Harvard Report on Impacts of Grade Inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fair to say that the average Harvard student is smarter than the average student.

And I think it's fair to say that Organic Chemistry or Econ 101 etc are classes that should be covering the same material more or less no matter the university you are in.

So it makes sense to me that way more Harvard students are getting As in that class than average. I think most Harvard kids should be getting As to be honest.

Now this idea that kids are coming into Harvard unprepared is just a slam on their admissions office full stop. that's a failure.

The average GPA at Harvard has risen dramatically in the last 20 years. Are you arguing that today’s Harvard students are that much smarter than they were 20 years ago?

100%. they take 3 kids out of 100.

That argument might work if Harvard was selecting for test scores and academic performance only and taking the top 3% under that criteria. But gpa’s started rising when Harvard got rid of test scores as a criteria for admission. The admission rate was 9% 20 years ago and their test scores were higher (on a harder test). The kids aren’t smarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fair to say that the average Harvard student is smarter than the average student.

And I think it's fair to say that Organic Chemistry or Econ 101 etc are classes that should be covering the same material more or less no matter the university you are in.

So it makes sense to me that way more Harvard students are getting As in that class than average. I think most Harvard kids should be getting As to be honest.

Now this idea that kids are coming into Harvard unprepared is just a slam on their admissions office full stop. that's a failure.

The average GPA at Harvard has risen dramatically in the last 20 years. Are you arguing that today’s Harvard students are that much smarter than they were 20 years ago?

100%. they take 3 kids out of 100.

That argument might work if Harvard was selecting for test scores and academic performance only and taking the top 3% under that criteria. But gpa’s started rising when Harvard got rid of test scores as a criteria for admission. The admission rate was 9% 20 years ago and their test scores were higher (on a harder test). The kids aren’t smarter.

You wish this were true but grade inflation predated TO. It did ramp up under TO but that is far more likely to be COVID related not TO related.

[Anonymous]

3.9 median GPA for class of 2025 according to this link, even higher than the 3.8 median GPA for class of 2023. Absolutely bonkers.

https://features.thecrimson.com/2025/senior-survey/academics/

[Anonymous]

Someone with a jaundiced view of Harvard (not me) wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Harvard doesn't care, they have never cared because they have never been about peak academics at the undergraduate level. People on this thread are constantly tryin g to make them into something that they have no interest in being. They have always been about a high academic baseline plus other characteristics.

To which a commenter more favorable to that institution replied:

Anonymous wrote:Completely false. What an idiot.

Let's check and see what the students are saying in response to the grading report.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/30/students-react-grading-report/

"But in interviews with The Crimson, more than 20 students said the report missed the complexity of academic life at Harvard. Many objected to its suggestion that students were not spending enough time on coursework and warned that stricter grading could heighten stress without improving learning.

Sophie Chumburidze ’29 said the report felt dismissive of students’ hard work and academic struggles.

“The whole entire day, I was crying,” she said. “I skipped classes on Monday, and I was just sobbing in bed because I felt like I try so hard in my classes, and my grades aren’t even the best.”

“It just felt soul-crushing,” she added....

Zahra Rohaninejad ’29 added that grading already felt harsh and raising standards further would only erode students’ ability to enjoy their classes.

“I can’t reach my maximum level of enjoyment just learning the material because I’m so anxious about the midterm, so anxious about the papers, and because I know it’s so harshly graded,” she said. “If that standard is raised even more, it’s unrealistic to assume that people will enjoy their classes.”...

“What makes a Harvard student a Harvard student is their engagement in extracurriculars,” Peyton White ’29 said. “Now we have to throw that all away and pursue just academics. I believe that attacks the very notion of what Harvard is.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m really surprised these are the responses of parents with college aged kids. My kid works like a bull and their work is harder than when I was in college (I graduated as a physics major from Yale; they’re a computer science major at Princeton). Kids are expected to do 12x more in coursework and in getting internships, professional clubs, etc.

The problem is not that EVERYONE is incapable of previous standards. There are still very hardworking, focused, and capable kids at the elite schools, but within the same schools, the bottom has really fallen, and it's really a struggle apply the same grade standards to an entire class. Faculty complain about this broadly. Your kid likely isn't aware because they are not dealing with it and are only aware of their own performance.

Got any actual data?

[Anonymous]

Harvard has become the University of Pheonix of the east. Like Columbia now nothing more than a diploma mil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard has become the University of Pheonix of the east. Like Columbia now nothing more than a diploma mil.

OMG, you can't even use a new line "University of Phoenix line" (btw, seems like you can't even spell Phoenix correctly!).

Give it a break. Let's give us a breather from the 10 different Harvard bashing threads that seem to say the same thing. We get you don't like the Ivies already.

[Anonymous]

Harvard is denying Asian students for under performing rural white students. It’s an idiotic idea and they add nothing to the college- at least legacies give back at high rates!