4.0

I just finished meeting with a former student who wants me to write a letter of recommendation for her. I honestly don't know her very well, but I do remember she was a pretty good student who had me for a teacher for one class a few semesters ago. It turns out that students who want to go to medical school have to get one person outside of the sciences to write a letter of rec, so I'm sure her two other letter writers know her better. I'm always curious if my letter really means that much, as if the decision to admit the student into med school comes down to my letter. So I always ask about scores on the MCAT and gpa. This student said that she was a junior with a gpa of 4. I asked do you mean like 4.8 and you're rounding it up? She said no, I mean 4.0. That really impressed me. I told her jokingly that there was a HUGE difference between students with a 4.0 and those with a 3.82. There were semesters in which I earned a 4.0, but overall my gpa was never that high. I wasn't too mature when I started college, and even if I were I'm not sure I would be capable of the discipline it would take to get a 4.0. I can always blame it on the fact that I always had to work 30-40 hours per week for money while taking classes, but the truth is that I didn't study as hard as it would take to get a perfect gpa. I also think there is something to be said for a 3.3 gpa. They probably go to more parties and have more time for friends and fun things, and still can get into medical school. Only then they need their theology teachers to write AMAZING letters of recommendation. My point is 4.0 students should get professors who had 3.3 gpa's to write them letters and students who have 3.3 gpa's should get professors who had 4.0 gpa's.