Even UVA experiencing grade inflation

[Anonymous]

The surprising thing to me is how much the Engineering GPAs have changed. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

"Even" UVA? The only colleges I can think of that tried or are trying to put a brake on grade inflation are Princeton and Harvard. Princeton gave up. Harvard is still TBD.

[Anonymous]

Average GPA went from 3.09 in 1991 to 3.61 in 2025. That is grade inflation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My freshman turned down 2 Ivies for UVA. Her roommate turned down one. Almost every OOS kid they know was their respective school's valedictorian. They all took 10-15 APs in high school and never got less than an A.
I'm not sure why OP thinks they should now be graded to an average of a B- (3.1). Especially when places like Harvard have an average of a 3.9.

So it seems like smart kids getting high grades is a shock lol

[Anonymous]

The average UVA sat score is at about the 95th percentile now. I'm sure there is some grade inflation but a lot of it is just smarter kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is that grade inflation? Maybe the students are smarter and working harder.

+1

The quality of students is improving.

Yeah, no, I don’t think that’s it. Cheating is rampant and the notion of honor is all but dead. Faculty morale is in the gutter and they just don’t give af anymore.

This. Lots of cheating at both HS and college per my DCs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The average UVA sat score is at about the 95th percentile now. I'm sure there is some grade inflation but a lot of it is just smarter kids.

There is grade inflation at every college measured. Are all kids everywhere getting smarter?

https://gradeinflation.com/

[Anonymous]

This whole grade inflation discussion is silly. If you are taking a class in a seminar of 10 students and each and every student works their ass off to earn an "A", then why the heck would the professor not give them the grades they deserve? People also don't realize that the average student in 2026 at a top school is much stronger than the one from 1996 etc. They are taking far more rigorous classes, doing Olympiads, solving world problems etc. We didn't do any of this stuff 20-30 years ago...

[Anonymous]

I also want to add that getting into a top school back then was much easier - you were looking at admissions rates of maybe 20-30% at Ivies back then. The kids getting into these schools today are much stronger and smarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also want to add that getting into a top school back then was much easier - you were looking at admissions rates of maybe 20-30% at Ivies back then. The kids getting into these schools today are much stronger and smarter.

Kids in college study less than they did in the past an get higher grades across the board.

[Anonymous]

All schools have inflation:

SEC publics that have data for the past couple of years:
-54% of grades are A-/A, 10%C
-62% of grades are A-/A, 4% C
-49% of grades A-/A, 11%C
-30% of grades are A-/A, 15% C (engineering program within an SEC)

Overall GPA medians 3.65-3.8.

SEC has plenty of inflation, on average more than UVA despite the average student equivalent to the bottom 1/4 of UVA.

Since they all have inflation, companies as well as grad/professional schools have to consider the context of the undergrad. What is better, 3.7 from UVA or 3.7 from SEC?
What is better 3.7 from an ivy with a similar median or 3.7 from UVA?
The school with the more competitive peer group is always going to be the answer, all else roughly equal.
Even when not equal, 3.9 SEC vs 3.7 ivy, they better school often carries more weight because being average at a very top school is likely harder than being top 25% at a mediocre one.

[Anonymous]

The SEC is crazy. I was looking at the honor rolls for South Carolina and like 90% of the school is on it with something like 10K students having a perfect 4.0. It's absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also want to add that getting into a top school back then was much easier - you were looking at admissions rates of maybe 20-30% at Ivies back then. The kids getting into these schools today are much stronger and smarter.

Kids in college study less than they did in the past an get higher grades across the board.

Higher grades, yes, the median in curved classes has shifted B- to B+ over 29 years.
The hours are the same: mine are at ivy/elite and spend 2-5 hours each weekday studying/psets and can easily rack up 7-10+hrs each weekend day in the library. Premed/engineering for one and history/english double concentrator for the other. Their friends at college are all similar. I doubt UVA is that much different for goal-oriented students. The total hours are approximately the same as I spent years ago at a different elite, but they have many more hours of research and TA that were not expected back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SEC is crazy. I was looking at the honor rolls for South Carolina and like 90% of the school is on it with something like 10K students having a perfect 4.0. It's absurd.

!!!! good grief

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The SEC is crazy. I was looking at the honor rolls for South Carolina and like 90% of the school is on it with something like 10K students having a perfect 4.0. It's absurd.

!!!! good grief

Literally the only ones not on it are in a continual drunken stupor. I don't know how anyone goes on to medical or law school when there is no differentiation in grades.