Grade and University Name which matters more?

Grade and University Name which matters more?

Like it or not, in US, University matters much more than what grade you got. Lets assume that exponnent of ten is X, i.e. if you try to find which one matters more in log scale, then our discussion can be meaningful. Like hardness we measure in log scale, i.e. Diamond is most hardest material (8.0 on hardness scale) in the world, and blackboad chalk is most softest material in our scale i.e. 1.0.

So, GPA x University = 10^x, and maximum is 8. GPA can be assigned a maximum value of 10,000, and University can be assigned a maximum value of 10,000. You may assign your 2*(GPA - 2) as exponent to 10 to determine weighted value of your GPA. UGF (University Grade Factor) is the exponent of 10 in above equation. So, if your average GPA is 4.0, then, you will get the full score on GPA part, i.e. 4.0. Similarly if you GPA is just 2.0, then your GPA's weight is 0. If your GPA score is 3.0, then UGF (University Grade Factor) is 2*(GPA - 2)= 2*(3-2)= 2. In the same way, 3.5 GPA means UGF is 3.

Now, lets go to the next component of UGF, i.e. University Matters. Maximum score is 4. Harvard, MIT, Berkely, Georgia Institute of Technology, Yale, Princeton, carry full score of 4.

So, if your GPA is 4 and your University is also top rated, then you are a blue star: 8.0 holder, like Diamond. No one can question you. You are on top of pyramid.

If your GPA is just 2, but you graduated from these universities, you can see you UGF score is still 4.0 (i.e. 0 + 4 = 4), so you can see that you will be getting a job almost the same as someone who has GPA = 4.0 from unrated low tier university. Is that fair? Don't ask me, its what employers will do. I am talking here about the entry level job positions. If you performance is very upon joining the organization, you might get second chance if you got 4 from University factor as compared to GPA factor. People trust more on University Factor than on GPA factor.

If your university is within top 10 in your subject, you can give 4 point to University Factor, if it is between 11-30, you may assign 3.5. If 31-50, you may assign between 3-3.25 to university factor, and if 51-100, you may assign 2.0-3.0, and if below 100, then 1-2 depending on your personal judgements. For local (in state jobs: companies having jobs within your state of study), you may assign similar factors. But, these factors can not be carried over to natinal level job application. They may work in neighboring states, but not more than that.

So, what? If you university is not on top 100, then your university does not matter. Your GPA matters. So, you won't get UGF more than 4-5 score. You can not be Topaz, forget about being Diamond. So, universities ranked below 100, are just local universities, and the university factor works only for the local employments, not in national level employments.

What about foreign universities. British Universities, and German Universities might get university factor upto 3, but not more than that. Indian Universities like IIT, might get 2-2.5, but not more than that, provided employer is not from South Asia. If an employer is from south asian ethnic community, then you might get higher score, because the employer knows the strength of education in IITs in India. But, non-Asian Americans don't regard IITs to the same level as other top rated universities in USA. If you are from Japan, your score is almost 1-2 if you graduated from any other university other than Tokyo.