Anonymous wrote:I hear CMU is intense, but dunno if they have grade deflation.

Our second kid is our second kid at CMU. There isn't deflation, but the courses are challenging and there aren't "participation" points. CMU's motto is literally, "My heart is in the work." It definitely doesn't fall into the "the hard part is getting in" category.

There is a lot of support. Faculty are very available, there are homework help sessions all day Sat and Sun with TAs, and a lot of peer work groups. So if your kid wants to be successful, and is willing to work, they can get a good grade.

Engineering students live by “Cs get degrees” to not lose their minds over it. I think you’re going to find this true in something like chemistry too. They’re just hard majors and everything is going to be on a curve.

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?

+1

Virtually all colleges have grade inflation. Average grades are going up significantly over time. Some may have comparatively larger increases.

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?

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

No. Princeton may have less grade inflation that other Ivies, but make no mistake it’s grades are well inflated too. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/look-grading-starts-conversation-do-more-make-gpas-less-meaningful

It’s an opinion piece in an alumni magazine by someone who won’t disclose how they got their stats or arrived at their conclusions. Hardly a consensus Of empirical research. Note sciences is still only a 3.3? I have personal experience with this. Because today’s law schools care only about gpa and lsat for purposes of reporting to USNWR, it’s law applicants are sometimes at a distinct disadvantage.

It's pretty notorious in STEM at some schools. At my college they offered us a special class for everyone who had a 5 on AP Calc as a pre math majors class... then graded us on a strict thirds curve. So my 94% average was curved to a B-. I wasn't sure what to major in but after that experience it definitely wasn't math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

No. Princeton may have less grade inflation that other Ivies, but make no mistake it’s grades are well inflated too. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/look-grading-starts-conversation-do-more-make-gpas-less-meaningful

Stanford won't let you fail. They let you withdraw a week before finals, and take the class again so you don't fail the class.

Because grade inflation is the norm, schools that have less grade inflation appear to have grade deflation.

Anonymous wrote:

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

No. Princeton may have less grade inflation that other Ivies, but make no mistake it’s grades are well inflated too. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/look-grading-starts-conversation-do-more-make-gpas-less-meaningful