This question may not fall under a certain category on this site but I was just wondering about the trade-off in terms of job seek-ability. Would it be ‘better’ to graduate with 3.5+ GPA in a second-tier university or 3.0-3.4 GPA in a top university? The thing about GPA is that it does not reflect the difference between workload and education quality. Ideally, it would be great to graduate with honors in a top-tier university but the workload is obviously very different between a first-tier and a second-tier university. I am looking for some input about this subject matter… Looking forward to some interesting responses.
When you go job-hunting, your GPA won’t matter nearly as much as the good work references you can provide from previous jobs and internships.
Grad school admissions (and Med/Dent/Law in particular) is affected by your GPA, and the name of the institution on your diploma doesn’t matter much at all.
“but the workload is obviously very different between a first-tier and a second-tier university”
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. For example, if you are pre-med, you can count on working hard at pretty much any school you go to. Ditto engineering. Even at a second tier university (i.e. a less selective school) in subjects that are less famously grueling, there will always been those kids in the top 25% of the class who could have gone to a top tier school but didn’t for various reasons - and they too will be working very hard to top grades. So you could end up at a second tier school without honors, and be working just as hard as at a top tier school.
That’s why this trade-off is more theoretical than real. In reality, you will be weighing many more factors - cost, location, reputation in your specific area of interest, fit, etc…
What career would you be looking at? It depends.
Thanks for your responses, they are very insightful. I forgot to mention that I am also looking to go to grad school so I this is why I am quite concerned about my GPA. I agree that engineering programs are by all means very demanding. In a top-tier university, most of the majors (including engineering) would have a relatively more challenging workload than a second-tier university, right? I’m just concerned about my GPA and college reputation for grad school and job search in general.
@NavalTradition probably a career in finance or consulting. I’m looking to get an MA in Economics and then an MBA if that’s feasible in the future
Finance and consulting are unlike med school in that where you attend college really does matter. Big firms do on-campus recruiting at some schools and not others. You will also need to keep your GPA above 3.5 to be competitive.
In your hypothetical, elite school with a sub 3.5 vs. non-elite with 3.5+, you’d probably be in slightly better shape from a non-elite with a high GPA, although neither is ideal. Elite with 3.5+ is the easiest way in.
I would not be so sure that going to a lower-ranked school guarantees a higher GPA, outside maybe of some sciences where there is a strict curve… There are colleges that are easier to get into, but there are no easy colleges.
<<
Graduating with honors in a second-tier college or graduating with a decent GPA in a good college
<<<
this is a crazy question. You’re assuming that the “second tier” college isn’t a “good college.”
What is your definition of 2nd tier and good?
@mom2collegekids When it comes to finance or consulting, your college name counts. A lot of recruitment in those fields is based on the the prestige and connections your undergraduate school holds. This may be less prevalent for other fields of work, but for the ones OP is pursuing, you want as much prestige as you can get.
There are “top tier” level people at every tier level of college and the “tier” does not necessarily predict high versus low GPA potential.
I’m not implying that second-tier colleges are bad in any way, in fact I believe some have pretty strong programs. The other day, I read about Wharton’s MBA admission requirements and they mentioned that it is preferable that your undergraduate degree comes from a top-tier college. What I am meaning to ask is whether institution name prevails over your GPA and vice versa. I am not trying to put anyone going to second tier colleges under the bus. Sorry for the miscommunication… @mom2collegekids @NorthernMom61 @GMTplus7
Thanks for your helpful insights @NavalTradition and @JohnBran , I really appreciate them
@NorthernMom61 In this case, it should be noted that recruitment for high-level finance and consulting jobs come from high tier schools. It should be noted that you should also be a higher tier student at the college too.
Well, for a variety of reasons, I wouldn’t necessarily assume that you’d achieve a higher GPA at a “second-tier” college than you would at a “top-tier” college, no matter how you define that.
But I think that’s a moot point. For the careers you want, the name of the school absolutely matters, so in your case you should choose a top-ranked school.
Please provide a source for this. I don’t mean to challenge your understanding, but we all need to be careful not to pass along erroneous information. Wharton’s own FAQ re their MBA program makes no mention of “tiers” of any type:
That sort of thing sounds logical and you see it posted all the time, but it doesn’t necessarily work like this.
A student may have qualities which facilitate success at both types of schools, or they may go to a lower ranked place and sink into anonymity because it doesn’t have the kind of stimulation they needed to achieve.
You can’t count on a ‘B’ student at one school being an ‘A’ student at another.
As another contrarian example, there is a ton of discussion about grade inflation at some of the top schools, like Harvard. So the concept that you will score a higher GPA at a less selective school does not necessarily follow at all.
I also echo the comments up above: For degrees in business/finance, the prestige of the UG institution is very significant, so you want that PLUS good grades.
Good luck!
I will say, and I have commented on the law school forums on this specifically, having served on several law school admission committees, all schools are not treated equally. For example, similar GPAs between, NE slippery slope state U and say MIT–MIT is given a nudge. That said, it is rather rare, where both scores and GPAs are lined up equally, and thus, the actual occurrence of this is infrequent.
Which may have little to nothing to do with the original question
I would like to apologize if my post has been stirring up a commotion. I was just hoping to clarify my viewpoint regarding this issue given the numerous information about college prestige, GPA, etc. I’ve been keeping this question to myself for a long time because I’m just too afraid to ask anyone about it and cause people to have wrong perceptions. I don’t mean to condescend anyone or put anyone to shame. I admit that I, myself, am not by any means a prodigy and/or overachiever in life. The reason I am built up the courage to ask this ‘moot’ question is to get others’ opinion about it. Once again, if this question has infuriated anyone, I am truly sorry. I did not mean to do so.
Honestly you’re better off searching on Wall Street Oasis than here. There are a few threads there already I think. Best of luck.