<p>Would you consider the name of an undergrad school an important factor in getting into grad/med/law...etc school?</p>
<p>Or would it be better to step it down a notch, and go to an "easier" school, get better grades?</p>
<p>No, the name usually doesn't matter for professional or graduate schools (grades, board scores, and extracurricular activities do... and for grad schools, ie PhD/MS programs, your research experience is what matters).</p>
<p>Your grades will be more or less the same no matter where you go. Don't let that be a decision in where you go to college. Choose based on which school you like more, which one you can see yourself happy at.</p>
<p>You're only selling yourself short if you choose to go to an easier school than you can handle.</p>
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Your grades will be more or less the same no matter where you go. Don't let that be a decision in where you go to college. Choose based on which school you like more, which one you can see yourself happy at.
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<p>Don't be so ignorant. There's a huge difference in difficulty of classes at certain schools than others. From personal experience, I've found that classes at Michigan to be much harder than the one's at Penn State.</p>
<p>What he's saying is that you turn into the student you want to be. If you're someone that only wants a 4.0, then you're going to work your butt off to get one no matter where you go. If you only care about getting a 3.0, then you'll probably only put in enough effort to get a 3.0 (unless the school is so easy you can do significantly better without putting in any real effort).</p>
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Don't be so ignorant. There's a huge difference in difficulty of classes at certain schools than others. From personal experience, I've found that classes at Michigan to be much harder than the one's at Penn State.
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Which is why I said more or less. I say it's true for exactly the reasons RacinReaver mentioned.</p>
<p>A 4.0 student at a no-name state school will probably not be a 3.0 student at say, Michigan, but will probably be a 3.6-3.8.</p>
<p>A 3.0 student at a hard school will probably not be a 4.0 student even at an easier school.</p>
<p>^ "A 4.0 student at a no-name state school will probably not be a 3.0 student at say, Michigan, but will probably be a 3.6-3.8."</p>
<p>I hate when people try to discredit someone who gets a perfect 4.0 at a no-name state school by saying that they would've gotten a lower GPA at a better school. </p>
<p>Now if you were to say that a person who gets a 3.5-3.6 at School A probably would've gotten a 3.3-3.4 at School B, I wouldn't care because the kid from School A had obviously gotten a few Bs along the way, but I can't agree with saying a kid who gets a 4.0 at School A would've most likely gotten a 3.7-3.8 at School B.You just can't make the assumption that a kid with a perfect GPA at School A wouldn't have gotten a perfect GPA at School B.</p>
<p>Do you think it's a more reasonable assumption to think they'd get a 4.0 at a considerably more difficult school?</p>
<p>"Do you think it's a more reasonable assumption to think they'd get a 4.0 at a considerably more difficult school?"</p>
<p>Yup. Most folks who get 4.0s know how to figure out what's expected of them for a particular grade and then deliver. This skill would work anywhere, though they may have to work a little more at a tougher school to maintain the 4.0.</p>
<p>This thread is stupid, and most of the responses are stupid. I hate generalizations. </p>
<p>FYI, I had close to a 4.0 at PSU. I'm struggling to maintain a 3.5 at Michigan. I couldn't have gotten dumber in a year, or less motivated.</p>
<p>dntw8up: You're either at some really easy community college or not yet in college. There's NO WAY you could get a 4.0 at many of the top school's programs. Sure, there's grade inflation, but that's usually only in the humanities. There's a HUGE HUGE HUGE difference in the difficulty of courses at Ivy School versus Podunk College. </p>
<p>And to the OP: Personally, I settled for a happy medium. I found a college where I <em>clicked</em> and while the courses will be challenging, I feel confident that I can succeed and get a high GPA.</p>
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Do you think it's a more reasonable assumption to think they'd get a 4.0 at a considerably more difficult school?
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<p>A 4.0 is a perfect. For all we know the student could have made 100s in his/her classes. Clearly a cap isn't placed on the students potential. And hence its impossible to convert a 4.0 a some school to some gpa at another school. But, with a 3.9, you can. Just like, we can't say, " he got an 5 on the AP calc test so he must get a C in college." Which is clearly false. Sure its much easier than college calc, but a perfect is a perfect. While a score of 4 almost always mean a C or B(depending on the college) in college courses</p>
<p>The difference between a 4.0 and a 3.9 can be as little as a teacher (or two) who curved unfairly because he was in a bad mood. I (and most others) would consider a 3.9 and a 4.0 the same.</p>
<p>Students who deviate from the "cap on potential" are few and far between. So I think what was said above still applies to the vast majority of students.</p>
<p>I think it'd be a very strategic choice to go to a school where you can go for 1) free or for little as possible (probably the state U), 2) make good grades relatively easily to maximize your chances for getting into a top grad school, and 3) have a good time - especially considering that it should be easier to make the grade than at say, Harvard. </p>
<p>Sounds like a win-win-win situation to me.</p>
<p>To a degree I think the "name matters", but it is certainly not a deciding factor. There is a prestige factor associated with schools (think ivy league vs. california state university). But, there are reasons why a star student might have chosen the less prestigious school (like money, location).
A 4.0 at harvard looks WAY better than a 2.0 at CSU.
A 4.0 at harvard looks better than a 4.0 at CSU.
A 3.0 at harvard doesn't necessarily look better than a 4.0 at CSU.</p>
<p>Grades, GRE/LSAT/MCAT, as well as academic awards, research experience, letters of recommendation and personal statements will all play a role in admissions for higher education.
I know some students from ivy league in grad school with me now & they can be pretty cocky... and their grades aren't great.. I think their ego is getting the best of them & they need to be taken down a few notches.</p>