<p>Is a 4.0 at Yale possible? For those who had 4.0’s in high school is it depressing to get lower grades?</p>
<p>You might have also seen similar threads on the Harvard and Princeton boards. Just attempting to receive some thoughts…</p>
<p>It’s very very very difficult, but not impossible. No it’s not depressing to get lower grades because grades are not as important as they were in high school, or rather, to word it better, they take on a different meaning.</p>
<p>4.0’s are extremely rare at Yale (as in, I would expect, at most, a couple per year). I think that speaks to the difficulty.</p>
<p>It is rare to get a perfect 4.0, since it means you can’t get almost any A- let alone any other grade. Just a couple a year graduated with a perfect 4.0 in my time at Yale (one was a close friend). It is not so rare to get 3.9 or 3.8, since that includes about 5% of the whole class: about 75 graduates (it corresponds to the “summa” honors). I don’t think any professional school would really expect a 4.0 from Yale. A 3.8 from Yale is very very high. This is not high school!</p>
<p>A couple of thoughts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you can get into Yale you are likely to be able, if you really make that your highest priority, to get high grades in SOME classes. </p></li>
<li><p>If you select classes based on which you are likely to do best in, that will make it more likely you will get those A (or at least A-) grades. </p></li>
<li><p>Certain classes are harder than others. Intro Chemistry (both the first year and organic) has a stiff curve, as do most premed classes and many intro science and math classes in general. Likewise for people without language ability, taking a foreign language can be a grade point lowering experience. For math/science minded people, a class heavy in paper writing might be a risk. And so on. </p></li>
<li><p>If you are thinking of going to Yale to get a high grade point average, you should really think twice. Is the purpose of your time at Yale to just crank out a grade point average? Is that the best use you can make of the resources there? I’d strongly recommend you to take classes you are not sure they you will do well in. Get a broader education, learn more. I am very sorry that those who are applying to med schools, law schools, business schools etc are under such pressure they may not want to take risks. I remember friends who chose their courses just to keep their grades up. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I see the high grade point average emphasis in high schools, due of course to the ridiculous admissions expectations of places like Yale. I would hate to see this way of thinking spread into college and grad school students.</p>
<p>Well put ivyalumni.</p>
<p>I agree that 4.0’s are very difficult to earn. I don’t believe anyone in the Class of 2009 graduated with a 4.0, as the student who earned the prize for highest GPA had at least one or two A- grades. It is, however, certainly possible to have 4.0 semesters.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is very true. Taking math/science courses will almost definitely result in lower grades. Case in point, in my chemistry lab I had a 94 average, good right? No, there cut off for an A was a 95 and I got an A-.</p>
<p>My intro bio class had no curve, and the averages on the tests were: 76, 82, and 80 or something like that. I barely got an A- in the class and that was after getting a 5 on the bio AP.</p>
<p>Math is a WHOLE other beast that we don’t even want to discuss. Let’s just say I am glad that is over.</p>
<p>And everyone who told you about grade inflation were either: a)lying or b) referring to the humanities.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or, c) they didn’t look at the actual data:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3365648-post29.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/3365648-post29.html</a></p>
<p>^ I don’t know if I trust that. Harvard more deflated than Princeton?</p>
<p>Somewhat related:</p>
<p>“The cutoff for summa cum laude, awarded to the top 5 percent of the graduating class, remained at 3.93. Magna cum laude, conferred to the next 10 percent of the class, also held steady at the GPA of 3.85.”</p>
<p>[Yale</a> Daily News - Latin honors generate little commotion](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2009/09/09/latin-honors-generate-little-commotion/]Yale”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/university-news/2009/09/09/latin-honors-generate-little-commotion/)</p>
<p>I wonder what the “medical-school-worthy” GPA is for students who are graduated from Yale. It appears that there are a little bit over 200 applicants from Yale (including alumni) each year. Is it about 3.8 since there are about 200 students (1300 * 15% = 195) who are graduated with 3.85+ GPA? If this is true and you have 1/2 of A’s and 1/2 of A-'s and no B’s, your grades will definitely not be your liability when you apply to medical schools. I think this is a more reasonable goal than 4.0.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[medical</a> school cumulative data 2000-2009](<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/media/med_school_stats.pdf]medical”>http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/media/med_school_stats.pdf)</p>
<p>[statistics</a> for entering law school in 2008](<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/lawschool/media/lawstats.pdf]statistics”>http://www.yale.edu/career/students/gradprof/lawschool/media/lawstats.pdf)</p>
<p>Both are A- averages.</p>
<p>^ Thanks for the info.
Why is there a medical school called “CALIF, Berkeley” (shown on the first page by following your first link)? I believe Berkeley does not have a medical school.</p>
<p>Good advice but unfortunately, law and medicine (and certain highly competitive jobs at consulting firms, i-banking) still calculate a good percentage of your worth based on you GPA. Grad schools look at classes that are within the school/field you are applying to.</p>
<p>Despite what some people may tell you, GPA (along with perhaps research experience) is still the single most important determining factor in getting a good job, getting into grad schools, etc. Yes, have fun, make friends, don’t be an insufferable ******bag, take difficult classes, take classes outside your comfort zone, etc. - but do not let your GPA drop below 3.75 because that closes a lot of doors, plain and simple.</p>
<p>No one in the class of 2010, 2011, or 2012 has a 4.0. I’m not as sure about 2013, because we’ve only been here for a semester.</p>
<p>Regarding medical schools, isn’t UCSF Berkeley’s medical school?</p>
<p>No, UCSF is not Berkeley’s medical school.</p>
<p>
Are you very sure about this? I heard that, by the end of either the junior year or the sophomore year, the class of 2010 has at least one 4.0. She is not a science major (I do not want to be too specific about who she is here.) By the end of freshman year, I think there are still many 4.0.</p>
<p>I meant de facto, not de jure. I’ve heard on CC people usually regard it as such because of the lack of undergrad teaching, focus on health sciences within grad teaching, and proximity to UC Berkeley’s main campus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’d been told this by multiple sources, at least one of which I’d trust to know the information properly. Do you also go to Yale?</p>
<p>So what are the science classes curved around? B? B-? What percent of those classes get As?</p>
<p>well…if you really want to know, you can just look at who get elected to phi beta kappa as juniors and then you can email them personally. <a href=“mailto:firstname.lastname@yale.edu”>firstname.lastname@yale.edu</a>!</p>
<p>^ The person I referred to did get elected to PBK one year earlier than usual (it means the top 1% of the class). I think it may be too intrusive (borderline impolite) to send that kind of email.</p>
<p>amciw, I do not – I am well too old for that 
But I learned it from a person who is there. But I think he may not be 100% sure though. Somehow many students in his class know that two students make excellent (if not perfect) grades. I heard that one of these two students does not do anything else (like joining a club) besides academic work-- not a typical student there.</p>
<p>Merely out of curiosity, what does it take to get a 4.0 at Yale? How much do first year Yale phy/math/eco differ from APs/A Levels and such in terms of content and difficulty?</p>