Amherst college grade inflated to hell

[Anonymous]

This is really surprising, especially since Amherst has historically been known for its rigor which has lead to- obviously- amazing outcomes as the second-best LAC in the US. But currently, it seems to have little to almost no rigor.

Barba, who provided data on the current state of grade inflation at Amherst, noted that there has been a 70% increase in A and A+ grades over the past 10 years, with most of that increase occurring within the last five to six years. He also shared that more than 75% of the grades the college awarded last year were in the A- to A+ range. Currently, all but five subjects at the college have a median grade of A.

[Anonymous]

Grades have only risen since the sole advice students get on careers is to do consulting, IB, etc. it’s easier to throw mediocre students into these useless prestige-obsessed spaces than to actually encourage they go into meaningful, lasting careers.

[Anonymous]

you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

Which explains why they have such good results compared to peers. They’re just boosting everyone so no one knows who is actually working for it. You can be a top student and be less than 50th percentile at the college- that’s insane!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

Very pre-med heavy as well. My kid at Amherst works his @ss off for As in the most challenging STEM classes available to him. There is no coasting for him. But there are definitely kids who are adept at selecting the classes known to be easier. There are different ways to approach earning As for the kids worried about maintaining high GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Schools like Amherst should be punished for their poor grade distribution practices. They essentially cheat outcomes by handing out 4.0s as common prizes.

[Anonymous]

Amherst has a 7% acceptance rate. I think, like Harvard, it is full of grinders who put in the work for those As. Or, like PP said, know how to choose coursework that is most likely to lead to As. I had a friend like that at Harvard. Selected for Phi Beta Kappa, but never took a hard class during her time there. There are different kinds of intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like Amherst should be punished for their poor grade distribution practices. They essentially cheat outcomes by handing out 4.0s as common prizes.

This starts at the K-12 level. Lots of college students expect As and complain bitterly about profs who give them Bs and give them terrible course ratings because they have grown up thinking that as long as they do what is expected of them effort-wise, they deserve an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amherst has a 7% acceptance rate. I think, like Harvard, it is full of grinders who put in the work for those As. Or, like PP said, know how to choose coursework that is most likely to lead to As. I had a friend like that at Harvard. Selected for Phi Beta Kappa, but never took a hard class during her time there. There are different kinds of intelligence.

This just can’t be true, because the college has always been rigorous and filled with high potential students, but back in the day you wouldn’t see things like this:

Barba proceeded to share the calls he received from the Office of Fellowships inquiring about how to interpret students’ good GPAs. “They say, ‘What percentile of the class are [they]?’ I say, ‘45th’ ... It does you no favors in the application process when we have to say things like that,” Barba said…
On the flip side, Barba pointed out that grade compression can also obscure the picture of which students are actually struggling. “We’re kind of losing some signal for some students who … do need some kind of intervention [but] may think they’re actually doing better than they really are,” Barba said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

Very pre-med heavy as well. My kid at Amherst works his @ss off for As in the most challenging STEM classes available to him. There is no coasting for him. But there are definitely kids who are adept at selecting the classes known to be easier. There are different ways to approach earning As for the kids worried about maintaining high GPAs.

Asked DS, who's home now, about grade inflation. He said he was surprised that the curves in some of his classes his pretty low. He mentioned a 55 to get a B, not sure if that was consistent or for one particular assignment or test. Said he strives for high As, regardless of the curve, because he assumes that will help him with recommendation letters, and that's why he works so hard. He's also a perfectionist who likes to challenge himself. So I suppose there could be a discussion about curve determination? This is just anecdata of course.

I also wonder if the high proportion of FGLI and recruited athletes (55% of the current freshman class) hasn't resulted in pressure to adjust to a softer grading system, in order to maintain the excellent grad placement outcomes for which Amherst is known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

Very pre-med heavy as well. My kid at Amherst works his @ss off for As in the most challenging STEM classes available to him. There is no coasting for him. But there are definitely kids who are adept at selecting the classes known to be easier. There are different ways to approach earning As for the kids worried about maintaining high GPAs.

Asked DS, who's home now, about grade inflation. He said he was surprised that the curves in some of his classes his pretty low. He mentioned a 55 to get a B, not sure if that was consistent or for one particular assignment or test. Said he strives for high As, regardless of the curve, because he assumes that will help him with recommendation letters, and that's why he works so hard. He's also a perfectionist who likes to challenge himself. So I suppose there could be a discussion about curve determination? This is just anecdata of course.

I also wonder if the high proportion of FGLI and recruited athletes (55% of the current freshman class) hasn't resulted in pressure to adjust to a softer grading system, in order to maintain the excellent grad placement outcomes for which Amherst is known.

Wait, Amherst has curves for its tiny courses?! That's bizarre. You wouldn't expect a curve if the classroom culture is small and focused. Curves are to separate the memorizers from the masters in a large classroom space where that isn't obvious and you have a lot of noise (average students), but at a tiny college, most courses shouldn't be curved. The professors should have a great understanding of student knowledge and shift the dynamics of the course from that. This is really disheartening to hear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you mean to heaven?

Amherst is prelaw heavy, high GPA benefits kids who are shooting their shots at HYS law.

Very pre-med heavy as well. My kid at Amherst works his @ss off for As in the most challenging STEM classes available to him. There is no coasting for him. But there are definitely kids who are adept at selecting the classes known to be easier. There are different ways to approach earning As for the kids worried about maintaining high GPAs.

Asked DS, who's home now, about grade inflation. He said he was surprised that the curves in some of his classes his pretty low. He mentioned a 55 to get a B, not sure if that was consistent or for one particular assignment or test. Said he strives for high As, regardless of the curve, because he assumes that will help him with recommendation letters, and that's why he works so hard. He's also a perfectionist who likes to challenge himself. So I suppose there could be a discussion about curve determination? This is just anecdata of course.

I also wonder if the high proportion of FGLI and recruited athletes (55% of the current freshman class) hasn't resulted in pressure to adjust to a softer grading system, in order to maintain the excellent grad placement outcomes for which Amherst is known.

Wait, Amherst has curves for its tiny courses?! That's bizarre. You wouldn't expect a curve if the classroom culture is small and focused. Curves are to separate the memorizers from the masters in a large classroom space where that isn't obvious and you have a lot of noise (average students), but at a tiny college, most courses shouldn't be curved. The professors should have a great understanding of student knowledge and shift the dynamics of the course from that. This is really disheartening to hear.

There are the larger STEM intro classes, so 90-ish students. Not sure what curves are like in upper-level courses.

[Anonymous]

DC at Amherst reports that he spends way more time on academic work than his friends at the Ivies; the only people he knows who work harder are at Caltech. This was corroborated by a friend of his who did a semester "abroad" at Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC at Amherst reports that he spends way more time on academic work than his friends at the Ivies; the only people he knows who work harder are at Caltech. This was corroborated by a friend of his who did a semester "abroad" at Harvard.

And yet, doesn't need to because everyone gets As.

[Anonymous]

The article from the Amherst student is about how the college is moving to curb grade inflation; the quote is admin describing how much inflation there has been post-Covid as a justification. It’s unclear what grade deflation will look like— some profs are saying they will limit As, but the first term since these announcements hasn’t ended yet.