<p>Say you were to attend a school that you wanted to be at but was more difficult (University of Michigan, for example) rather than one that you weren't as enthusiastic about attending but was still easier (Michigan State University, in my case). Do you think attending the more difficult college in this case would, ironically, lead to a higher chance of success/higher GPA? Obviously it is much harder to attain a higher GPA at a school like U of M rather than MSU but if one had a much greater desire to be at the more prestigious university, wouldn't you think they would be more motivated to give it their all of their effort to shine in their classes? </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong I do like MSU and as a pre-med I'm motivated enough to work hard for that high GPA but I suppose there's room for improvement--I just feel like I might be motivated more at U of M since it's much more prestigious and difficult of a university, being one of the flagships of the nation. What do you think?</p>
<p>My only concern is that my GPA might go down lower than the “average cutoff” for med school, since I’m at a 3.5 as of now. I was able to achieve that at MSU but I’m afraid I might not be able to carry that at Michigan, and would subsequently go down to a 3.4 or so. I’m trying to bring it up, preferably to a 3.6 since I apply to med schools in a year so that’s the main reason for my concern. But I have gotten into Michigan and it is affordable to me.</p>
<p>I don’t hate it, I still like the campus quite a bit as I always have I just like Michigan better. I love the city and would miss it but it wouldn’t bother me staying in East Lansing since I know my way around it so well.</p>
<p>I don’t think you should go to a school just because you think your GPA might be higher if you’re surrounded my motivated peers. This is not likely the case anyways. My friend at UCLA as a physics major said he was going to study hard when he transferred and that turned out to be a complete joke. I think he was on facebook posting videos of raccoons the first week of classes. I don’t think his GPA is higher than a 3.0. He spent 5 years in community college. Chances are I will meet him as a graduate student while he is still an undergrad finishing his physics major there by Fall 2014.</p>
<p>Motivation is entirely on you. Prestige is good, but I don’t think it’s going to help you if your grades suffer. I’m pretty sure you need a 3.5 minimum throughout your undergrad career.</p>