourself better for grad school, I think it's clear that a gaudy gpa at a mediocre school is better than an ok gpa at a better school. Whatever your grades are, the LSAT, MCAT, and GRE serve as a reality check on your brainpower.</p>
<p>My brother is going through the law school admissions process right now. He's at Duke with close to a 3.3 a 165 LSAT and he got 20K a year at Tulane. It's not his first choice, but Tulane is a great school and his GPA wasn't amazing. He was also accepted at UGA, UF, Emory, and American. Hasn't heard back from the rest.</p>
<p>I think it varies depending on what grad work you're talking about, and what school it is.</p>
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junior doing good
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<p>are you sure?</p>
<p>hahaha well i meant..who cares</p>