So, what exactly is a "good" college GPA?

Student Lounge College Life
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Berkeleysenior, you do NOT need a 3.7+ to get into med school lol

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Refer to GoldShadow's post, as follows:

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To clear up the med school GPA thing:</p>

<p>In 2007, the average GPA of matriculants to US allopathic medical schools was 3.65. (AAMC: FACTS Table 17: MCAT Scores and GPAs for Applicants and Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools)</p>

<p>Based on the new data from the 2008 MSAR, the median GPA of matriculants at nearly every medical school was 3.7-3.8.

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You don't need a 3.7+ to get into good law, med, or PhD programs. There are MANY other factors that can make up for a lower GPA. Law schools are particularly enamored with the LSAT.

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<p>As someone who has already taken the LSAT and done law school research, trust me, I know. A statistics professor ran a regression and found that the LSAT accounts for approximately 60-70% of your application. Regardless if you look at the median GPAs of the T-10 law schools, they are ~3.7. The top 3 (Yale, Harvard, Stanford) have 3.85/3.9 medians.
Source: Top</a> 2008 Law School Rankings</p>

<p>While a high LSAT (at least early 170s) can compensate for a mediocre GPA, chances are a mediocre GPA will knock you out of Boalt (which emphasizes GPA more) and the T-5 (unless your LSAT is 175+). Depending on how low it is, I'd say it'd knock you out of the T-10 completely. You may still have a shot at T-11 to T-14 with a high enough LSAT.</p>

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you people need to CHILL OUT. maybe they wont get into the top TOP med schools. but really the old joke kind of applies. what do you call a person who graduated at the bottom of their med school class.. DOCTOR

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<p>Your brother is an exception. Maybe he had a really high MCAT score. A 3.3 is still subpar at low ranked medical schools.</p>

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With a 3.7 you'd almost be accepted to every med school in the US.

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<p>This is totally inaccurate. I know of a few people at my university with 3.7s and "okay" but not high enough MCAT scores whom were rejected to 10+ medical schools. They did NOT get into a single medical school. Their MCATs weren't that high but not that low either...A 3.7 guarantees absolutely nothing.</p>

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<p>ha ha ha, very funny. whatever, my brothers already accepted and into school and i have no intentions on ever doing anything in medicine so im really not a qualified person to be in this discussion.</p>

<p>moral of the story is premed kids have to work their a sses off from the time they are in HS to ever have any hope in becoming a doctor one day</p>

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<p>Well to get back to the original original post, its recommended only to put your GPA on your resume if its above a 3.0 As you mentioned, right now you aren't interested in anything top of the notch, so as long as your GPA doesn't slump down after now, you should be fine and in a decent position at least.</p>

<p>I'll mention I had under a 3.0 overall(3.2 last 2 years) and got into a top 10 school masters program in my field.</p>

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<p>I've always thought a good gpa is at least a 3.3 and a great gpa is anything that makes you graduate w/ honors(solely based on gpa)</p>

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<p>lol mcim, duh, of course a 3.0 is fine if you're in engineering.</p>

<p>but in the fields of humanities, A students are a dime a dozen, so we kinda have to work it hard.</p>

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<p>3.3 is a good grade for engineering. all else 3.5, exceptions may apply.</p>

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<p>I generally consider a 3.3 a good GPA for any major. Anything >3.7 is stellar.</p>

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<p>Well, depends on the school really. Generally, more competitive schools ‘need’ lower grades actually. I go to a public school and I guess they do inflate grades, so I find it hard to imagine a good gpa which is lower than 3.5, because students must then really not be trying.</p>

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<p>Oh and the average GPA for my major (molecular biology) last year was 3.4 - so most grad schools will be looking into those gpas and deciding how tough your school is.</p>

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<p>It all depends on how much ur school inflates grades so they can look better.</p>

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<p>4.0 of course.</p>

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<p>My political science professor told us that if you have over a 3.3 GPA you can get someone to pay for law school for you (like a law firm, etc).</p>

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<p>4.0, or at least above a 3.5 depending on major.</p>

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<p>is this a joke? if that firm is paying for your education, then they’d have make sure you’re serious about working for them. Even then, how can they decide whether or not you’re a good fit, without even having gone to law school? how would that work? family connections?</p>

<p>I mean I would guess that it would have to your connections, be it family or family of friends. My old friend got a 32 on his ACT, and his friend’s dad (I believe) walked up to him and told him that he could get him into West Point Military Academy with that score.</p>

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<p>Depends on what you plan to do. like other posters said, a med/law/professional school will require a very high GPA (3.6+, at least) while business is more about connections and science is more about research experience.</p>

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<p>Depends on your program, year and what you wanna do. At the core of things I think as long as you have a 3.0 or up you’re doing all right.</p>

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<p>3.0 is the minimum a lot of employers require… I suppose it would probably be higher if u want to go to med school/grad school, in which case it would depend on the caliber of the school</p>