Grade inflation @ top tier schools

[rjgennarelli]

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I have heard a few people make references to this. Is grade inflation just basically applying a curve to everyone's overall gpa? How does this happen and why does this happen mainly at top tier schools?

 

[Doc.Holliday]

I have heard a few people make references to this. Is grade inflation just basically applying a curve to everyone's overall gpa? How does this happen and why does this happen mainly at top tier schools?

grade inflation is when the majority of students get As or Bs etc. It schould be that most get Cs, but some top school professors feel that since their students are so spectacular and there work is so grand they all deserve As. I think the avg gpa at most tippy top schools is around 3.5... a good way to check if its inflated is to look at the avg gpa if you can find it, but an easier way is to look at the cut offs for cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude... id say my school is considered more to be deflated as our avg gpa is 2.9 and the cut offs are 3.4, 3.6, and 3.8 respectively.

its not just top tier schools (but is more specifically targeted at top 10 schools), crappy schools have grade inflation also, its just a recent trend, university's dont want to give their paying customers bad grades.

 

[synapse lapse]

http://gradeinflation.com/ check it out.

 

[Mutt]

university's dont want to give their paying customers bad grades.

This does not apply to the UC's.
You either have what it takes or you don't - the professors aren't going to make it up for you.

 

[AStudent]

CEM 444 - EVERY single person got a 4.0 (sixty of us)
ISS 310 - Over 75% got 4.0/3.5
CEM 384 - Over 75 % have above 90% (80% =4.0)
CEM 141, 255, 161, 162 = getting an 80% gurantees a 4.0, before the curve.

 

[rjgennarelli]

But how does one know that high gpa's at top tier schools isn't just due to having really good students rather than grade inflation? After all, one who is accepted to a top tier school is most likely a good student to begin with.

 

[AStudent]

http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=24051#

 

[KiKat37]

grade inflation is when the majority of students get As or Bs etc. It schould be that most get Cs, but some top school professors feel that since their students are so spectacular and there work is so grand they all deserve As. I think the avg gpa at most tippy top schools is around 3.5... a good way to check if its inflated is to look at the avg gpa if you can find it, but an easier way is to look at the cut offs for cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude... id say my school is considered more to be deflated as our avg gpa is 2.9 and the cut offs are 3.4, 3.6, and 3.8 respectively.

its not just top tier schools (but is more specifically targeted at top 10 schools), crappy schools have grade inflation also, its just a recent trend, university's dont want to give their paying customers bad grades.

That's very true. I'm a grad student at one of these "top" schools and I teach an undergraduate class. I was clearly told by my supervisor that no student should get under a B- unless they are *really* failing the class. No Cs or Ds. They do that because otherwise the students complain and then you have to deal with the parents (spoiled brats). Phone calls are made to the Dean, etc. All that so that they can keep their average GPA above 3.5. I won't even begin to say how much it pisses me off. 😡

 

[CalicoKat]

A professor of mine was perplexed by our school's lack of D's (we only have A, B, C, and no credit). Because C's are the bottom of the barrel, she hesitated to give them at all, so anyone who turned in a paper automatically got at least a B-. Thus, if you turned in NO paper, you got a C. What is that about?

This is just one of the million examples of grade inflation here at least.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

Most science classes at UCSD are graded on a bell curve with a C+ normalized as average. This isnt the case with non-science courses, where it's ridiculously easy to get a B and ridiculously difficult to get an A. It blows my mind some times...

 

[rjgennarelli]

the only class i have that actually "curves" is organic chemistry. the professor curves the mean final grade to a 75 which is the lowest B possible. However, the tests are so difficult that the averages are usually in the 60's ( one test in Org. I had an average of 49).

 

[Dr. Donkey]

My school: ALL science classes ~15-20% get (supposed to be 15) A's, 35% B's, something like 35% C's, 15% D's and E's. Minuses also are worth less...why the hell don't pluses count for more! BS

the only class i have that actually "curves" is organic chemistry. the professor curves the mean final grade to a 75 which is the lowest B possible. However, the tests are so difficult that the averages are usually in the 60's ( one test in Org. I had an average of 49).

 

[beponychick]

Personally, having gone to a top five school, I dont think there is much of great inflation, certainly not in the sciences. The average on any exam is set to a B-/C+ and quite frankly, is NOT easy to get, considering how smart everyone is. On many of my chem exams, the mean was a 50 or so, which is a B-/C+ but to actually get a 50 is difficult considering the exams are impossible. I think the professors at these top notch schools have to get over themselves and make better exams so that we would not have to worry about grade inflation, curves, and all that balogne!

🙂

 

[reggae girl]

In my experience grade inflation usually occurs in fuzzy, non science courses. I don't ever remember taking a chem class where my grades equaled a B but I came out with an A-. But I remember a few fuzzy courses at my school (Stanford) where just showing up and chatting guaranteed you at least an A-. That's just my opinion anyhow.

 

[nico05]

I have heard a few people make references to this. Is grade inflation just basically applying a curve to everyone's overall gpa? How does this happen and why does this happen mainly at top tier schools?

It happens at top tier schools so they can stay in the top tier. If the students numbers look better, the institutions numbers look better, more people apply, more $$ for the school, more prestigious professors, more money for research. Wow, the more I think about it, the less it seems like it is about the students interests. Huh...go figure.

