<p>Is it harder to get a high GPA at an Ivy League school/Top rated school in comparison to schools such as Michigan/Texas/Baylor and other state/mid level schools? </p>
<p>I was just wondering if it would be beneficial to go to a lower ranked school to get a higher GPA. I'm not sure if they bell curve at Ivies and such schools, but wouldn't that kill you GPA, unless your super smart and ride the curve up.</p>
<p>I read that your undergrad institution doesn't matter for med school admissions as long as you went to a decent undergrad school, so I would think if GPA is easier at a mid-level school then that would work to a "med hopeful's" benefit. </p>
<p>Obviously getting a higher GPA will be harder to attain at an Ivy league in comparison to a state school. First off you are now on a whole new level in an Ivy league school - you compete with the top students in the nation who mostly have the hardworking mentality. Because of this your classes are going to require a lot of work and be hard to get an A in. However, it does not mean it’s impossible. At a state school you will definitely be able to get a higher GPA but that does not mean you won’t have to work at all to get the grades.</p>
<p>On a side note there may be the benefits of going to an Ivy league: you may have more facilities and funding, the rigor may prepare you better for the MCAT, and you can have slightly more leeway in your GPA, but not a whole lot.</p>
<p>It depends on how well you do and what grades you get. Nobody can tell you what your GPA difference would be, unless you’re talking inflation/deflation etc. There is a post on here somewhere about that…</p>
<p>What I meant was, UT-Austin is a more competitive school compared to Texas A&M and UT-Dallas or even Baylor, so would getting the same grades be more difficult? Would the additional competition make it harder to get good grades? Or does it not make a difference.</p>
<p>Would a student who is capable of getting A’s, find it harder to do so at UT-Austin compared to the schools mentioned above? Not grade inflation/deflation, but at schools that aren’t Ivies, but are large state schools is it harder to get the A’s?</p>
<p>It may or may not be, depending on different factors. For example, do you think you would perform better with competition or by being one of the top students? If someone capable of getting A’s goes to an “easy” school and hates being there, they may not perform as good as they could at a school they like more, whether it’s supposedly harder or not.</p>
<p>well, my high school is not very competitive and I am always one of the top students. So, I guess, from my current experiences, I’d do better at a less competitive school. But then again, I have never been exposed to true competition (only in sports), so I have no clue how I’d perform in such environments.</p>
<p>Go to the school that makes you happy, GPA worries will sort themselves out. A lot of highly competitive schools balance their competitiveness out by having abnormally high curves (curve on a B+ rather than a C for example).</p>
<p>Is there a difference in the difficulty of courses at say a Harvard when compared to a UT-Austin-like school? Would it be less challenging at UT-Austin or Rice than Harvard? I just don’t want to be way behind if I end up getting accepted at a top school, after coming out of a terrible Ontario curriculum, no AP/IB, and nothing at all (Only some math contests which I did poorly on).</p>
<p>Because as of now, I have no clue where to go next year based on what makes me happy. I am going to go to Houston in March Break (my cousins live there) and will take a look at Rice/UT-Austin/Baylor/Tex. A&M, but I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to look at Harvard.</p>
<p>EDIT: I don’t mean to sound like I think I am going to get into Harvard. I am just using it as an example because it offers sufficient FA for internationals and is need-blind, thus it is one of my top choices (in terms of the top schools, UT-Austin is my top choice for a “realistic school” that I can get into…but my choices aren’t based on much, because I haven’t visited these schools or anything)</p>
<p>you went to AZ State for undergrad or medical school? </p>
<p>What I mean is at undergrad…coming from a bad curriculum and such would I fall behind at a top school? Do top schools have a higher standard for marking, test difficulty, and overall curriculum?</p>
<p>You don’t use much of what you learned in undergrad in med school, so in that sense no you won’t be behind. However if you go to a school that doesn’t challenge you at least somewhat, you may not be prepared for being challenged in med school (if such an “easy” college exists). I don’t think any of the colleges you’ve listed in your past posts would be a bad choice. Getting bad grades at a school that you think would prepare you better is far worse than going to a less prestigious school, being happy, and doing well.</p>
<p>With the exception of Princeton the Ivy League colleges and top rated schools are known for having grade inflation, but as other posters have pointed out the caliber of the students is higher so maybe it all comes out in the wash.</p>
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<p>You read that? All schools keep statistics about how many of their graduates are accepted to medical schools. I can guarantee you that the Ivy Leagues and other top schools have a higher rate for their graduates. You would be well advised to check out the statistics for the schools you are considering.</p>
<p>^Exactly, there is also a lot of pressure on the grads of top schools to take time off, especially when they aren’t up to par. You’ll notice that a large amount of students from the Ivy League have taken at least a year off. Many schools are very demanding in their requirements of writing committee letters (which are required from your school if it is done and is a significant factor against you if you don’t get one from a school that is known to write them), so they can essentially force their students into not applying until they are satisfied that they will definitely get in. I believe it was Swarthmore or another top LAC that got a lot of flack a few years ago because they had a 100% acceptance rate to medical school due to the fact that they were only posting the stats of students that applied during their time at Swarthmore and were also refusing to write a huge number of their applicants committee letters unless they were completely confident that they would get in.</p>
<p>Now, I think I confused people with my previous statements. I was trying to say that if I come out of a high school that isn’t too great and doesn’t have a lot of competition and such, would I be behind <em>IF</em> I go to a top school? Would not having the AP/IB or a really tough curriculum (our Ontario curriculum sucks) put me well behind at top undergrad schools?</p>
<p>I don’t wanna go there and realize I’m behind and drop my GPA a lot before I can get my act together and be on par with the rest of the students at a top undergrad.</p>
<p>k. thanks. I needed brutally honest advice. My grades are mid-high 90s in school but I’m still worried/angry that my easy curriculum, grade inflation, and uncompetitive school would make me “hit a brick wall of reality” when I go to university. </p>
<p>It’s so annoying. People at my school will be like “bro, what do you care. You are on sports teams, have a crazy high average, your gonna get in wherever”. But, that’s not the point. Getting good grades in a really easy curriculum and school isn’t something to be proud of. It makes no difference if I go to university and get destroyed first year.</p>
<p>I wish there was some way to directly compare tests/curriculum/everything at my school to US school’s. It would give a true idea of how bad/average my school is.</p>