Grade deflation vs. Grade inflation at colleges

[Anonymous]

Does anybody know which colleges have grade inflation and which have grade deflation? Mainly looking at top 30 colleges and top 10 liberal arts colleges. I am aware some of the Ivys have grade inflation (Harvard and Brown for e.g.). What about some of the other non Ivys? Is it massively variable and depending upon the subject, professor, etc?

[Anonymous]

I don’t think any colleges have grade deflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any colleges have grade deflation.

yep

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1300892.page

[Anonymous]

Top of mind, JHU and Chicago deflate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any colleges have grade deflation.

Weed out classes are classic grade deflation -- no matter how the kids do, if you plan to weed out 20-30% of the kids planning on a major, you deflate grades to reach that goal.

[Anonymous]

I have kids at 3 colleges (Ivy, UVA and private top25) and it really depends on major and even professor. People ask me to compare and contrast the academics and grading on a regular basis (when chi-chatting) and I don't have an easy answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top of mind, JHU and Chicago deflate.

No, they don't deflate. They just stick to the actual grading scale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top of mind, JHU and Chicago deflate.

jhu inflates now. average gpa is a 3.8

[Anonymous]

I’ve heard BU deflates significantly. Like, why? You’re BU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve heard BU deflates significantly. Like, why? You’re BU.

There’s definitely no grade deflation at BU. At least not in IR. Seems like most of class gets As.

[Anonymous]

UChicago curves most classes to a 3.2 average. They definitely grade deflate compared to Harvard, which curves to a 3.6 or 3.7. The professors at UChicago don't actually care what the students think of them - they are generally pretty brutal, though there are a few nicer outliers.

[Anonymous]

Princeton is tough. Lot of reading

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Princeton is tough. Lot of reading

Princeton has grade deflation. It really hurt a top law school candidate because law schools are so fixated on GPA and LSAT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any colleges have grade deflation.

Many engineering programs have had little or no grade inflation. Engineering courses often are curved with the median set to 3.0 or 3.1. Compared with many humanities programs, it looks like grade deflation.