<p>^ what he said </p>
<p>I hope my ‘your grades are based on your effort’ statement doesn’t come across as too glib. Because that effort shouldn’t be underestimated. At the same time, I don’t think a 3.5 is unattainable if you really, really work for it and make that your priority. However, most Reedies aren’t focused on the quantitative outcome and more on the learning itself…which is why grades are deemphasized in the first place. The classes where I (probably? I’ve never seen my grades but like Ghostt I got some end of the year letter) excelled were ones in which I was already highly interested and dedicated so the work didn’t seem extraneous or brutal. The only really brutal class where I worked my ass off and still felt like I was probably failing the whole time was Chem (though I wasn’t, ends up they graded that one on a slight curve). </p>
<p>Anyway if you’re worried you will get a lower gpa by attending Reed over another school, well, you might (but it will be so worth it!). They do send a little card with your transcript that explains the grading practices and average gpa. It seems like most grad schools understand that Reed is a special place and don’t penalize you for it. Plenty of Reedies get into top medical, law, and business schools (where gpa cut-offs tend to be more prominent). Hopefully your GRE scores, thesis, and professor recs would speak for themselves as well. I can’t really think of any other reasons why you’d need to have a 3.5+…resumes? Does anyone even list that anymore?</p>