The GPA numbers above appear to be from a wide variety of years. Grade inflation makes comparisons misleading when years are inconsistent. For example, I believe the 3.45 for Harvard is from a 2005 publication. More recent sources, list higher numbers, such as the 2015 survey at http://features.thecrimson.com/2015/senior-survey/ , which reports a 3.64 average GPA. .
Ucbalumnus has it right.
Also at my school at least there is one threshold (I’m guessing 3.0 - they don’t tell us explicitly) that gets you thrown in the trash without human eyes and is school blind and another (Guessing 3.6 - also school blind) that just puts you in a later wave of review where human eyes will eventually see the app. After the 3.6+ group gets read the 3.0-3.5 group gets read.
The committee letter explains the grading system but human eyes need to read it to have an impact.
not too sure what your point is, Much2Learn. (And I certainly don’t understand the purpose of the GPA’s…Of course they are different, so what if different colleges have different curves, or mean GPAs? Don’t forget that those elites don’t give out F’s, or at least Stanford does not. They eliminated F’s years ago. Thus, no zeros in the GPA calc.)
Sure, if Harvard wanted to, it could try to raise its scores to Caltech territory: 34-36. But they also accept those with all kinds of hooks, and their large class probably precludes that.
Regardless, your stats reinforce my point: the tippy top schools have the highest mean test scores. There should be no surprise that Harvard College has the highest mean LSAT scores. If you search on cc, you can find a thread of LSAT scores by undergrad, which shows a direct decline of LSAT scores which just happens to correlate really well with SAT/ACT scores of the undergrad. I’m guessing it does equally well on the MCAT, on average.
Based on your data, the bottom quartile at H would be in the top ~quarter at BU. H students are just better testers, on average. And that is bcos Harvard (and thier ilk) select for great test-taking students. Not too sure why this is even a discussion point.
Stanford grading includes NP, which is effectively an F and counts as 0 in GPA calculation. “The notation ‘NP’ is used by instructors in courses taken for a letter grade that are not passed.”
https://registrar.stanford.edu/students/definition-grades/general-university-grading-system
https://registrar.stanford.edu/students/definition-grades/grade-point-average-gpa-and-class-rank-policy/how-general-university-gpa
Of course, both medical and law schools recalculate GPA with their own methods.
@bluebayou “Don’t forget that those elites don’t give out F’s, or at least Stanford does not.”
I know that Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Penn, and Yale all give “F” grades for failing. The great minds at Harvard found a way to improve on that and they give an “E” for failing. Apparently, their students are one grade better even in failure.
“Harvard (and their ilk) select for great test-taking students. Not too sure why this is even a discussion point.”
I was responding to “P’ton, like the rest of the uber-selective, select for nothing but the best test-takers.”
My point was that they are not singularly focused on test takers. With ultra-low admission rates, they are looking for a total package of grades, achievements, test scores, and essays. The do select for test scores, but it is only one aspect of selection. You can get definitely get in with modest test scores if you have something they believe will contribute to the class.
Not sure I ever said that they were, or at least I had not intended to.
@bluebayou “Not sure I ever said that they were, or at least I had not intended to.”
When I initially read, “P’ton, like the rest of the uber-selective, select for nothing but the best test-takers.”, I read that as saying that the elites are only focused on admitting the best test takers. That is why I was pointing out that they are looking for many things and that they could actually drive their test score stats much higher if they wanted to.
I see now that that isn’t what you intended.
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