<p>Graduate schools mainly care about research, but GPA is very important as well. Every Chicago student with a GPA of 3.5+ thinks their GPA is outstanding (it is!) but when, considering that each top grad school admits only 15 or so to its PhD program, not everyone can go to Harvard. If you have a 3.6-3.7 GPA, you’re not going to get into a top-5 program, because I’d say that 10% of students here have GPAs of 3.8 or above.</p>
<p>I recently had a discussion with a math major who’s completely freaking out about graduate school right now. This person said that almost everyone was disappointed with their graduate school options (this despite the fact that Chicago probably has THE HIGHEST math grad placement in the nation). I mean, come on, 4 people got into Stanford this year. That accounts for like, 50% of domestic acceptances. But if you’re not in the top 5 in your department, you’re really going to have trouble getting into a top 5 program because PhD admissions is just so damn competitive, and no one at Chicago realizes this, apparently. Also, Bs apparently aren’t forgiven for Honors Analysis. So don’t expect grad admissions to forgive any Bs in other courses either. Getting into grad school is hard. Seriously. Yes, Chicago is a top undergraduate school with great grad placement, but when the top 10 graduate schools admit only 50 or so domestic students each year, how many people from Chicago do you think will be represented in that group? You’re going to work your butt off to get into a top graduate school, no matter which undergraduate institution you attend. I think the name Chicago gives you a huge advantage, though.</p>
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<p>Come on, the guy just mocked people with 3.5+ GPAs as total nerds (I’m assuming he wasn’t placing himself in that category), and he’s at Courant, a top 10 graduate school. I don’t get what he’s complaining about.</p>