Hi;
If my aim is to graduate with a high GPA. Is it better to go with high selective, high ranking University, or less selective, less ranked University.
I think it’s obvious, it should be the latter… but I just thought to check.
Thanks!!
I don’t believe it is obvious. Some schools (both selective/highly-ranked and not so) have an institutional culture of grade inflation (or deflation). Therefore, it is not the quality/competitiveness of your classmates alone that impacts GPA.
Further, I hope you’ll permit me to offer an important, unsolicited comment. I believe it’s a VERY poor idea to attend a university with the intent of having less bright classmates (potentially to enhance one’s GPA). A great deal of what one learn as an undergraduate (both in and beyond the classroom) is student-to-student based. Accordingly, one should want to have the smartest classmates possible, because one will learn a good deal more about so many things, with and through them. Wanting to attend undergraduate school with less-intelligent classmates is every bit as foolhardy as wanting to have less capable faculty (in my opinion).
P. S.: Perhaps you need to consider this essential fact: GPA may (no guarantee) be important in the first FEW years after one receives his Bachelor’s degree. However, where one attended undergraduate school will always be noteworthy and – FAR more critical – how much one KNOWS is often decisive. A forty year old’s resume generally won’t include his GPA, but it will indicate the college from which he graduated. More crucial, he’ll immediately be judged as a very smart, smart, or not too smart individual is his interviews.
If your aim to get a high GPA is to get into medical school, that is the safe way to go about it. But I’m going to preface the following with having no intention of trying to change your goals or judging them in any way. Getting an education where you are challenged can be life changing. But you have to be open to risk and potential change in order for that to be fruitful. You can play it safe and predictable, but you might be selling yourself short in doing so.
@TopTier and I have different views on this. Once you’ve had your first job your UG school means very little. Yes, the resume includes the school (so the company can check that you did graduate from there) but job performance and skills top that.
Thank you. I just want to highlight that I’m going for master degree.
More selective schools have more competitive students, but also more grade inflation. So it is not necessarily obvious where you will get a higher GPA.
Master’s degree in what?
WAIT, are you going to GRADUATE SCHOOL NOW? Your other posts seem to indicate you are going to grad school now. If so, you should be posting in the GRAD SCHOOLforum where some of your other posts were moved to. This is the undergraduate section. Please clarify and give some background on why.
posted before I look at your posting history and I though you were an undergrad:
It really depends on the particulars of the university. GPA is one of the considerations for grad school, but research experiences can also be a major factor and the best Letters of Recommendation come from the profs you do research with. DWIC (did well in class) recommendation are only mediocre recommendations and they can see your grade from your transcripts. But someone who you worked with on research or projects or a thesis can give you a much better reference. So I would consider access to profs.
@BrownParent The OP plans to go for a masters.
Why does he write this in his grad school post?
I got acceptance at University of South Carolina and New York University for Master in Computer Science. I’m not sure which one to choose.
Oh, did not see that. You’re right, we need clarification and ifs/he will be attending grad school, this post should be moved.
Transparency would be helpful.
Sorry guys … I made a mistake, it suppose to be in graduate thread. Hence, I appreciate if admin could move it.
Moreover, to be more specific, I’m comparing between University of South Carolina and New York University for master degree in Computer Science.
Which of these Universities is more likely for more to score a higher GPA.
“Which of these Universities is more likely for more to score a higher GPA.”
Good grief, you’ll soon be in graduate school. Maybe – who knows – it’s time to write with care, articulateness, and clarity? Do you mean: At which of these universities am I more likely to achieve a higher GPA? Excellent writing is habitual and it will be critical in your career advancement, beyond the entry-level (even in CS/IT).
I moved this thread to the Graduate School forums.
Your master’s GPA will be virtually worthless - unless you plan for a PhD. Grade inflation is the standard in master’s programs, where a 3.5 is pretty much the lower threshold of acceptability, since getting a C is kind of like getting an F (a signal that you failed/are failing the class and need to do better) and As and Bs are handed out for satisfactory and acceptable work respectively. So don’t worry about where you might get the highest GPA; worry about where the network is greater for the work you want to do and which program has the better reputation in your field (and the better job placement). If you want to work in New York or the Northeast in general, NYU is probably better for that. If you want to stay in the South Carolina or Southeastern area, USC might have an edge. Elsewhere I suspect that NYU has a better rep, especially since they’re well-known for mathematical sciences.