Davidson's Grade Deflation

[Anonymous]

DD was very interested in Davidson until hearing about this. Is there lots of academic pressure and an issue with grade deflation, particularly in recent years?

[Anonymous]

Please explain how deflation is implemented?

[Anonymous]

Not a reason to check an excellent school like Davidson off your list.

[Anonymous]

Grade deflation adds another layer of stress. We read about this practice at Davidson on the web and the school fell from the list. If a student deserves an A, just give them an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grade deflation adds another layer of stress. We read about this practice at Davidson on the web and the school fell from the list. If a student deserves an A, just give them an A.

Are you saying Davidson doesn't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade deflation adds another layer of stress. We read about this practice at Davidson on the web and the school fell from the list. If a student deserves an A, just give them an A.

Are you saying Davidson doesn't?

Princeton is notorious about grade deflationm. But it's not enough to keep applicants away.

I'm old school. You earn an A, you get an A.

[Anonymous]

Isn't it to counteract grade inflation?

I come from a country where teachers tend to be strict and the perfect score is unattainable (because you can always do better!), and was shocked when I taught undergrad here and was told to be lenient with the kids... because their parents could sue. Wow. What a reason. Kids with no knowledge of a subject could get a passing grade if they just showed up, or didn't but whined a bit to the prof.

So in theory, I would applaud an enterprise to fight this kind of nonsense.

[Anonymous]

DD is thinking about medical school so grade deflation is a real issue. Has anyone had a student with recent experience at Davidson? While she wants an academically rewarding experience, she also wants to have some fun in college, not unnecessary stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is thinking about medical school so grade deflation is a real issue. Has anyone had a student with recent experience at Davidson? While she wants an academically rewarding experience, she also wants to have some fun in college, not unnecessary stress.

I think premed track is pretty stressful no matter where.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade deflation adds another layer of stress. We read about this practice at Davidson on the web and the school fell from the list. If a student deserves an A, just give them an A.

Are you saying Davidson doesn't?

Princeton is notorious about grade deflationm. But it's not enough to keep applicants away.

I'm old school. You earn an A, you get an A.

I think Princeton just did away with that policy. Grade deflation is just another hoop they make students jump through to try to increase prestige. Real life is stressful and hard work but if you deserve an A you should get the A.

[Anonymous]

My dc had a high school teacher that told the class the first day that she rarely gives A's. I find that so obnoxious and narcissistic. A teachers job is to teach students new material for them to learn. If they work hard and the teacher is good at their job then the students who learn the material should get A's. Teachers who withhold A's are living in their own bubble. If Davidson still has grade deflation, it would not be on my list. Plenty of normal schools out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is thinking about medical school so grade deflation is a real issue. Has anyone had a student with recent experience at Davidson? While she wants an academically rewarding experience, she also wants to have some fun in college, not unnecessary stress.

No it isn’t. Davidson has a near 100% med school placement record.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dc had a high school teacher that told the class the first day that she rarely gives A's. I find that so obnoxious and narcissistic. A teachers job is to teach students new material for them to learn. If they work hard and the teacher is good at their job then the students who learn the material should get A's. Teachers who withhold A's are living in their own bubble. If Davidson still has grade deflation, it would not be on my list. Plenty of normal schools out there.

Teachers who set a higher bar are better teachers.

[Anonymous]

Still no word from the parent of a current student or recent grad?

[Anonymous]

Davidson has a tremendously strong pre-med reputation, so no, I would not let that deter me. Davidson alums are very loyal and supportive of each other---so the future alumni network and references opportunities should counterbalance the grade deflation fears.

In addition to the strong pre-med academic program, Davidson also has a very strong international internship/studies program, so it looks to me from our alumni magazine that there are good opportunities for students interested in a medical career to do health-care related internships or summer programs which would be interesting on a med-school application.

Why don't you just ask the school for recent med school matriculation data?

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