Harvard considers capping A’s to curb grade inflation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Harvard, you used to have a lot of nice, well-rounded, very smart kids who took getting Bs in stride and really wanted to learn and enjoy the college experience.

Now it's a bunch of pre-professional kids who were packaged for Harvard and are gunning for certain career paths the minute they set foot on campus and aren't there to learn but rather just want to pile up As on their transcript in order to fulfill those goals.

+1

Harvard didn't even have a Consulting Club or Financial Analysts Club or any of that 20 years ago. Now they not only have those, kids kill themselves as freshmen trying to apply and get in.

why would you send your kids to a college that is still doing and teaching the same as it was 20 years ago? The world was a different place 20 years ago.

If you want to send your kids off to an institution stuck in an earlier time, go ahead but that may not be Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Harvard, you used to have a lot of nice, well-rounded, very smart kids who took getting Bs in stride and really wanted to learn and enjoy the college experience.

Now it's a bunch of pre-professional kids who were packaged for Harvard and are gunning for certain career paths the minute they set foot on campus and aren't there to learn but rather just want to pile up As on their transcript in order to fulfill those goals.

+1

Harvard didn't even have a Consulting Club or Financial Analysts Club or any of that 20 years ago. Now they not only have those, kids kill themselves as freshmen trying to apply and get in.

why would you send your kids to a college that is still doing and teaching the same as it was 20 years ago? The world was a different place 20 years ago.

If you want to send your kids off to an institution stuck in an earlier time, go ahead but that may not be Harvard.

You can evolve the content and curriculum and prepare the kids for the workforce without giving everyone As and without emphasizing pre-professional pathways above all else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Harvard, you used to have a lot of nice, well-rounded, very smart kids who took getting Bs in stride and really wanted to learn and enjoy the college experience.

Now it's a bunch of pre-professional kids who were packaged for Harvard and are gunning for certain career paths the minute they set foot on campus and aren't there to learn but rather just want to pile up As on their transcript in order to fulfill those goals.

+1

Harvard didn't even have a Consulting Club or Financial Analysts Club or any of that 20 years ago. Now they not only have those, kids kill themselves as freshmen trying to apply and get in.

why would you send your kids to a college that is still doing and teaching the same as it was 20 years ago? The world was a different place 20 years ago.

If you want to send your kids off to an institution stuck in an earlier time, go ahead but that may not be Harvard.

You can evolve the content and curriculum and prepare the kids for the workforce without giving everyone As and without emphasizing pre-professional pathways above all else.

And apparently you can also do it by giving a lot of As and acknowledging professional futures. Why are you whining about Harvard? There are loads of institutions of higher learning out here. Find a good match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When did grades get SO inflated? A's (versus A-s and B+s) were still reasonably difficult to get 20 years ago. I graduated about 20 years ago and not a single person in my class had straight As (meaning they got all As and not a single A-; there were no A+ grades given so straight As is perfect).

Here’s a simple answer that most of the parents here don’t understand: you won’t get a good job without them. Any top internship, research, or opportunity is going to demand at least a 3.7+, which gives you space for a few Bs and A- but not much else. You may argue “but our PhDs should be the top of the top!” But PhD admissions has gotten a bit bizzare and has demanded so much more than when we were at the age to apply. Students needing to balance publications or internships or research co labs during the semester with school and a job and now even winter term internships…there’s really just too much demanded all at once.

DS goes to a top LAC for physics with “excessive” grade inflation. 97% of people in his major go on to a PhD at some point, and they all go on in life and do well. Harvard is kneecapping its students’ opportunities, because the professors have too much ego.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Harvard, you used to have a lot of nice, well-rounded, very smart kids who took getting Bs in stride and really wanted to learn and enjoy the college experience.

Now it's a bunch of pre-professional kids who were packaged for Harvard and are gunning for certain career paths the minute they set foot on campus and aren't there to learn but rather just want to pile up As on their transcript in order to fulfill those goals.

+1

Harvard didn't even have a Consulting Club or Financial Analysts Club or any of that 20 years ago. Now they not only have those, kids kill themselves as freshmen trying to apply and get in.

Times have changed drastically from earlier times. Back then, one parent could support a decent middle class lifestyle in this country and it didn't cost a fortune to educate your kids at college. Now, everything is competitive and these clubs exist only to help differentiate students when it comes to getting internships and jobs, which are becoming more difficult to come by everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
A recent report found that a majority of grades given out at Harvard were A’s. Professors will vote on a proposal to limit the number to around 20 percent.



https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/us/harvard-grade-inflation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share


However, there is concern about increasing student stress and competition as a result of capping A’s.

This is insanity. If students can’t handle stress and competition then why go to such colleges? Just to reduce student stress everyone should get As.. crazy

Its not that you’re wrong. But when a school is asking you for half a million dollars, and at the same time telling you that it will subject your child to four years of extreme stress and competition and at the end of that time there is only a 1 in 5 chance that your child will be employable … you might think twice about giving that school your half million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
A recent report found that a majority of grades given out at Harvard were A’s. Professors will vote on a proposal to limit the number to around 20 percent.



https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/us/harvard-grade-inflation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share


However, there is concern about increasing student stress and competition as a result of capping A’s.

This is insanity. If students can’t handle stress and competition then why go to such colleges? Just to reduce student stress everyone should get As.. crazy

Its not that you’re wrong. But when a school is asking you for half a million dollars, and at the same time telling you that it will subject your child to four years of extreme stress and competition and at the end of that time there is only a 1 in 5 chance that your child will be employable … you might think twice about giving that school your half million.

+1, why would any premed or pre law student go to Harvard now? You’re basically nuking your options for very little gain.

[Anonymous]

Do people not remember what an abject failure this policy was when Princeton tried it ~15 years back?

[Anonymous]

So how does this work in STEM classes? So now professors have to manufacture tests so that it somehow only gives 20% of students As?

It's one thing discussing humanities but when you are talking about Calculus, Chemistry or Biology, how does this even work? Students should be given grades based on what they deserve, particularly when the subject is objective. This sounds like a nightmare policy in the making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At Harvard, you used to have a lot of nice, well-rounded, very smart kids who took getting Bs in stride and really wanted to learn and enjoy the college experience.

Now it's a bunch of pre-professional kids who were packaged for Harvard and are gunning for certain career paths the minute they set foot on campus and aren't there to learn but rather just want to pile up As on their transcript in order to fulfill those goals.

+1

Those nice, well rounded kids from middle class and upper middle class families now go to other schools.

They end up at Honors Colleges at state flagships.

[Anonymous]

Too little too late. No recovering from the debacle that was Gay’s short stint at the helm. No pulling out of the death spiral now.

[Anonymous]

Some harvard parents at my kids private school have it mapped from elementary school. Obscure sport starting at an early age plus round the clock tutoring to maintain straight As, plus a couple more activities to show leadership. These are good hardworking kids but every part of their identity is manufactured. They spend on private school plus really expensive tutors for grades and sports. Then they get good internships through parents network and probably will repeat the cycle.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised no one brought up Princeton. I was there in the 2010s and they had grade deflation with cap of 30% on As. They ended up revoking due to its impact on grad admissions.

[Anonymous]

Humorous reaction from the UChicago DD: “20 percent is such a good deal!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Humorous reaction from the UChicago DD: “20 percent is such a good deal!”

+1