miranlin Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 I'm still in high school, trying to decide on my universities. I want to be admitted to a speech-language pathology graduate program, and they seem to be really competitive... Is it better to get a higher GPA at a less acclaimed university, or a low GPA at one of the top universities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegirldetective Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 For many grad programs, it's high GPA + research/internship experience. Contact a few programs that are roughly what you're interested in and ask them if a particular type of research/internship experience is helpful for applicants. Then go to a university where you can get that type of experience. And as Mr. Bugle said, a lot of top universities have pretty crazy grade inflation, so a top university doesn't necessarily mean a lower GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reinhard Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 High GPA. But what makes you think going to a top university means a lower GPA? He means MIT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegirldetective Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 He means MIT. I wonder if MIT has enough of a reputation to offset the downside of a lower GPA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iphi Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 If I'm not mistaken you can enter Speech Pathology programs as an undergrad! I know someone who is doing so at Marquette. Just a tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cogsprocks Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 From what I understand, if you go to a school with a reputation, schools will have an idea of how people admitted from those schools perform. For example, if you went to *insert top 50 school*, admission committees would then look at how previous graduate students from those institutions performed. So for example, if a admissions committee saw a trend of high GPA students doing terrible from a certain school, a high GPA might not mean as much. However, if they have high performing students from a certain school with lower GPAs, they might see a high GPA from that school as a big plus. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aberrant Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 From what I understand, if you go to a school with a reputation, schools will have an idea of how people admitted from those schools perform. For example, if you went to *insert top 50 school*, admission committees would then look at how previous graduate students from those institutions performed. So for example, if a admissions committee saw a trend of high GPA students doing terrible from a certain school, a high GPA might not mean as much. However, if they have high performing students from a certain school with lower GPAs, they might see a high GPA from that school as a big plus. Hope this helps. And how do they evaluate students with lower GPA are "high performing", aside from the "numbers" (or from Harvey Mudd College)? I agreed with a professor who once said that "you would rather be a big fish in a small pond, and not the small fish in a big pond" just because it would be extremely easy to compare small fish with the others (i.e. big fishes) in a big pond. Here, your big pond is *insert top 50 school*. ps. I graduated from a *top 50 school*, or a *top 10 public school*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evgenia Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 I went to a small private top 30 >55k per year college. I had an almost perfect GPA and every semester I freaked out that I wouldn't be able to keep my GPA. My professors were like, "Common, you go to College X, all these top graduate programs know that our school is a tough school. Relax. Going to our school is not like going to School Y across the road (there was a big public school nearby). Of course you could go to School Y and get all A's there but everyone can get all A's in that school." My professors repeatedly made fun of people who went to that public school nearby. When I graduated from my college, I somehow became convinced that people who go to public or unknown schools are doomed - they are losers with no career prospects. (Of course deep in my heart I know it's not true) Conclusion: go to the school ranked higher and get good grades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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