The real reason Bowdoin is so loved: it’s easy

[Anonymous]

Recent student article illuminates how easy the school truly is. Maybe parents should worry about the lack of rigor at this “elite” institution: https://bowdoinorient.com/2026/04/10/bowdoin-is-easy/

[Anonymous]

That is not what the article says. Did you read it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is not what the article says. Did you read it?

It does conclude that in the beginning, along with discussing redefining how work is talked about. But it clearly supports that the institution is grade inflated to hell and the work is simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recent student article illuminates how easy the school truly is. Maybe parents should worry about the lack of rigor at this “elite” institution: https://bowdoinorient.com/2026/04/10/bowdoin-is-easy/

Sounds more like a typical Ivy experience.

[Anonymous]

Grade inflation is rampant at most top schools. Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are especially notorious. Johns Hopkins just hit a 3.8 median gpa for all undergrads. Caltech has one of the highest D3 average GPAs at almost a 4.

Just take a look at all American team GPAs and you’ll see how high top schools get: https://cscaa.org/spring-team-scholar-all-america-released/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is not what the article says. Did you read it?

It's pretty much what it says. Bowdon by default is an easy school that one must make a concerted effort to make challenging.

[Anonymous]

LOL---it's an opinion piece, and you missed the point of it entirely.

[Anonymous]

Gee, maybe the students at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gee, maybe the students at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are smart.

The median GPA for these schools has gone from a 3.5 in 2016 to above a 3.7 in 2026.

You really think the newer entering classes got that much more academically qualified? Coupled with the dumbing down of AP exams, SAT/ACT, test optional policies, and COVID disruption making it harder for schools to distinguish top candidates?

A few top schools make their grads work for the A. Cornell is one of them. The ones above give out A-s as a participatory grade, and Bs and below are rare (Cs almost unheard of).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL---it's an opinion piece, and you missed the point of it entirely.

People here clearly aren’t getting that there are two points to the article, and the author is initially establishing that- yes- Bowdoin is easy academically. The GPAs are sky high.

[Anonymous]

I dont think you read the article.

I agree with the idea that ALL college life is easy. Someone else cooking, someone teaching, someone paying. Stop complaining!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, maybe the students at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are smart.

The median GPA for these schools has gone from a 3.5 in 2016 to above a 3.7 in 2026.

You really think the newer entering classes got that much more academically qualified? Coupled with the dumbing down of AP exams, SAT/ACT, test optional policies, and COVID disruption making it harder for schools to distinguish top candidates?

A few top schools make their grads work for the A. Cornell is one of them. The ones above give out A-s as a participatory grade, and Bs and below are rare (Cs almost unheard of).

What a bunch of BS. Cornell has a high average gpa outside of engineering. College of Arts and Science is around 3.7-3.8 average. Seems like a booster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, maybe the students at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are smart.

The median GPA for these schools has gone from a 3.5 in 2016 to above a 3.7 in 2026.

You really think the newer entering classes got that much more academically qualified? Coupled with the dumbing down of AP exams, SAT/ACT, test optional policies, and COVID disruption making it harder for schools to distinguish top candidates?

A few top schools make their grads work for the A. Cornell is one of them. The ones above give out A-s as a participatory grade, and Bs and below are rare (Cs almost unheard of).

What a bunch of BS. Cornell has a high average gpa outside of engineering. College of Arts and Science is around 3.7-3.8 average. Seems like a booster.

Did you ignore the objective data above? Cornell has a noticeably lower GPA than its peer schools. You will see the same trend for all academic reports at different sports.

https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/01/in-data-panhel-members-outperform-cornell-average-gpa-among-other-greek-life-groups

3.44 overall

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/27/grading-workload-report/

3.83 for Harvard grads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is rampant at most top schools. Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are especially notorious. Johns Hopkins just hit a 3.8 median gpa for all undergrads. Caltech has one of the highest D3 average GPAs at almost a 4.

Just take a look at all American team GPAs and you’ll see how high top schools get: https://cscaa.org/spring-team-scholar-all-america-released/

Wow, this is as close as we’re going to get to average GPAs at schools that don’t publish. Brown had the highest for D1 men’s teams nationally - 3.83 and for their D1 women’s team it is 3.84. Compare that to Cornell, which are 3.47 & 3.56. I don’t even think Cornell is that low, it’s just other schools have such high inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gee, maybe the students at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Amherst, Pomona, and Stanford are smart.

The median GPA for these schools has gone from a 3.5 in 2016 to above a 3.7 in 2026.

You really think the newer entering classes got that much more academically qualified? Coupled with the dumbing down of AP exams, SAT/ACT, test optional policies, and COVID disruption making it harder for schools to distinguish top candidates?

A few top schools make their grads work for the A. Cornell is one of them. The ones above give out A-s as a participatory grade, and Bs and below are rare (Cs almost unheard of).

What a bunch of BS. Cornell has a high average gpa outside of engineering. College of Arts and Science is around 3.7-3.8 average. Seems like a booster.

Did you ignore the objective data above? Cornell has a noticeably lower GPA than its peer schools. You will see the same trend for all academic reports at different sports.

https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/01/in-data-panhel-members-outperform-cornell-average-gpa-among-other-greek-life-groups

3.44 overall

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/27/grading-workload-report/

3.83 for Harvard grads

Greek life gpas? So not gpas of the college, in general.