GPA 3.2 low?

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I have a 3.2. (87-88%)

A counselor said that's not too shabby, but others candidly say it's low. Most grad schools require a 3.5 at least, and I'm thinking of retaking a class or two to raise it. What do you think?

I would say that's not bad at all. I would look up the requirements of whatever grad school(s) you're most interested in, so you're not wasting your time if you don't need to retake anything.

It's a mixed bag.

GPA isn't a golden ticket. Schools also focus on diversity and other factors. Depending on course costs per credit hour, retaking a class to try and get a better grade could get costly real fast.

It depends on what you want to do with it. If you intend to go to grad school, it may be, depending on the grad school and their expectations. If you don't, it's probably just fine.

It all depends on who you talk to, also. I have a friend who won't let herself get lower than a 4.0 and sacrifices everything to get good grades, and she would say that's low. However, I don't think it's a bad GPA at all, and it's above average. As long as you won't lose any scholarships/drop out of any programs because of it, I'd say don't worry.

A 3.2/4.0 is considered low in the US?

In my country, a 3.0 would be considered above average (I think the average GPA would be around 2.0). All assessments are marked on a curve, so only around 5% of students in a subject can score the highest grade, while around 10-15% score the second highest grade, and so forth.

3.2 isn't bad. I'm really surprised anyone would say it's low.

At my current college, and also at the other one I went to about 12 years ago, 3.0 is the minimum for grad school.

I think most grad schools want to look at more than just your GPA anyway.

Absolutely.

In an environment where openings generally go to the most competitive candidate (absent minority preference), you see lots of A- and A students get into graduate schools. B+ and lower might get in if the school aims for a more diverse student body, but even the B and B+ students tend to be competitive Type A personalities.

Considering how "dumbed down" even college education is in America (if you make the effort, you should be able to pull A- or better in most courses), I'm not surprised this is the trend.

When I went to law school, we were told flat out that what we did in college that got us an A would get us a C in law school. They weren't kidding, and one of our students to did her last semester in South Carolina was stupefied that she got all As and one A- for that semester without making any effort. People in her classes were clueless, and this school was supposed to be ranked higher than the one we were going to.

I heard our colleges are great. If not, why are all the kids around the world trying to go to school in the US?

Double Post

Last edited by CaptainTrips222 on 09 Jul 2011, 5:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wow, I guess that explains why the US students I met on exchange here were so shocked to be getting the equivalent of Cs for the subjects they took.

Probably because...

1. The schools in their countries are even worse, or

2. The schools in their countries are so competitive only the top 1/10th of 1 percent get admitted (too few schools), or

3. Like it is in the USA, that "USA school 'pedigree'" will do more for their future than graduating top of their class in their home country would ever do for them (e.g., graduating with an average GPA from Harvard or Yale compared to top of your class in University of Nebraska).