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Cesare: Maybe you personally have not gotten low grades, but you obviously know students who have and that your case is rather unusual. And if 4.0's were that easily attainable, why don't more students have them?
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<p>As you yourself said, there is a big difference between one's GPA at UChicago, and the GPA that one is capable of attaining (albeit with hard work). Also, what I find happens a lot is that students who could get a 4.0 easily by doing "average" UChicago work, choose not to, instead taking the most rigorous classes and taking a bit of a hit in the grades department. So, if coursework were standardized (hypothetically, no one would want it so), there would be a lot more ~4s imho.</p>
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I'm assuming that the only (legal) jobs that pay six figures immediately after graduation are Wall Street jobs, which are, indeed, extremely competitive and rely heavily on GPA. However, some work their way up to that bracket range over time, and their working their way up to that bracket range is not contingent on the prestige of the undergraduate degree or their college GPA.
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<p>That's the thing though. Although this is less true on Wall Street than in any other profession: where you start determines (on average) your pay scale 10, 20 years down the line. As such, a low starting salary is not a difference of 30-50k, but a difference of millions (on average) throughout a lifetime.</p>
<p>This worries me, simply because I have absolutely no idea what I want to pursue as a career. Who knows what I'll need to get where I want to be..</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm in an unusual financial position, as both of my parents started out in a low salary range and ended up in a very high one. They were not consciously trying to make more money-- they were just very successful at the things that they did.</p>
<p>Basically, all I know is that my GPA makes it difficult for me to find a job on Wall Street or to go to a prestigious law school. Those happen to be two of the least desirable career paths for me, anyway. No tragedy here.</p>
<p>Try to bear in mind that there are many intangibles in attaining your post-graduate goals. </p>
<p>No doubt that for many regular (meaning non MD/PhD, for example) medical, school and business school programs there are relatively rigid grade/GPA admission algorithms that snare or weed out students below a certain value. This might well disproportionally hit U of C students. Chicago has a bit of a rep as a non pre-professional school, this is probably one of the reasons.</p>
<p>Having said this, PhD graduate programs (my direct experience is in the sciences) often look beyond GPAs -- to the quality of your undergraduate research and the opinion of your faculty mentor, for example. UChicago excels at that level. The combination of a Core-based education and the stellar research opportunities is quite compelling to grad student admission committees. </p>
<p>It is also somewhat sobering to realize that for many of these financial jobs straight out of college, who you know and where <em>they</em> went to school can carry far more weight that a 0.2 difference in your GPA.</p>
<p>also, it should be mentioned that if you DO work hard and attain a relatively high GPA, it will really count for something. A 3.8 from Harvard or NYU is not teh same as a 3.8 from Chicago and I think graduate programs will know this.</p>
<p>First, I, as someone who has done very well at Chicago, vehemently disagree with the statement that 4.0s are within the reach of students. Sometimes I take classes that make me wonder why people don't graduate with 4.0s. Then the next quarter I'll have a class that reminds me. Grading is not consistent, but there are a lot of professors who are somewhat conservative with As, and some who basically don't give them. To take the 42 classes you need to graduate and never hit a situation where an A is unrealistic would require a lot of luck. </p>
<p>The comment that 4.0s would not be that difficult seems to ignore the rather obvious counter-evidence that 1100-1200 students graduate every year from UChicago, and typically 1 or 2, if that, finish with a 4.0.</p>