Anonymous wrote:No schools have grade deflation. [b]All have grade inflation.

Are you looking to send them to a spa for four/five years?

Princeton most certainly has grade deflation

W&M used to (again, back in the Stone Age) only have solid letter grades. Do they have plusses and or minuses now, anyone know? Thanks

Anonymous wrote:BTW, the public school ^^ isn't UVA.

If you’re gonna make that extra point you might as well have stated the school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At CMU, entire semester average of individual subjects 89% and 89.5%, yet the semester grade in those subjects was “B” and not even “A minus”.

So does CMU not use pluses and minuses? Just A, B, C, D, F?

Mid-terms have pluses and minuses but not the semester-end grades in each course.

Anonymous wrote:Grade INFLATION is the norm at virtually all universities. It isn't just Brown. Grade inflation is rampant at both the high school and college level.

This

Anonymous wrote:Back in the Stone Age when I was there, W&M had very strict grade deflation. Wonder if that's still the case?

Grade inflation there now too.

Back in the Stone Age when I was there, W&M had very strict grade deflation. Wonder if that's still the case?

Grade INFLATION is the norm at virtually all universities. It isn't just Brown. Grade inflation is rampant at both the high school and college level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question — do the schools really have grade deflation or are the courses just harder than kids are used to, combined with kids being accustomed to grade inflation in HS?

I'll bite, since I've now seen two threads on this. My kid is at a top-25 public school. There are curves in math classes, and maybe more, but that's all I know. So do you consider a curve, grade deflation?

Many kids are failing math classes because they are reportedly very hard. This has been discussed ad nauseam on the parent's FB group. Many of them take math classes over at the local JC over the summer. My kid has had to retake AP classes, which I understand is not uncommon. There was also a long thread about how intro economics (required) was putting some kids over the edge, with parents chiming in to say "just hold on." My kid did very well in HS and on SAT, much more so than sibling (so I have comparison), and did not have to work for it (unlike sibling). Kid said s/he had to learn to study at college, and was surprised. Decided to work hard, but is no longer getting all A's. Not worried at all about grad school.

I’m not PP, but yes — a curve can result in grade deflation, at least in terms of the way it was implemented when I was in college. If, for example, you get an absolute score of an 85%—which traditionally would result in a B or B+—but a lot of people did better than you, then when the professor adjusts the grades to fit into whatever curve the professor is implementing, it’s possible that an 85% would fall low enough in the grade distribution to result in a letter grade lower than a B or B+.

I agree with you, just asking that poster. That's likely why so many kids are failing math classes. To the OP, I can't imagine if your kid wants to coast they will at those schools.

To add: On the other hand, it can also lead to significant grade inflation. If a test is extremely difficult, and the highest score was an 80%, then if the professor is grading on a curve, whoever got an 80% would get an A, and it would go down from there.

I remember that happening a lot in Econ classes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honest question — do the schools really have grade deflation or are the courses just harder than kids are used to, combined with kids being accustomed to grade inflation in HS?

I'll bite, since I've now seen two threads on this. My kid is at a top-25 public school. There are curves in math classes, and maybe more, but that's all I know. So do you consider a curve, grade deflation?

Many kids are failing math classes because they are reportedly very hard. This has been discussed ad nauseam on the parent's FB group. Many of them take math classes over at the local JC over the summer. My kid has had to retake AP classes, which I understand is not uncommon. There was also a long thread about how intro economics (required) was putting some kids over the edge, with parents chiming in to say "just hold on." My kid did very well in HS and on SAT, much more so than sibling (so I have comparison), and did not have to work for it (unlike sibling). Kid said s/he had to learn to study at college, and was surprised. Decided to work hard, but is no longer getting all A's. Not worried at all about grad school.

I’m not PP, but yes — a curve can result in grade deflation, at least in terms of the way it was implemented when I was in college. If, for example, you get an absolute score of an 85%—which traditionally would result in a B or B+—but a lot of people did better than you, then when the professor adjusts the grades to fit into whatever curve the professor is implementing, it’s possible that an 85% would fall low enough in the grade distribution to result in a letter grade lower than a B or B+.

BTW, the public school ^^ isn't UVA.

Anonymous wrote:Honest question — do the schools really have grade deflation or are the courses just harder than kids are used to, combined with kids being accustomed to grade inflation in HS?

I'll bite, since I've now seen two threads on this. My kid is at a top-25 public school. There are curves in math classes, and maybe more, but that's all I know. So do you consider a curve, grade deflation?

Many kids are failing math classes because they are reportedly very hard. This has been discussed ad nauseam on the parent's FB group. Many of them take math classes over at the local JC over the summer. My kid has had to retake AP classes, which I understand is not uncommon. There was also a long thread about how intro economics (required) was putting some kids over the edge, with parents chiming in to say "just hold on." My kid did very well in HS and on SAT, much more so than sibling (so I have comparison), and did not have to work for it (unlike sibling). Kid said s/he had to learn to study at college, and was surprised. Decided to work hard, but is no longer getting all A's. Not worried at all about grad school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No schools have grade deflation. All have grade inflation.

Are you looking to send them to a spa for four/five years?

UChicago used to have grade deflation — at least when my sister went there for undergrad.

At Georgetown, in my experience, it really depended on the class and the professor. My Econ classes were very difficult. My boyfriend at the time majored in International Economics, and the upper-level Econ classes were graded on a very tough curve. My foreign language classes were also quite difficult. In contrast, I took a seminar with a very nice Jesuit who told us that as long as we participated in discussions and put effort into our final paper, he would give us an A.

Why can’t all schools be like Brown!

Brown is running out of room on a 4.0 scale so the others are catching up.

Lol. Has Brown produced any awesome people? Why is it ranked high?

I'm sure they have produced some awesome people. But when average GPA is perhaps over 3.8 now on a 4.0 scale, there isn't much room for awesome students to distinguish themselves. This is not unique to Brown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No schools have grade deflation. All have grade inflation.

Are you looking to send them to a spa for four/five years?

UChicago used to have grade deflation — at least when my sister went there for undergrad.

At Georgetown, in my experience, it really depended on the class and the professor. My Econ classes were very difficult. My boyfriend at the time majored in International Economics, and the upper-level Econ classes were graded on a very tough curve. My foreign language classes were also quite difficult. In contrast, I took a seminar with a very nice Jesuit who told us that as long as we participated in discussions and put effort into our final paper, he would give us an A.

Why can’t all schools be like Brown!

Brown is running out of room on a 4.0 scale so the others are catching up.

Lol. Has Brown produced any awesome people? Why is it ranked high?