College where your stats are higher?

[c5212]

For the purpose of gaining acceptance to med-school, should you go to a college/university where your stats (GPA, SAT, ACT) are considerably higher than the average, assuming you will be in the upper echelon of your class?

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[DrYoda]

The only advantage to that is the potential to get a scholarship (for college). Med schools don't care about your HS grades and your HS performance will not necessarily predict your college performance.

 

[c5212]

I know they don't care about HS grades- i was saying that if you performed higher than the average in HS than you probably would in college as well... so SHOULD YOU GO TO A COLLEGE WHERE YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL DO BETTER THAN THE AVERAGE STUDENT?????

 

[MilkmanAl]

Yes, absolutely, assuming you can find such a school you think you'd be happy at.

 

[Goosey]

Yes, absolutely, assuming you can find such a school you think you'd be happy at.

Well, why do you feel it is an absolute yes?

Would you rather be in an environment where you are one of the stronger students, or one where you are one of the weaker students? If your surrounded by better people do you think their higher performance will rub off on you and/or motivate you to do better? Or will being the top dog and the natural leader in situations fill you with so much confidence that it pushes you even further than you thought possible?

I think I'd excel in an environment where I'm one of the stronger students. I don't think there are magic secrets that stronger students have that I don't know about. For the most part it comes down to internal drive, our motivation.

What motivates one the most, fear or love? A classic question that I think applies here.

When you are the stronger student of the bunch, and produce your work that is better than all the others' work, you will feel good about it. You might get some praise for it. Often our love of this success will drive us to produce even better work.

When you are the average student of the bunch, and produce your work that is average, you feel mediocre. If you are weaker and produce below average work, you will really feel stupid. It is the fear of being inadequate or second rate that will drive us to produce even better work.

I lean towards saying the love of success drives me more. At least in HS I've found when I'm better than the rest, I really end up pushing myself to do things better than I had ever done in my life before. When I start out average or below average (classes with many smart and driven people.) I tend to fall and make new record lows for my work.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Well, why do you feel it is an absolute yes?

Unless you go to an unusually highly-regarded school and/or pursue a course of study that everyone recognizes as more difficult than the rest, GPA is GPA. Even if you get cut some slack, the biggest "bonus" that school and major can get you is in the .3-ish range, and quite a few people would argue that I'm being too generous on that. In other words, for the most part, a 4.0 at Nowheresville U is the same as a 4.0 at most other schools. That's something you should exploit to its fullest extent since Nowheresville U is probably more likely to pay for your education than Lofty Private School or even Good State School.

For what it's worth, I think the same applies to med schools. If you can go to your state school for cheap instead of somewhere more competitive, you should go to your state school. Class rank is far, far more important than prestige when matching, so if you're choosing between being in the middle of the pack at Harvard (and paying more money to do so) or in the top quarter at your state school, definitely go the state route.

TL;DR: Bend the rules of the game to your advantage.

 

[smsc2009]

I know they don't care about HS grades- i was saying that if you performed higher than the average in HS than you probably would in college as well... so SHOULD YOU GO TO A COLLEGE WHERE YOU BELIEVE YOU WILL DO BETTER THAN THE AVERAGE STUDENT?????

The answer is, it depends and the main point is your high school performance in no way predicts your college performance. I know of people who did well in high school but did not succeed in college. I also know of people who did mediocre in high school and did extremely well in college. It all depends.

 

[DendWrite]

Unless you go to an unusually highly-regarded school and/or pursue a course of study that everyone recognizes as more difficult than the rest, GPA is GPA. Even if you get cut some slack, the biggest "bonus" that school and major can get you is in the .3-ish range, and quite a few people would argue that I'm being too generous on that. In other words, for the most part, a 4.0 at Nowheresville U is the same as a 4.0 at most other schools. That's something you should exploit to its fullest extent since Nowheresville U is probably more likely to pay for your education than Lofty Private School or even Good State School.

For what it's worth, I think the same applies to med schools. If you can go to your state school for cheap instead of somewhere more competitive, you should go to your state school. Class rank is far, far more important than prestige when matching, so if you're choosing between being in the middle of the pack at Harvard (and paying more money to do so) or in the top quarter at your state school, definitely go the state route.

TL;DR: Bend the rules of the game to your advantage.

QFT. It's not where you do it, it's how well you do it.

 

[corbis11]

go to the school you will have the best time/most fun at

/thread

 

[schrizto]

It's all about who you want to surround yourself with.

 

[koercive]

I agree with the above posters.

Also, being in a competitive bio or science program vs an easier major can make or break if you make the cut. (It is harder to get a 4.0 in physical chem vs other majors

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Its very hard to determine the average student because it depends on major, and how they are as individuals....you might see some kids who are poor performers when it comes to standardized testing but constantly get rather high Gpa's. I dont think it really matters...almost everyone changes their methods of study when they go to college..and to be honest unless you went to a top high school school you will most likely see your studying needs to change.

Also i should add...comparing yourself to others during college (not saying you are trying to do this or will do this) is not good at all.