<p>UChicago is a very intellectual school. That being said, I am kind of worried it will murder my GPA. I mean, being accepted, the admissions council obviously thinks I can handle it, but I worry that UChicago's supposed grade deflation will kill my chances of getting into a good grad school...Can any current students confirm or deny the myths regarding difficulty at UChicago?</p>
<p>What grade deflation? Two years ago, when my D graduated, if I recall correctly, something like 60% of the students graduated with honors. I know because I counted during the long convocation ceremony. 60% over 3.25 GPA implies an average well over that, probably in the 3.3 - 3.4 range. </p>
<p>Getting a 3.9 is tough. UofC is not Harvard…maybe more like Pton in its grading.</p>
<p>Ditto. I counted last year.</p>
<p>I think it’s reasonably clear that grades at some colleges are systematically higher than grades at others, but it’s probably a difference of at most .1 in average GPA, not more than that. Most graduate programs don’t care enough about GPA for that to make any difference. Law and medical schools do, but those institutions precisely (a) have more information than anyone, including the colleges themselves, about how to compare GPAs across well-known colleges, and (b) also know what the relationship is between a particular college, GPA, and professional school performance. And none of them has any interest in keeping Chicago graduates out.</p>
<p>Honestly, what makes UChicago hard is that, in the core, you’re exposed to a lot of material that you might not necessarily be super-comfortable with. If you’re not much of a reader, then you might have some trouble w/Hume, etc.</p>
<p>That said, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to graduate UChicago w/a 4.0. I think a handful of people have done it over the last decade.</p>
<p>^^ 2, to be exact.</p>
<p>ONLY 2??? Where’d you get this information?</p>
<p>Uh, there’s a UChicago student on here, I believe it is phuriku, who works closely with the professor who fleshes out the list for Phi Beta Kappa. Thus, said professor has access to all graduating students’ GPAs. Phuriku (I think) said this professor commented that in the last few years (I don’t remember how many) only 2 4.0s have been achieved. </p>
<p>…but let’s be clear. To get a 4.0 at Chicago, you have to get an A in all 42 courses you take since an A+ = 4.0, A = 4.0, and A- = 3.7.</p>
<p>And that part sounds ridic hard.</p>
<p>I’m worried about that as well. I mean, I got a 2200 on my SATs (without studying, but whatever) and by national standards that’s wonderful but by UChicago standards that’s middle-of-the-road. I want to go to grad school afterwards but I’m dead scared that due to the core I’m going to have to take non-fluff science and math courses–I got high As in AP Chemistry and AP Biology but on the cumulative AP-test type grading I didn’t perform with flying colors. I don’t ever want to take higher-level math or physics courses, and I’m afraid that I will be forced into it at this school, but at the same time, I don’t want to throw away such an amazing opportunity.</p>
<p>^^^^ GPA isn’t that important. It’s more your research experience that will get you in. As long as you perform relatively well in your major classes and pursue research heavily and can communicate your ideas well, you will be fine for grad school. If you can make about the average (3.3-3.4), then you will be fine.</p>
<p>You can always take the physical sciences courses (for non-majors) or try to test out of a bunch of classes during O-Week. You can always choose to take a less difficult course. It’s always your choice.</p>
<p>^ Not completely true at all. For the professional graduate schools (medical, business, law), GPA is incredibly important, and research experience doesnt carry that much weight. Katie, I know Chicago is a great place and all (im going there), but lets not paint it to be an amazing place with absolutely no flaws. I also am worried about the GPA aspect, as its a very valid complaint against Chicago.</p>
<p>The overall consensus I’ve read is that Chicago is amazing for PhD placement (since when it comes to PhD’s GPA doesn’t matter as much as research), but for med and law school it’s not as great as its peers.</p>
<p>As am I, A-Punk, as am I…</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. More current student opinions would be greatly appreciated!</p>