<p>Hi everyone. I just finished my first semester of college, and it looks like I've ended up with an A, a B (science), and possibly a C or B (multivariate calc). Anyway, I know it's probably to soon to start obsessing about grad school, but I'm still curious what types of grades are needed to get into top grad schools. I'd really like to do molec/cell/developmental bio research, and I plan on continuing research I've started in high school. Oh yeah, my college isn't too competitive (but it is an ivy), and I took my fourth class pass/fail.</p>
<p>I had a 3.4 (ie half A's and half B's), and I got into all but one of the cell biology programs to which I applied. And that 3.4 includes a C in physics E&M, too.</p>
<p>All other things being equal, it's better to have a high GPA, but you can easily overcome any GPA deficiencies with outstanding research experience and letters of recommendation. Most people also get better grades as upperclassmen than they did as freshmen, so it's likely that your GPA will go up before you apply to graduate school.</p>
<p>If you want to apply for the big awards (Goldwater scholarship, Marshall scholarship, Rhodes scholarship, ...), I've heard that a good GPA to shoot for is 3.9; above that, the GPA doesn't matter too much.</p>
<p>My school grades you with percentage (the highest being.. obviously 100%). What would be the cutoff for a 4.00 GPA?</p>
<p>HopefullyIvy - you'll have to ask your school how they convert. Here at Penn, in individual, uncurved, classes, the conversion generally looks like this:</p>
<p>93-100 = A = 4.0
90-93 = A- = 3.7
88-90 = B+ = 3.3
83-88 = B = 3.0</p>
<p>and so forth. Although Penn allows A+ on the transcript, it is still counts as 4.0 - I've never had a professor who actually admitted to giving them out.</p>
<p>i wanted to do almost the exact same thing as the topic starter and i screwed up my first semester freshman year. i think it's pretty understandable as long as u do well later on.</p>
<p>things did get really better after that first semester cos then i learned how to do well. </p>
<p>and at penn, i got an A+ from margulies, but i switched out of the major though. still have no idea how i got that A+.</p>
<p>How is a international 3.5 GPA for a master of economics or finance?</p>