<p>I've read a lot of posts about how GPA has the heaviest weight on med school applications. So should I choose to go to a good college knowing that I will have a chance in maintaining an A+ or go to a very challenging school knowing that I'll have to work my butt of to maintain a B average? Yes, I know the GPAs are weighted differently for each college, but sometimes it seems like you still end up with a lower GPA. I recall reading something about applications being "filtered" by a machine based on GPAs even before the admissions officer sees the paper. If this is the case (which I pray that it is not!), isn't it a better choice to go to the less challenging institution?
thanks in advance</p>
<p>Pick the school where you think you'll be the happiest.</p>
<p>If that means attending Harvard - go for it. If it means saving money and going to a public school - by all means do it! I am.</p>
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<li><p>Premed courses are difficult at any school. Elite schools with better students tend to have grade inflation. State schools with a worse study body tend to be more grade deflated. I suspect the difficulty of premed is about the same at most schools. </p></li>
<li><p>That "machine" is called a computer.</p></li>
<li><p>You should go where you would be happiest. That is ultimately where you will be most likely to succeed.</p></li>
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<p>And no, the computer doesn't filter the apps before anybody sees them. Obviously the person will throw it away reflexively if you're presenting with a ridiculously low GPA. So effectively it's the same idea.</p>
<p>But trust me: if you're going to get a ridiculously extreme GPA, you'd have gotten a pretty bad GPA no matter where you had gone.</p>