 

[shawty ya'head]

That's very true. I'm a grad student at one of these "top" schools and I teach an undergraduate class. I was clearly told by my supervisor that no student should get under a B- unless they are *really* failing the class. No Cs or Ds. They do that because otherwise the students complain and then you have to deal with the parents (spoiled brats). Phone calls are made to the Dean, etc. All that so that they can keep their average GPA above 3.5. I won't even begin to say how much it pisses me off. 😡

hey kitkat --

are you a grad student at penn? i'm thinkin' so...also what do you teach? as in what department?
because i went to ugrad there and TA a handful of classes - however, never was i told to guage grades within a certain range...but a formula was applied which had incorporated averages and their corresponding letter grades over the past 5 classes...

-a

 

[mx_599]

http://gradeinflation.com/ check it out.

does this mean if you took current students and put them up against those of 25yrs ago, would they not fair as well grade wise? or is everything relative?

 

[synapse lapse]

does this mean if you took current students and put them up against those of 25yrs ago, would they not fair as well grade wise? or is everything relative?

Up to debate, but I think it is unlikely that students have really improved that much over 30 years. do a search on grade inflation in title of threads, been plenty of discussion on this.

 

[g3pro]

I'm glad that my school normalizes everything at a C. That means 50% of the class gets C's and lower, and 50% gets C+'s and above. Makes my education that much more valuable than what the top 10 schools give out. 🙂

 

[nico05]

I'm glad that my school normalizes everything at a C. That means 50% of the class gets C's and lower, and 50% gets C+'s and above. Makes my education that much more valuable than what the top 10 schools give out. 🙂

Same goes for me and it feels a whole lot better when you do well 👍

 

[Soleilpie]

To get an 'A' in my o-chem classes we had to have a 90% or above. An 'A-' started at 88%. A 'B' however, was much easier to get (75-84%). So, if you wanted to get a 4.0 in that class you had to earn a true 'A.'

 

[drguy22]

To get an 'A' in my o-chem classes we had to have a 90% or above. An 'A-' started at 88%. A 'B' however, was much easier to get (75-84%). So, if you wanted to get a 4.0 in that class you had to earn a true 'A.'

i dont think there is too much grade inflation at rutgers, at least in terms of the science classes....the majority gets C's and its pretty hard to get a A. about 15% or so get A's.

 

[sunUCB]

http://gradeinflation.com/ check it out.

http://gradeinflation.net

check that out too.

 

[synapse lapse]

http://gradeinflation.net

check that out too.

Very clever, I assume you are or know the following person:

Garg, Kartik
[email protected]
2700 Hearst Ave.
Berkeley, California 94720
United States
5106640482

I can be clever too 😉 Watch out for Stanford peeps egging your house.

 

[drguy22]

Very clever, I assume you are or know the following person:

Garg, Kartik
[email protected]
2700 Hearst Ave.
Berkeley, California 94720
United States
5106640482

I can be clever too 😉 Watch out for Stanford peeps egging your house.

lol...thats not really him rite?

 

[Stanford_Playah]

Very clever, I assume you are or know the following person:

Garg, Kartik
[email protected]
2700 Hearst Ave.
Berkeley, California 94720
United States
5106640482

I can be clever too 😉 Watch out for Stanford peeps egging your house.

Well done, bro...

Check this link out, too, by the way:
http://www.stanfordrejects.com

 

[Mutt]

Very clever, I assume you are or know the following person:

Garg, Kartik
[email protected]
2700 Hearst Ave.
Berkeley, California 94720
United States
5106640482

I can be clever too 😉 Watch out for Stanford peeps egging your house.

There is nothing clever about doing a WHOIS search....the gradeinflation.net one wins.

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with either these people or their respective alma maters.

 

[synapse lapse]

Well done, bro...

Check this link out, too, by the way:
http://www.stanfordrejects.com

Haha

 

[synapse lapse]

There is nothing clever about doing a WHOIS search....the gradeinflation.net one wins.

Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with either these people or their respective alma maters.

God, take the fun out of it, everyone knew how I got the info, it was just a joke 🙄

 

[Mutt]

God, take the fun out of it, everyone knew how I got the info, it was just a joke 🙄

No they didn't, you were trying to be sly 😉
Now you're trying to be more sly. No worky. 😛

 

[funshine]

am I to believe there is rampant grade inflation at stanford? All these years I thought stanford was one of the "toughest" top schools too. what a bunch of crap! 😡

I do think grade inflation depends on the department and each individual class too. For ex, I tend to think there is more grade inflation (on average) in humanities departments b/c grading is so much more subjective...this is assuming the assignments are mainly essay tests and papers...and if you have profs that sympathize with their hard-working students (this can happen a lot at any top school) then more A's will be handed out. Science departmentrs tend to use much more quantitative methods to calc. grades, to make sure that only a certain number of A's are handed out. Not to mention tests are usualyl more objectively graded.

To give an example of the variation within departments: I'm tkaing two Bio classes right now. I'd say that they are equal in difficulty, but I'm getting an A+ in one (I would bet that more than half the class has an A- or above) and barely a B- in the other...all due to the prof's different grading methods.