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collegealum314 · 04-29-2008, 11:58 AM

I'd like to address the comment that MIT is a bad place for premeds. First of all, it clearly true that there is grade deflation at MIT. It IS harder than our ivy competitors. That's not something to be embarassed about. Harvard and Princeton admitted recently they had too much grade inflation. Specifically at Princeton, one guy told me that the molecular bio major (and most other majors) had ridiculous grade inflation; however, the grading of the chem major was pretty brutal so none of the premeds majored in chemistry there.

However, there are ways to protect your GPA, especially if you are fairly confident about your abilities. For one, you could take classes like organic chem on pass/fail if that is hard for you--or you could take it during the summer somewhere else. GIR's can be taken for the most part on pass/fail. Don't major in engineering unless you are really confident and interested in it. Again, you can try it out on pass/fail. A lot of people who are premed get themselves in trouble by majoring in chemE or EECS just because it's hard--sort of a macho thing. Also, space out your classes. Like someone said, there is some peer pressure to take many technical classes a term. If you come in with a fair amount of credit, it could be possible to take only 1-2 technical classes a term. The less you put on your plate, the easier it will be. Lastly, don't do extracurriculars right away unless you are one of those people that needs it as a stress-reliever. (I'm not talking about intramurals; I'm talking about major time commitments like a varsity sport.) Try to get established first before you try to do things to round out your application. One guy I knew who went to Harvard Med and was a mechanical engineering major at MIT said that he basically studied all the time the first two years (even though the first year was on pass/fail and he didn't really have to study to pass his classes.) If passing is easy for you on pass/fail, then go for straight "A"s. Do your best, and it will be easier to do that in the following semesters.

04-29-2008, 11:58 AM	#22
collegealum314 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Threads: 7 Posts: 1,470	re: post 10 I'd like to address the comment that MIT is a bad place for premeds. First of all, it clearly true that there is grade deflation at MIT. It IS harder than our ivy competitors. That's not something to be embarassed about. Harvard and Princeton admitted recently they had too much grade inflation. Specifically at Princeton, one guy told me that the molecular bio major (and most other majors) had ridiculous grade inflation; however, the grading of the chem major was pretty brutal so none of the premeds majored in chemistry there. However, there are ways to protect your GPA, especially if you are fairly confident about your abilities. For one, you could take classes like organic chem on pass/fail if that is hard for you--or you could take it during the summer somewhere else. GIR's can be taken for the most part on pass/fail. Don't major in engineering unless you are really confident and interested in it. Again, you can try it out on pass/fail. A lot of people who are premed get themselves in trouble by majoring in chemE or EECS just because it's hard--sort of a macho thing. Also, space out your classes. Like someone said, there is some peer pressure to take many technical classes a term. If you come in with a fair amount of credit, it could be possible to take only 1-2 technical classes a term. The less you put on your plate, the easier it will be. Lastly, don't do extracurriculars right away unless you are one of those people that needs it as a stress-reliever. (I'm not talking about intramurals; I'm talking about major time commitments like a varsity sport.) Try to get established first before you try to do things to round out your application. One guy I knew who went to Harvard Med and was a mechanical engineering major at MIT said that he basically studied all the time the first two years (even though the first year was on pass/fail and he didn't really have to study to pass his classes.) If passing is easy for you on pass/fail, then go for straight "A"s. Do your best, and it will be easier to do that in the following semesters.