Stand out? Or just pass

Honestly, what do you mean by excel? Regardless of school, there are always going to be a few kids with a 4.0. The question should be, how are you going to separate yourself from the rest? Do you think you could really be a star at this "worse" school?

Definitely take @"OpsDude"'s advice. I graduated at a tough school with a low GPA (2.9), and during my senior year of interviewing, I was pooled with all the smart kids at my school with >3.5's.

Needless to say, I made it through all the rounds of interviewing they did, because I "stood out" with other things like experience, volunteering, and personality (although I am not a 'personable' individual).

BTW, I was referring to business school, not undergraduate. That said, always go to the best school you can attend, but GPA does matter more for undergrad. Most top undergrads have insane inflation nowadays anyways, so don't worry too much.

The one exception is, if you plan to go into academia and get a Ph.D, instead of to the business world, it's better to go to a worse school. Malcolm Gladwell talks about it in-depth in "David and Goliath." Reason being, for there, GPA and confidence matters (confidence is built by being big fish in a small pond...it is broken by being mediocre at a top school)...but in the corporate world, recruiting is done almost exclusively from top schools, so that effect doesn't really apply there.

I would agree with everyone else and say go to the best school you can go to, even if you're not going to be at the top of the class. Something else to think about is to go to the better school and find ways to excel outside of the classroom. Start up a new club or get really involved with ones on campus. Or maybe look for part time work during school so you have lots of work experience when OCR starts up.

Another thing I've seen kids do and that athletes do all the time is pair easy majors with hard ones. If you know that you're going to struggle in Econ/Finance etc classes because the student body is smarter, take half hard classes each semester combined with some less rigorous ones. In my opinion at good schools even classes in concentrations that would be considered by most people on here to be lame such as art history, sociology, communications etc can be fairly interesting and can help boost your GPA. Richard Sherman has a 3.9 from Stanford, but he majored in Comm. If you went to any Ivy had a 3.9 in comm, but also took some econ classes, had great work experience, and were able to spin your interest for comm as how you think an emphasis on communication is incredibly important for business or something like that, then you'll be absolutely fine.

Why do you think you can't do well at a top school, or any school for that matter, even before you go? I don't know if it still stands, but I went to a semi target school where grades were tough but friends at Harvard said that you basically graduated with a 3.3 if you simply showed up.

I'm going to a top mba program... I'm not really concerned about grades at all.

20 years later from now, what will stay on your resume? Your GPA? Nope. But where you were educated always will be.

Generally I agree with what has been said. However I do see job postings for experienced hires that require the applicants to list their Gpa.

thanks for the feedback guys. this is regarding a ms in finance program to be clearer.

"One should choose to be at the tail of a phoenix than the head of a chicken"

I think to take a different perspective go read Malcolm Gladwell's book "David and Goliath". He actually argues that it's better to attend a school you are competitive at vs going to the best school you can get into.

I'd love to come in and throw around platitudes about how you should always go where you can excel and the merits of that hard work at a 'lower tier' school will pay off in the long run. Sadly, branding is vital when you are first coming out. You'll get looks and interviews by virtue of where you went. So yeah, it makes me feel good to think about the kid killing it at a mid-tier school to get ahead but I'd recommend making life a bit easier on yourself from the get go if you have the choice.

Your GPA matters for your first job and then after that it is largely moot, unless you venture back into academia via graduate school. Outside of that, if you are just a run of the mill GPA in the low to 3.0 range from a top school you can run with that and still parlay it into something pretty good. Besides,

it is stupidity to go for a low profile school only because you can glorify instead of going to big high profile school where you cant be sure to be charmer but will get a chance to learn better stuff

don't be a big fish in a small pond.

The David and Goliath example shouldn't be extrapolated beyond what his example was for - Ph. D/STEM students. It's a much different if you plan enter into finance and consulting, because the prestige of the college matters A LOT for recruiting, something that doesn't apply in his example.

From someone 'standing out'at a non-target, go to the best school you can. Middle of the pack at an ivy will still be looked on with 10x as much favor as a 4.0 from a non-target.

surprised people still care about what cherry picking gladwell has to say nowadays

Always choose the better school. I wasn't an Ivy grad but still when a resume is passed to me with Ivy (or similar top school) on it I'll take a second look. It may not get them the job, that takes interviewing and other general skills, but it helps to get the interview.

Think you're overestimating the level of innate ability at ivies/other top schools. i was a STEM undergrad at one of those schools, and, honestly, the kids are not that bright (on average). most are just above average grinders. if you were smart enough to get in, you'll be smart enough to keep up.

I'll echo what's been said before. Currently an UG excelling at a non-target that gave me financial aid. It hasn't been detrimental to my career by any means but you have to work a lot harder to get the opportunities presented to students at Ivys. I'll be trying to up my brand for grad school, I would recommend the same for you.

pls just stop typing

hard work could get you anywhere you want to go. stop finding excuses