<p>I am a bit worried about the grade deflation at Princeton. That being said, what's considered a good GPA at Princeton? What's the mean gpa? What GPA is a good target that I should shoot for if I want to go into finance-related jobs? I'm an economics/finance major.</p>
<p>I heard the mean GPA is 3.2-3.3, which is quite low, but I'm not exactly sure if this is right.</p>
<p>Someone please shed some light on this, especially Princeton students...</p>
<p>ex: a 3.5 at princeton is much more impressive than a 3.5 at an average university.. b/c Princeton's classes are harder (it's princeton.).. so just because the average GPA is lower doesn't mean people aren't doing as well (as paradoxical as that sounds); it just means the classes are harder, and anyone with a 3.2 at princeton is doing better than a person with a 3.2 at an average state university (IMO; some others may disagree with me)</p>
<p>and also, there are people above and below that GPA average. there are those in the 2 range and those with perfect 4.0s (or close to that.. 3.9+ for sure)</p>
<p>the mean GPA is probably somewhere between a 3.3 and a 3.4. If you're interested in a finance job, you need over a 3.5, and preferably closer to a 3.6</p>
<p>^^not true</p>
<p>The mean GPA is about a 3.4.</p>
<p>3.5 and above are usually "considered" good GPA's.</p>
<p>If you're premed (like I am), you'll probably still need a 3.7+ to get into good places (I've looked at all of the stats from mdapplicants).</p>
<p>@randombetch: How hard is it to get above a 3.7? What's the avg. science GPA like?</p>
<p>It's very difficult to get above a 3.7. The mean GPA for the natural sciences is the lowest: a 3.12 (compared to a 3.35 in humanities). Only 35% of the class gets A's in all science courses: they are curved very strictly.</p>
<p>Princeton's a great place though - they'll challenge you and force you to learn. If you want a more laid back environment though, Princeton is definitely not the place. Getting a 3.7 science GPA is like getting an A- in every science course: you were in the top 35% in ALL your classes, where on your left could be physics/chemistry/biology international Olympiads, and the kids to your right finished multivariable calculus in 10th grade.</p>
<p>Oh, and correction: the median GPA is around a 3.4. I think the mean is around 3.3 (there a few kids who have significantly lower GPAs, bringing the mean down).</p>
<p>what's the average GPA for economics? is it hard to get above 3.7 for economics?</p>
<p>Thank you for the link, veritahs.</p>
<p>engineering at princeton= condemned to GPA failure...</p>
<p>from the FAQ, seems like engineering GPA is better than social sciences and natural sciences</p>
<p>if I did engineering at Princeton, how hard would it be to do good and get into Stanford/MIT for grad?</p>
<p>The mean is actually around 3.28, the 3.4 is the median (strong negative skew - athletes and people who don't care end up with 2.0's and etcetera).</p>
<p>Is a C considered average or bad? Because if you get a C in high school where as a whole, everyone is average, then it's bad. But if you get a C at a place where most people were in the top 1%...</p>
<p>does anyone know how they grant honors like magna cum laude, or phi beta kappa? is there a GPA cutoff?</p>
<p>phi beta kappa is the top x% of the class (i think 10 or 15?). So there's no hard GPA cutoff, but you need ~3.8 or so. The rest of the honors are done by department, so the GPA requirements vary by department, but it's also usually by percentage and mainly based on departmental gpa</p>
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<p>It's fanboy-ish to make this sort of generalization.</p>
<p>It's not so much that Princeton's courses are harder. Rather, Princeton professors are able to be more honest and critical in evaluating their students.</p>
<p>Roughly a 3.7 will place you in the 1st quintile (it depends on the class, of course, but around a 3.7 is the cutoff).</p>
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[quote]
phi beta kappa is the top x% of the class (i think 10 or 15?). So there's no hard GPA cutoff, but you need ~3.8 or so. The rest of the honors are done by department, so the GPA requirements vary by department, but it's also usually by percentage and mainly based on departmental gpa
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<p>thanks for the info! so for PBK, does it consider the GPA over all the four years, instead of just departmental GPA? which means my grades in freshman year will count towards consideration for PBK? 3.8 seems REALLY tough, especially at princeton - with grade deflation, wouldn't the GPA cutoff be lower then?</p>