<p>You misunderstand why the median GPA at Brown is high. </p>
<p>Believe it or not, it’s just as hard, maybe even harder, to get an A at Brown as it is at most top colleges. The difference is that at Brown, you can take as many courses as you want on a S/NC basis–Brown’s version of pass/fail. There are students --albeit only a few–who take ALL of their courses S/NC. LOTS of people take one course per term S/NC. That’s probably the most common practice. </p>
<p>So, the high gpa at Brown reflects the gpa of students IN COURSES THEY TOOK FOR GRADES AND ONLY IN THOSE COURSES. It’s almost unheard of for any Brown student to get a C, because anyone who expects to do poorly in a course takes it S/NC. While there are a few smart kids who take all their courses S/NC as a matter of principle, most people take S/NC in their weak subject or courses outside their comfort zones. Then there is a pretty large cohort of theatre types who spend most of their energy focused on performance, but just want to have a college degree. This same group exists at other schools–though it probably isn’t as big a factor at Duke, which is weak in the arts. At other schools, those kids help the curve. They don’t at Brown because they don’t take courses for grades. So, as a practical matter, it’s as if on average the bottom 20%-30% of each individual class isn’t factored into the determination of Brown’s median GPA.</p>
<p>Add to this that last I knew, Brown only gives A, B and C grades. No pluses or minuses. So if you don’t get an A, you’ll get a B, not a B+. A B hurts your GPA more than a B+ does. </p>
<p>There’s actually a thread about this on the Brown section of CC. See <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/1460597-hard-get-brown.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/brown-university/1460597-hard-get-brown.html</a> A freshman was shocked to get a 3.3. </p>
<p>Brown and Duke are culturally on opposite ends of the spectrum. Choose the one where you think you’ll be happiest. Don’t choose Brown because you think it will be easy to get a high GPA. It isn’t. You’ll work every bit as hard for one if you take all of your courses for grades. And, if you’re applying to law school, you will take MOST of your courses for a grade. </p>
<p>One advantage of Brown’s system is that almost nobody takes true guts. They are pretty rare at Brown. Students take real courses–the same ones students majoring in a subject take–but take them S/NC. Brown students don’t sign up for easy courses to “protect” their GPA for law and/or med school the way students at most schools do. </p>
<p>I agree with the advice to go to the school you think you’ll enjoy more.</p>