Hello!
I am currently a high school senior who was recently admitted to a Top 10 LAC (US News) that has an incredible academic reputation and sends kids to top graduate programs in the humanities and sciences. However, as many of the students themselves are not interested in finance or business, most consulting firms and investment banks do not actively recruit there, although there is a dedicated, albeit small, alumni group in the field. As such, I feel that I may need to transfer to Georgetown, UVA, Duke, Stern, or an Ivy after my sophomore year to better position myself for a job. Here’s the catch, however. The average GPA there has hovered around a 3.4 for the past couple of years and the school is infamous for its grade deflation. After speaking to current students, I learned that practically no one there has a 4.0 and it is incredibly difficult to maintain anything above a 3.8. Graduate programs know this and adjust according but, when transferring, would the school I apply to acknowledge this and review my GPA in accordance to the environment I was studying in? My ACT is a 35, SAT Math II is a 790, and SAT Biology is a 770.
Thanks for your time and consideration!
You really shouldn’t invest your time and money into a school if you only want to transfer out. The schools you listed take a tiny tiny percentage of transfer students, who not only have stellar grades but also have a very compelling reason to want to transfer. Why not start out at a college that places students into wall Street?
Schools will not be very forgiving of a low gpa unless you have a very good reason why you want to transfer out. However, staying near the top of the class and balancing it out with good extracurriculars could definitely help.
@blountwil2 I would if it was not for the EDII agreement! If I manage to stay on the Dean’s List, which is the top 10 percent of the class, would that eliminate any concerns of my numerical GPA.
“Average GPA is a 3.4”
“Grade deflation”
Pick one. An average GPA of 3.4 constitutes grade inflation, despite what you may hear of the school’s rigor.
If you’re talking about Swarthmore, it’ll give you plenty of job opportunities. No reason to decide that you want to transfer before even setting foot in the school.
I think schools will definitely take note that you attended a rigorous school. after all, a 3.4 from a top ranking LAC is much more impressive than a state school. But I don’t think they will take into account of grade deflation
Is this Swarthmore? Because the median GPA there is a 3.56, which is among the highest in the nation. The lowest GPA among top 10 LACs is Williams at a 3.43, which is also one of the best performers in consulting and business and better than most of the Ivy League on a per capita basis, so I don’t think it’s hindering them. Pomona and Amherst also have quite a bit of grade inflation.
Grade inflation doesn’t mean lack of course rigor. It’s just professors reward hard work and among such a talented group of individuals are reluctant to put artificial quotas on the numbers of A’s they can give out. Swarthmore is really rigorous- lots of work all the time- but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get A’s in your classes.
Average gpa of 3.4 is not that bad considered 3.5 is a cutoff for most IB(need higher if you want to go into private equity or VC.) If you are talking about Swarthmore, then it is definitely not a strong school(although still very much possible) for IB. Usually banks recrew from Williams, Amherst, and Middlebury.