<p>I asked this on another thread however not sure anyone saw it so..</p>
<p>My DS has been accepted at Georgia Tech. He has also been accepted at some lower ranked colleges. He is planning on Biomedical engineering. Georgia tech is known to be hard and kids gpa's can be lower. Would it be better for my DS to go to a lower ranked college assuming his gpa would be higher (because they may be more helpful) when he graduates? </p>
<p>I would like to assume his gpa will be good at either way but there is no way for me to know that right now.</p>
<p>Not sure of Georgia tech’s engineering gpa. Still waiting on scholarships for a couple of the schools: All schools are doable although some are cheaper than others. We are instate for GT so it is
one of the least costly.
Here is where he has been admitted besides Georgia Tech that he is still considering
for Biomedical:</p>
<p>UGA
LSU
Auburn
University of Alabama- Birmingham
Clemson
university of south carolina
university of south florida
ohio state
purdue
Michigan tech
University of Minnesota
Mississippi state university ( the cheapest so far)</p>
<p>In order to make a career of BME, you need to have Phd. If you stop at bachelor, you will not be able to get a better job; perhaps just technician aka mechanics to fix BME equipment? </p>
<p>Georgia Tech is a good school and therefore competition is very keen; lots of kids with high GPA taking BME. If you or your son starts worrying about the GPA now then it is an indication that perhaps he is not ready for BME? just wondering…</p>
<p>No my son has always been a good student. I have no signs that he won’t do well. He has 8 AP’s, 34 ACT, 3.895 unw gpa through junior year (got some B’s in spanish). Higher now since got all A’s fall semester. Knows how to study. Really it’s just me as a mom worrying because I’ve been reading about him needing to go to grad school and I know tech is hard so I was wondering does the undergrad school really matter all that much or does it come down to just the gpa?</p>
<p>There are other “more” important factors for grad school than GPA. </p>
<p>Also, I wouldn’t use how will your son did has a high school student as a prediction of how will he will do in an engineering college. It’s very different. Most likely he will do well, but professors and others have always told me that they’ve failed HS valedictorians numerous times. Use that as motivation, but don’t rely on it at all.</p>
<p>GaTech is known for its grade deflation. I’m sure when he applies to grad school, they will take that into consideration as Gatech is a well known enginereing school.</p>
<p>Continuing education into any Grad. Schools, your Son needs high credentials. The higher the GPA (college not high school) the better. Tulane Univ.-my school, for example, will only admit kids with GPA of 3.4 cumulative (undegraduate) in order to pursue BME grad school. Even those who have degree from Tulane BME undergraduate but the GPA is low, they will not let anyone to continue to grad. school; perhaps with lots of lobbying and under certain condition, the BME grad. school will take them in.</p>
<p>I was in BME but did not like Bio. so I have changed into ME and am doing Dual Degree Programs with Vanderbilt…I could do this since I have been able to maintain high GPA 3.8 cumulative. If not, Vandy or Johns Hopkins will not let me in.</p>
<p>YES, high GPA is necessary to pursue higher education in grad. school, transfers or doing Dual Degree Programs.</p>
<p>I agree with clandry 100% great high school grades don’t necessarily translate into great college grades. </p>
<p>Based on what I have read I believe if your future plans are to go to work after undergraduate studies then the name of the school you graduate from holds greater weight. Many employers will recruit heavily at top notch well known schools. It has also been said that students who graduate from big name schools are often hired into better positions with higher salaries and once you graduate the GPA you earned is less relevant. </p>
<p>However, if you’re planning on going to graduate school then GPA is a lot more important. I don’t believe graduate schools are as concerned about where you went to undergrad but more with what research you have completed and the grades you earned. With that being said I would guess that he would be better off going to a less competitive university. It will be a lot easier to earn top grades and less competition for research positions. </p>
<p>It is better to be a big fish in a small pond and with the work ethic your son has he will more than likely be a top student with ease at a lower ranked university.</p>
<p>If pedigree isn’t important, what’s the difference between a good student at MIT/Stanford and a very good student at Random State University?
Beats me.</p>
<p>He will no doubt experience pain, but he’s certainly above average and as long as he’s appropriately respectful of how hard the task at hand is, is modest enough to recognize that he needs to develop much better study skills - everyone does, and won’t get emotionally shaken by having trouble for the first time in his life but instead will react by appropriately seeking out help, he could end up a star. </p>
<p>The people who have the most trouble are 1) those that never experienced academic stress before and are too full of themselves to ask for help because they never had to before, 2) and those that simply don’t have a strong enough academic background and Georgia Tech let them in anyway - that does not appear to be the case for your son. </p>
<p>He needs to understand that 1) his study habits are probably nowhere near where they need to be, 2) he has to learn how to get them there, and 3) that he most certainly can.</p>
<p>Imma be pretty blunt here. I find ACT scores and AP scores irrelevant to whether your son will succeed in an engineering program. I think when I applied, my act/sat scores were in the top few percentile, but I still find a lot of courses quite difficult. </p>
<p>Your son’s gpa in high school is certainly a poorly indicator of how well he will do in engineering courses. YOu will generally find college professors grading on a bell curve or some other form using standard deviations. What that means is you hae to do better than the rest. Given the large # of bright minds in engineering, that’s difficult. </p>
<p>At my current school, most of the teachers grade on a curve that yields approximately 10-15% As, 5-10% failing, and the rest Bs and Cs. </p>
<p>I ran into a class of 80 ish students a couple semesters ago, where the instructor didn’t give one A. You’ll find classes like this, probably not as extreme though.</p>
<p>PhD programs do take into account the undergraduate school, presumably based on in-major reputation of and past experience with PhD students from that undergraduate school. However, that is holistic, variable between universities and departments, and hard to know from the outside. Of course, in-major courses and grades are important, as is research experience.</p>
<p>Medical and law schools are generally thought to be much more GPA and test score focused for admissions (or at least the first cut before the interview).</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the advice. I think you are all correct he is going to have to work hard, use time management and ask for help when needed. I have been asking around here, our school sends a number of kids to GT every year because we are close to GT. Anyway the kids from his high school that are current or former students seem to be well prepared for GT and do/did well at GT.So I’m going to stop worrying about his future GPA and let him decide where he wants to go.</p>