what are schools that are the hardest to get good grades at? engineering is hard enough so adding more stress to that isnt good.
From what I’ve read, some schools with low average GPA’s - UChicago, Cornell, Princeton, Reed, BU
http://www.gradeinflation.com/
Purdue is famous for having a low average GPA. That being said, it’s not impossible to get high scores: https://www.purdue.edu/commencement/students/gpaStandards/index.html
There’s grades and there’s grind and they can be different.
Some schools overburden you with so much work that just keeping your head above water and keeping your attitude positive can be challenging. I don’t have first hand knowledge, but have read CalTech and Cornell can be this way.
Other schools simply have extremely low grade inflation. Harvey-Mudd is probably the best example. They graduate a 4.0 about once a decade.
In the final analysis if you totally ignore any of the grade thing and instead focus on finding a good academic/non-academic fit, you’ll be fine. Don’t discount location, weather, extracurricular activities both on campus and off, both major related and non.
Good luck.
@eyemgh but i heard harvey mudd doesn’t have a traditional grading system
It’s pretty traditional. It’s a straight up 4.0 scale system with the little caveat being that the first few courses are graded as high pass/pass/fail. All students graduate with a GPA.
@Seirsly, true about Purdue. There are published lists of the schools with the least grade inflation, and Purdue is at or near the top of every list.
@Seirsly so is it worth spending 40k for purdue?
What are your other options? If you’re already in a state with good engineering schools, paying OOS tuition probably won’t be worth it.
I can see people why people would care about grade inflation if they wanted to get into medical school, but it’s not something you should worry about for engineering.
"so is it worth spending 40k for purdue?
@solveforx That is always a tough question to answer. We don’t know your situation. Would you have to borrow it? Is it worth spending $40k vs. what? Is that per year or for all four years. Purdue is an excellent school to study engineering, however, there are many ways to get to the same goal. Is it worth an extra $40k to drive a Mercedes to do your errands vs. a Honda? They’ll both do the job. The decision is yours.
If you have a scholarship at Purdue you must maintain a 3.0 to keep your scholarship. Their average GPA is around 2.8. The GPA’s seem to be somewhat bifurcated with a grouping in the mid 2’s and another 3.5 and above. Many other schools might have somewhat easier grading standards but their required GPA to keep their scholarships might be higher too.
I didn’t get the impression that Purdue is harder for grades. Before this thread I would have guessed the opposite. I’ve interviewed mostly students from Purdue with GPA in the range of 3.5-3.8. They didn’t appear to be super bright, some are smart but some are not. I wouldn’t say the same about the Stanford and the UIUC kids.
@DrGoogle purdue has the hardest grading system. their highest graduation gpa for engineering was a 3.8
^ That’s a pretty high GPA in engineering…
@bodangles some schools have 4.0+ but purdue was a 3.8. i have read many students end up dropping engineering because it is so hard and the grading is the harshest
GPA trends are a factor if you have a merit scholarship that has a GPA requirement.
Solveforx, I didn’t know that. At my daughter’s school, which also known for grade deflation, top 4% is 3.6-3.8 range. There are kids with 3.9something in Biomedical engineering. So if she graduates with 3.8 or lower she will be only cum laude. Some schools cum laude honors is 3.5 and above, but 3.7 is magna cum laude.
A low average GPA at a school or a high dropout rate are not necessarily indicative of harder grading. That might be one factor, but there are others. For example, many state schools (and especially Purdue) have looser admissions requirements due to state requirements and admit students that are more likely to be under-prepared for the rigors of a good engineering program (or any engineering program, for that matter). As a result, the attrition rate is higher. This is how schools like Purdue earn the reputation for being harder to graduate than to be admitted.
There is also the issue of course rigor. Some schools have a more scientifically/mathematically rigorous approach to engineering than others, which generally tends to increase the difficulty at least to some degree. This could lower the average GPA without necessarily signaling tougher grading so much as the overall difficulty of the classes.
Of course, all of those things might factor into which school makes it “the hardest to get get grades”. However, in engineering, you can get just about any job you want if your GPA is over 3.5, and you can get many other good jobs as long as your GPA is above a 3.0. Lower than that doesn’t leave you screwed, but it will start to limit your options.
Basically, don’t choose a school based on which appears to be the easiest. Choose the school that is right for you based on fit, cost, and career goals.
This has to be false.
https://www.purdue.edu/commencement/students/gpaStandards/index.html
http://www.purdue.edu/studentregulations/regulations_procedures/scholrecognition.html (See section C.2)
Assuming I read everything correctly, the top 10% of engineering graduates of May 2015 had over a 3.83. I personally have a 3.93.
But anyways, if you have good work ethics, initiative, and a sense of responsibility, you’ll probably do fine at any college (even the ones that are “harsh graders”). It’s not like they give out grades at random. You earn the grades you earn.
Colleges with over 4.0 ??
As for Harvey Mudd - some interesting reading that relates to grades
https://www.hmc.edu/career-services/2015/03/10/its-not-all-about-gpa-2/
@boneh3ad : Apparently they’re trying to “raise the bar” of Purdue Engineering, so the admission requirements are being raised. Apparently they look for a 3.9 GPA and 2000+ SAT score (so I’ve heard from professors)… Unfortunately, this is leading to some problems… But maybe this will increase the graduation rate?