High school GPA vs. College GPA

<p>Is it harder to get a high GPA in college than in high school or is it about the same? What I'm trying to say is...that a 3.0 in high school is average/good, but would a 3.0 GPA in college be like getting a 4.0 GPA in high school? I'm assuming college GPA is much more different than high school GPA.</p>

<p>It's so much harder to get 4.0 in college. Heck, I'm going to a school with supposed "grade inflation" and I'm working my butt off and still getting at best a 3.7 (two engineering courses, two humanities courses). In high school i easily got 4.0s left and right (all IB, AP courses)</p>

<p>The high school GPA is probably more important because it determines which college you get into.</p>

<p>Do colleges use the +/- system or do they hand out straight A's and B's?</p>

<p>It really depends on what high school or college you go to.</p>

<p>Ryu, there are many factors, and paths people take that would debunk your statement. If you go to a community college/Jr. College for a few years and then transfer to a four year college, often times the college GPA is more important.</p>

<p>in general, it's harder to get the same grades you got in high school in college.</p>

<p>Aeggie,</p>

<p>it's up to the individual professors, but most will give pluses and minuses.</p>

<p>I find it much easier to do better in college, actually. You have much more time outside of class, and fewer classes, so you can put more energy into each one.</p>

<p>I'm doing better at Brown than I did in High School. My high school is also easily arguably the best school in the nation. (~40% of our class goes to ivies)</p>

<p>"Ryu Hayabusa</p>

<p>The high school GPA is probably more important because it determines which college you get into."</p>

<p>Well, you probably wouldn't say that if you want to go to law or med school. Both are important to different people for different reasons.</p>

<p>czar_boi1, it varies very widely, but most people find that getting a higer GPA at college is more difficult than in high school. At most the colleges people talk about on this board, very few students are "weak." They drift away and don't make it to the elite places. Some students stop caring as much as they did in hs, but some start caring more. Because the students who occupy the top schools all came from the top, you have the best competing with the best. Few find it easy to do as well compared to their peers when their new peers are so much better students. The effect, as I have heard and would imagine, is magnified in law schools and other professional schools. Not every institution or program has competitive students of course, although my post may sound like they do. Even if the school is not in the least competitive, students just don't get as high grades in college as they do in hs.</p>

<p>It's a lot more enjoyable, though, and not really as difficult as I thought it would be . . . at least not yet.</p>

<p>what high school was that iwannabebrown?</p>

<p>"Well, you probably wouldn't say that if you want to go to law or med school. Both are important to different people for different reasons."</p>

<p>If you're not planning on law or med school, how important is the GPA?</p>

<p>Well, it depends. There are other fields that depend on GPA, at least to some extent. Some people are in college to do as little as possible to get a degree, and some want a 4.0. What you're planning on doing helps to determine how important GPA is. Also, there are much more options opened up by a higher GPA than a lower one, as most people with the higher GPA are considered qualified to do whatever the one with a lower GPA can do (all other things being equal). </p>

<p>After you get a job, so I hear, your performance on that job has a much greater affect than your undergrad GPA, and, almost always, where you went to school.</p>

<p>It depends on a number of factors, but, in general, it is much harder to maintain a high GPA in college than in high school. It will depend a bit on your school and your program, but if you've chosen a challenging-enough program, it should not be as easy or easier than high school.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that everyone you go to school with performed relatively similar to you and you all can't get As.</p>

<p>Your high school GPA is also NOT as important as your college GPA. Your high school GPA only influences (NOT DECIDES) where you may go to for undergrad and your college GPA determines whether or not you can continue your education or can or cannot apply for certain jobs. While your GPA is generally not very important to interviewers once you start interviewing, you do need to meet their minimum in order to get the interview. Trust me--NO ONE will care about your high school GPA once you graduate. Your college GPA, however, will remain on your resume and while its importance decreases dramatically as time goes on, it is still infinitely more important than your high school GPA.</p>

<p>Yes, most college use a +/- system. A 92 will no longer count as a A.</p>

<p>I think that it is equally easy to get a 4.0 GPA in college and in high school. There are just a lot more distractions in college to watch for</p>

<p>BradDemmons</p>

<p>in 03 and 04, a combined 3 people graduated from my school with a 4.0. I assure you that a lot more than 3 were aiming for a 4.0, and that the reason they didn't get it was not that they were distracted.</p>

<p>/92 was a 3.5gpa at my high school (not bitter, really...)</p>

<p>Well said, Soccerguy.</p>

<p>lol what school do you go to, soccerguy?</p>

<p>I ended high school with a 3.5 UW (upward trend throughout). I'm doing almost the same in college. First semester I had about a 3.0, 3.3 the next, and this semester I will get somewhere around a 3.5/3.6.</p>

<p>I think my college GPA is better than my highschool GPA so far. The work's definitely difficult, and there's a lot of it, but I've learned how to manage my time really well since I've been here.</p>