<p>Is a 4.0 at Princeton possible? For those who had 4.0's in high school is it depressing to get lower grades?</p>
<p>You might have also seen similar threads on the Harvard and Yale boards. Just attempting to receive some thoughts...</p>
<p>Well at most colleges an A- in a class is a 3.6. And I heard Princeton as grade deflation…so yeah I guess I would say it’s quite hard. But then again a 4.0 is difficult at any college really…</p>
<p>I believe Princeton’s grade deflation policy works like this: in the vast majority of classes, the number of A’s is limited to 35% of the class. The grading system is probably this: an A or A+ counts as 4 points; an A- is 3.7; a B+ is 3.3, and so on. </p>
<p>So, to get a 4.0, a student would have to be in the top 35% of every class that he takes. Considering most people are used to getting all A’s, this would be pretty darn hard. Also, according to my friend who is currently a sophomore at Princeton, the most recent valedictorian graduated with a career GPA of 3.7.</p>
<p>^ regarding the valedictorian, that can’t be true. I know many people who have 3.9+. The valedictorian must have had something close to a 4.0.</p>
<p>But what would be a decent GPA for engineers? And would the low GPA hold a significant disadvantage for me if/when I apply to grad schools?</p>
<p>Actually the 35% thing is for all A/A-, thus it’s more like the student has to be in the top ~15% of every class s/he took in order to get a 4.0</p>
<p>And I recall somewhere that it is rare for any one student to get a 4.0 at Harvard (this was an article from the Crimson a few years back about this set of twins that did it). Considering grades at Princeton are lower than those at Harvard, I would venture to say it is extremely difficult to maintain 4.0 at Princeton over 4 years; more so if one doesn’t take many easy classes.</p>
<p>Hard. As mentioned above, you need to be in the top 15-20% of each class.</p>
<p>Ah this grade deflation policy is intimidating. I’m just hoping I can balance my social life with studying.</p>
<p>A 4.0 at Princeton is highly unlikely. But what’s the worry about getting a 4.0? You don’t need one to go places. If you manage to pull a 3.7 GPA at Princeton (which is not easy to do, either), you’re going to be in the top 20% of your class. Heck, even if you are a B+ student (3.3 GPA) at Princeton, that’s still slightly above average (I believe the average GPA at Princeton as of 2008 was a 3.28).</p>
<p>How easy is it to get into Harvard Business School or Wharton Business School to get an MBA? Roughly what GPA would you need to have?</p>
<p>For a “perfect” 4.00, assuming you need to be in the top 17% of your class for an A (average), and a courseload of 31 courses for an AB, the probability of a student who does randomly well in each class they take is (.17) ^ 31 < 10^ -23. So yeah, it’s hard. Misleading math aside, I know of one person who has a 4.0 average, and he’s probably going to be the valedictorian of our class. The average GPA here hovers around 3.3-3.4, IIRC.</p>
<p>Regarding whether the valedictorian had a 3.7:</p>
<p>I caught a glimpse of the resume of someone who graduated Phi Beta Kappa early election (only for top 15 seniors) last year (09), and he had a 3.9something. He was neither the valedictorian nor the salutatorian. </p>
<p>So, I think it’s POSSIBLE to graduate from Princeton with a 4.0, but VERY, VERY difficult. It’s better to approach your courses with qualitative not quantitative goals (e.g. improve my writing and enjoy the class, or get to know the professor by attending office hours, NOT just ‘get an A’). </p>
<p>Hope this helps…</p>
<p>4.0 = nearly impossible. but that is true at any university really.</p>
<p>I am impressed that Jeff Bezos graduated with a 4.0 in CSEE. It was a little different back then, but still. It is possible.</p>
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<p>My understanding is that Bezos graduated with around a 4.2 in the days when A+'s were counted as 4.3 (they’re now 4.0, like A’s). Chances are (and I could be wrong) that he accumulated a substantial number of A+'s, but since even most valedictorians graduate with an A- or B+, he would probably have had a 3.9X GPA under current grading conventions.</p>
<p>Either way, someone who graduates with a 3.9x, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa is clearly a pretty bright guy, even by Princeton standards.</p>
<p>I was sooo close to a 4.0 this semester. Ugh. My life would have been complete had I gotten a 4.0 this semester. Oh well.</p>
<p>It’s not too impossible if you’re taking classes you’re good at.</p>
<p>^Good job. This grade deflation policy is a big turn off. I’m really hoping I can do well at Ptown.</p>
<p>I have read that the grade deflation policy primarily affects those at the lower quintile of the class to a greater extent than those within the top quintile. I do not have the source to substantiate this claim.</p>
<p>The grade deflation policy likely does negatively impact Princeton’s admission yield to some extent and among current students it may cause a more strategic course selection.</p>